A not direct family member of mine had developed a rash on shoulder blade and fever. The rash keeps getting bigger and has a red streak. He was bite by a tick but it was removed right away and not filled with blood. That was a while back. All they know so far is its not MRSA. Could this be bartonella? He is pumped full of ABX and its still spreading? Any ideas folks? Thank you.
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
More likely to be lyme than bartonella in my opinion. But sometimes ehrlichia/anaplasma presents with rash or it could even be Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Does the red streak originate from the site of the bite? It could be just more localized inflammation from the bite itself.
Has the patient ever had shingles -- that usually shows up primarily around the waist but I think it could appear elsewhere.
Are there are any blood chemistry readings abnormal -- liver enzymes or low WBC or low RBC etc? Very important to try to explain any abnormal finding.
In your situation it is a little like trying to put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together with missing pieces. Not telling you to play doctor -- but the reality is you probably know as much or more than the docs treating him about tickborne diseases.
This is not medical advice -- just my opinion based on hubby's experiences.
Bea Seibert
Tell the family to go to medical records on Monday and get copies of all tests that have been done. Also ask for copies of the history and physical and progress notes. You also want copies of the ER records as well.
The patient will probably have to sign the form -- some hospitals will even print off the records and bring them with the form to the patients room. But you have to ask. There may be a small copying charge.
If there is a friendly nurse on the floor some of them will answer questions about what is in the chart -- but they are not allowed to give you copies. And technically the doc is not even allowed to give you copies -- only medical records can do that.
The notes should include lists of what tests have been ordered even if the results aren't back yet. And the notes will tell you a lot more than what the doc will.
If it is a big hospital and the patient is being seen by both an infectious disease doc and a general M.D. -- there will be 2 sets of notes for each day if both docs visit the patient each day.
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
Do you know what species of tick it was? Supposedly some diseases are only carried by certain species of ticks.
Bea Seibert
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
If the patient remains in the hospital past Monday then the family needs to go to medical records each day to get the new bloodwork and progress notes.
Bea Seibert
Posted by lost11 (Member # 34607) on :
Bea I can't Thank you enough. I will pass this info along. I do know when he was first seen by primary I believe wed, he was put on bactrim. The rash got bigger and bigger its on his chest above nipple. I saw a pic. Does not look like a classic lyme/ bullseye rash. His wife has been fighting to get an infectious disease doc in. He was first put on IV meds for MRSA. That was ruled out. Now on an IV abx for potential staph. Think they are targeting the most dangerous first that would make sense. Even though we know how dangerous Lyme is if untreated. They Are waiting for staph culture to come back. The doc told his wife he has not been on a Lyme drug yet. Well hello.. Stick him on doxcy or better yet rochephin.
Posted by lost11 (Member # 34607) on :
I have no clue about the tick. Just know he lives in CT where Lyme came from. And the bite was in May.
Posted by lost11 (Member # 34607) on :
The red streak showed up after. That is why they are worried about staph.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
He may have Lyme and it lowered his immune system so that staph or some other infection took over.
Posted by lost11 (Member # 34607) on :
Oh gosh Lymetoo..hope that is not the case. The pic I saw of the rash looked relatively serious. I'm pretty sure they should have more results by Sunday. Early Lyme can lower ones immune system that quick?
Posted by lost11 (Member # 34607) on :
Anymore feedback is appreciated. Thanks. :-)
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
It could be ehrlichia, lyme, & bart (streaks).
Posted by n.northernlights (Member # 17934) on :
you ask if lyme can lower immune system that quick,
it is possible the patient had a tick bite several years ago already, which went dormant, and this is a new one, with more serious consequences.
Posted by lost11 (Member # 34607) on :
Thanks peeps. They finally put him on IV rochephrin.They do think this is Lyme disease. I just posted in the request a llmd section to help them out. Cause we all know the hospital will do crap. The did not even do a blot. Just elisha, seriously un real.
Posted by iluvrain (Member # 40055) on :
Was the elisa pos?
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
I don't think there's anything you can do. Once someone is in the hospital, the doctors aren't going to listen to extended family or strangers on the internet.
Posted by mlg (Member # 35383) on :
I know rash with fever could be Babesia or proto
Posted by payne (Member # 26248) on :
carol in PA, hit the nail on the head.. up maddening the time lost on MRSA, the company that supplies MRSA testing must be making money hand over fist, i wasted the first 30 days with MRSA ... why can't we find away to teach our inmune system to reconize /attack this mimicing bacteria ..**the tick wasn't filled with blood..? I thought the first thing a tick dose is to spit a fluid out to numb us from feeling the bite and once the puncher was there so is LYME oh, i should stay off medical posting, many are much more knowledgeable than I ..
Posted by Judie (Member # 38323) on :
"removed right away and not filled with blood"
I was bitten by a nymph tick (the size of a period) for only a few seconds and got Lyme. It's a myth that the tick needs to be a attached for a long time and engorged to transfer the infection.