Just in with my 9 yr old who had a tick on his chest smaller than this dot .
So, small that I tried every devise known to man to safely remove it but tick too SMALL.
took him to ER for help. Dr.wiped an alcohol pad over it and said here. He laughed when I said I wanted it in a medical bag to take home.
After telling dr. that tick was on my son for longer than 48hrs....HE REFUSED to give any treatment!
When I demanded that he right in discharge papers that he refused to treat for tick atttached for longer than 48hrs...his reply was
"Does he have any symptoms now"? My response... "Are you F**king me?? the tick was just removed, it's too early for symptoms".
Left ER with NO abx...will call my llmd in the morning but started him on ABX that followed his protocall last year for Prophalatic treatment.
It's a NIGHTMARE dealing with Ignorance....It's Exhausting!!
Posted by Dogsandcats (Member # 28544) on :
So sorry for all of this. Big hugs to you and prayers for you and your son.
Ignorance in the medical world.....I think so.
Posted by BoxerMom (Member # 25251) on :
Good job sticking up for your son! We all deal with ignorance and disdain from medical professionals. Never doubt that you know more when it comes to Lyme, and you have the right to appropriate treatment!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
So did he write anything down on the discharge papers??
I just replied to your other post.. and 9yr olds are not supposed to take doxy. So you may want to consider amoxy.
To the DUCK in the ER: Posted by Hambone (Member # 29535) on :
We are going to have to resort to lying when this happens and tell these docs YES they are having symptoms. Make it up. "Yes he woke up with pain in his knees! "
These doctors are too stupid to know better anyway. They have no idea the symptoms take time to show up.
Tell the child to play along and don't say anything, and you'll give him $1
If lying will get you the abx's you need to prevent the hell of Lyme, then lie through your teeth and pray about it later. We are just going to sometimes have to play dirty like the docs do.
Posted by jenn (Member # 21687) on :
Lymetoo... The Dr. was FURIOUS when I demanded that discharge papers be noted that NO treatment will be given for tick attached longer than 48hrs!
My discharge papers say this:
Seen for tick bite....NO TREATMENT needed follow up with pediatrician but return if fever develops. ??
I knew i wasn't going to get treatment...but felt the need to start an argument with dr. I rattled his cage though when I demanded that notation on discharge...
Even though I didn't get it...We will one day!! and that day will lead us in a new direction of detection, treatment and respect for this disease!!
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
If you really want to cause a stir you could always go to the administrators of the hospital and explain the situation (take copies of your medical records with you) and ask for a copy of the hospital policy -- most likely they do not even have an official policy. But maybe they would be willing to draft one.
Of course we all know that one doxy pill is not going to do much of anything, but anything is better than nothing at all.
Bea Seibert
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Bea .. she got NO meds for her son. I think it WOULD be a good idea to ask for the hospital's policy on tick bites. Interesting discussion there!
jenn .. I hope you made the dr worry about his decision to NOT treat. Maybe he was awake last night thinking about it!! Posted by Lymeorsomething (Member # 16359) on :
ER docs like stuff mapped out for them. You'd be better off going in with a heart attack than an embedded tick
The few ER docs I've seen I haven't cared for...only one was tolerable.
In short, I'm just not surprised by this kind of ER treatment anymore. You only get exhaustive treatment if you have a sprained ankle or a jammed finger.
Posted by sparkle7 (Member # 10397) on :
Or if you are Michael Jackson & have your own private anestesiologist on call.
Posted by kidsgotlyme (Member # 23691) on :
@Hambone. I like your idea. Posted by tickssuck (Member # 15388) on :
So sorry to hear about your son. My 11 year old son had an embedded/engorged tick (over 48 hours!) and I too needed help in removal.
I initially called his pediatrician's office to have them help with removal. After some thought, feeling too ill to even fight/discuss the Lyme war, I came to my senses. I am fortunate to have a very close friend who is a ND. She's not Lyme-literate but definitely Lyme-friendly and understands the seriousness of the illness.
Anyway, went to her office, they removed the tick. I sent it into Igenex (still awaiting results) and she was more than willing to Rx prophylaxis abx; she even consulted with my out of state LLMD to make sure dosage etc was correct.
I am just lucky to have this connection. I'm sure the experience would have been much different had I taken him to the pediatrician's office. It is abhominal that not everyone is treated appropriately and all measures are not taken to help prevention of the illness taking hold. It just makes me crazy. Did you send the tick in for testing? Hope all goes well. TS
Posted by erikjh1972 (Member # 20964) on :
when it doubt tell em you got/saw a rash but it went away before you thought about taking a pic of it.
Dr.'s being "told" or having things "mapped" out fot them is no excuse for me anymore. just because they went to school for 8 or so years doesnt make them god's and they reall need to open there minds up to new things.
Posted by philly78 (Member # 31069) on :
If I were you, I would be calling the hospital today and asking to speak with the director of the ER. I would also call and ask to speak with someone in risk management. RM tends to take complaints more seriously than other administrative people. Jmo.
Also, when you call or email, or whatever you decide to do....make a point to mentioned that you didn't like how the doc dismissed you or that he mocked you. Tell them he laughed at you!! No one deserves to be treated like that and this doctors behavior is a disgrace to the entire medical profession! Grr!!! I cannot stand condescending docs like that!
A big push in many of the hospitals these days is patient satisfaction and you need to let them know exactly how unsatisfied you were.
If you call and just complain about not being given abx, the hospital staff can simply point to the pediatric guidelines in regards to tick bites and "defend" their doc. That is why you should also mentioned his attitude and how he just dismissed your concerns. I cannot stress this enough. I work in the ER and I see what complaints get swift action and what ones do not.
We do have a policy on ticks at our hospital. It just follows the policy of the IDSA I believe, or is very similar. Our docs are pretty quick to give an adult abx but are more hesitant towards giving them to children.
There has been so much talk as of late as to antibiotic resistance that many docs I know don't want to give abx to children unless they have to. Parents are usually told to just watch for signs and symptoms of infection and to bring them back if "X" symptoms occur or to follow up with the PCP or pediatrician. We do give 28 days of abx to children that present with a rash or fever following the tick bite.
I'm sorry that you were treated this way. We all have to do our part to educate people in the medical profession and this is not an easy task.
Posted by pme (Member # 31621) on :
Just got off the phone with my ped. They said exactly as is stated above..remove the tick, clean area, put on abx cream. Call back if fever, joint pain and headache develop...or if she gets the rash. (found tick in Daughter's head yesterday....probably embedded 24 hours or less).
They also said not to send it for testing, to just get rid of it.
Very very frustrating.
Posted by Laura_W (Member # 31491) on :
pme.... DONT LISTEN TO THEM. Go with what you know. Send it in for testing.
And when you go next week for your appt with LLMD, make a quick mention of it to him. He should guide you on what to do.
My pediatrician last week was soo ignorant.... said they had to have a rash AND Joint pain in order for them to have lyme...
Posted by Hambone (Member # 29535) on :
quote:Originally posted by erikjh1972: just because they went to school for 8 or so years doesnt make them god's and they reall need to open there minds up to new things.
Especially since when they went to school, they probably learned of Lyme in all of...what....a half hour?
vs
People here who have studied it for years and years.
Posted by sickofsick (Member # 29258) on :
I wish so badly I had kept the tick and sent it for testing! I removed it, took it in with us to Dr. when daughter had flu symptoms. He said we don't have ticks that carry the disease and put it in the garbage! I trusted him! Now I know more than he does!
Keep it and have it tested!
Posted by sparkle7 (Member # 10397) on :
There was a time when anyone with a runny nose was given abx. I guess they cracked down on giving them out due to abx resistant staph, etc.
I don't think people who haven't dealt with Lyme are aware about how dangerous it is. I'm sure they wouldn't bush it off if someone was accidentally exposed to HIV.
I wonder what people like Buhner advise. Any other natrupathic ideas to prevent Lyme in people first bitten by a tick? Does it always come down to abx or are there alternatives?
It's probably a good idea to keep a tick bite emergency kit around. I wonder if taking abx at the first sign really does prevent full blown Lyme. Are there any studies of this?
How about the co-infections? Seems they can be even worse that Bb...
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
Sparkle,
The theory seems to be that if the antibiotics prevent Lyme then the immune system will kick in and can knock out any coinfections.
Personally, I think that if a person gets a rash then they either got a less virulent strain of lyme or their immune system recognized it right away. Most people who get a rash and especially if they get a rash and quick treatment with antibiotics they seem to recover and not develop chronic symptoms.
Buhner does discuss prevention in his book. I think he recommends high doses of astragalus and maybe garlic as well. In early lyme things such as echinacea or even high dose olive leaf extract which boost the immune system can be very helpful.
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