posted                

quote:

---

Originally posted by richtersl:

It's been a while since I've posted anything and after glancing through the forums it's nice to see some old familiar faces still here!

Recently I got what would best be termed as a "mystery bite". I had been on a garden tour here in Bucks County, PA just days before this mystery bite made its presence known. The bite was roughly 2 inches in diameter with a clear center. In the middle of the light area was a hard brown something-or-other.

My husband took a look at it with a magnifying glass and could see that something was burrowed under the skin but could not make out what it was.

The mystery bite looked a lot like the one that gave me Lyme so I wasn't about to screw around and called a doctor across the river in Hunterdon County, NJ. Hunterdon County is an endemic area for Lyme so I gave this place the benefit of the doubt thinking that if it wasn't a tick bite they could at least tell me what it was or, if it was a tick bite, they would treat it accordingly.

In the meantime I also had some sort of itchy rash not related to the bite and figured while I'm there they can give me something for that too.

I had no problem securing an appointment. I saw two doctors at this particular office and I will call them Dr. A and Dr. B for simplicity's sake. Dr. A was the one with whom I had the appointment.

Dr. A tells me the bite I have does not look like a Lyme tick bite. I remind Dr. A that the bite has a clear center and a red ring around it and that I am very suspicious of it.

Dr. A looks at the other rash and has no idea what it is. Now mind you, Dr. A never examined the bite. In the meantime Dr. A leaves the examining room and goes to fetch Dr. B.

Dr. B does not examine the mystery bite either, and swears to me it is not Lyme. I remind Dr. B of the clear center and the red ring and how it closely resembled the original bite that gave me Lyme. Dr. B then gets all huffy and says that anyone who could say that's a Lyme tick bite doesn't know what they're talking about.

I then ask Dr. B about the hard lump in the center and could it result in an infection. Dr. B said that it might and if it did I can schedule another appointment.

Yeah, and pay more $$ to their practice and if in 6 months I get symptoms they'll still swear it's not Lyme and put me on steroids, antidepressants, whatever.

Dr. B really copped an attitude. Dr. B could not tell me what the other rash was other than it was "some sort of contact dermatitis".

They gave me a script for the contact dermatitis but not even a precautionary dose of antibiotics for the bite. I guess their HMO scorecard meant more to them than my health. I was seething as I left the office.

The next day I call my LLMD in Ocean County, NJ and make the hour's trip there. The LLMD takes one look at the bite, and says "I do not like the way that looks."

The LLMD then proceeds to get a magnifier to examine it more closely to see what's embedded in there. That turned out to be just a blood blister, probably what was left of the bite.

LLMD prescribed a month's worth of Zithro and also recommended taking Samento/Cat's Claw with that as a precautionary measure. I showed the LLMD the other rash. LLMD takes one look at that and says, " Good God, Linda, that's poison oak!" No generic "contact dermatitis" diagnosis here.

If neither doctor at the Hunterdon County place could not diagnose a case of poison oak, then how they hell will they be able to diagnose Lyme Disease?

I've already lived through a nightmare with Lyme and I was not about to repeat that!

If you're a newbie here, never be afraid to ask for a second opinion. And please, seek out an LLMD for your health's sake .

---

IP: Logged |