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hello
I live in a high tick part of the country. Lately ticks seem to be all over the place, such as in the woods where they were not before. I recently became aware of the severity of lyme and I try to be as careful as I can about it. My child goes to a school that has a lot of woods around it and also thy have a lot of nature based programs. I am sad to see their play areas are not at all tick safe. He just started this school this fall and I am just now aware of the severity of this threat. I have talked to the school about it and they said they wil do some moderate changes but I don't think it is enough for me to feel safe for my children at this school. The bad thing is we just built a house near the school and had been planning to send our kids there for the next ten years ! We love everything about the school except the tick unsafety. So now I am not sure what to do. Once spring comes the ticks will be out and I am not comfortable having my kid play in the play ara at school which is so close to woods. They even take the kids into the woods. I told them Ido not want my kid going into the woods. He is young still. If we decide to take our child out of this school we wil have to find a new schoo and I don't know of any I like too close. We live somewhat rurally. I wanted to rasie my child close to his school. and that is one of the reasons we just built a house there. But safety is my utmost concern and I just do not feel they are tick safe at this school. SO what do I do? I know tons about lyme and its dangers and I do not think it is a worthwhile thing to have to worry aobut his school being passive about protecting the kid form this. I should be able to send my child to school where they do not expose them to any ticks! But on the other hand to change his school- given where we live- if we lived where we ive it would mean over 1/2 hour drive to another school and nothing even that great, so it may even mean moving house for us. but most important is safety. Kind advice?
You're totally out of control with your fear. What do you expect the school to do? Keep kids inside? That won't work. Tick gets inside via hitchhiking. Strip kids down and do body checks? That's really going to go over well with the parents who are freaked out about pedophiles.
I live in a high tick state too. I know a lot about Lyme's. Based on your post, I know way more about Lyme's than you do. The ticks aren't just coming out now. They were out all winter. We got a tick when it was 10 below zero in January.
My husband caught Lyme's two years ago. He's fine. One round of antibiotics is all it takes.
Lyme's increases the longer a tick is on the body. You're supposed to do a body check once a day. If your kid gets a tick at lunchtime recess, and you find it at 8pm at bath time, the chances of your child contracting Lyme's is slim. If you're doing nightly body checks, you'll see the telltale rash even if you miss seeing a tick. Get treatment, take the antibiotics, and no Lyme's.
People who have Lyme's symptoms and complications for years didn't receive treatment because they weren't aware. You are aware (overly and inaccurately aware) so you're child will be fine. You're going to do more damage to your son via overprotecting him and keeping him from playing outside with other children.
You're never going to find a school that protects your kid from ticks. You'll have to move to another area of the country where there is low risk. That's overboard though. I'm actually worried about your son's happiness. Safety is important but not at the expense of living life. I suspect Lyme's isn't the only thing you fret about. You're going to give him anxiety disorders by freaking out about this stuff. Let your kid out of the bubble.
I agree with HOPES; you are worried over nothing as long as you are conducting daily body checks but I think you should see a doctor about your anxiety. Pills can help with that.
Lyme disease is a serious problem - I've had five friends' lives ruined over it, so I understand your concern.
We lived in one of the highest areas of Lyme disease in CT (near Lyme CT). Because such a high percent of the ticks were infected with Lyme disease, we had to be extra careful. My doctor had so many patients get serious Lyme complications, (his wife's heart was damaged by Lyme) that he decided not to test his patients after they were bit, but instead just put them immediately on the antibiotic, even if the tick had been in only a few hours.
After doing this for a few years, he noticed none of his patients were getting the disease anymore. The other doctors in the area also started doing this as a preventative. So you may want to talk to your doctor about that. I can't remember the name, but it is the antibiotic they all give for Lyme disease at the first stage, and I nor any of my neighbors had side effects from it.
I am a gardener, and outdoors person and I would get at least one tick bite a year for eight years we lived there. I took the antibiotics immediately and never got Lyme disease. With kids, make sure you take a very fine-toothed comb through their hair when you do the body check because you can't tell sometimes when they bite in the scalp.
he decided not to test his patients after they were bit, but instead just put them immediately on the antibiotic, even if the tick had been in only a few hours.
The ER put my husband on antibiotics immediately without testing. Many doctors here are doing that too.
Some don't. Your recommendation to talk to the doctor is a good one. It will give the OP a chance to shop around for a doctor who does take a prophylactic approach. .
Quote:
Originally Posted by mountainrose
I can't remember the name, but it is the antibiotic they all give for Lyme disease at the first stage, and I nor any of my neighbors had side effects from it.
Like hubby says, we moved into nature's territory, not the other way around.
If you don't like woods, wild animals, and bugs, you can always move to somplace that has sidewalks and most of the natural ground paved over so you don't have to deal with that nasty nature stuff.
Like hubby says, we moved into nature's territory, not the other way around.
If you don't like woods, wild animals, and bugs, you can always move to somplace that has sidewalks and most of the natural ground paved over so you don't have to deal with that nasty nature stuff.
I agree. Sounds like you are describing Chicago, NYC, LA, to mention only a few. I am going to guess that OP would not be happy in such a place.
Body checks are your best weapon against Lyme Disease.
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