Lyme's Disease Update

Drama King is doing really well physically, with his recovery. His bull's eye rash has completely disappeared and the lymph nodes are noticeably shrinking in size. He has also not complained about his joints being achy in a while and you can touch his hair and scalp without pain.

His only hurdle now is the antibiotic he is currently taking. One of the side effects of the medication is diarrhea and vomiting. He started throwing up this past Friday evening and we thought maybe he picked up a stomach bug some where, but now we are realizing a pattern with his upset stomach and he has also begun battling daily with diarrhea. We are coming to the realization that this is caused by the prolong use of the antibiotic. There is not much we can do. Children under the age of 8 do not have any other choice for medications with Lyme's and the antibiotic must be finished for the treatment to be successful. So we just have to hold on another 9 more days to finish his treatment. As long as there is no significant weight loss or other signs we will have to deal with the diarrhea and occasional vomiting/nausea. Please continue to pray for Drama King as you think of him this month. He doesn't show a lot of out ward signs or symptoms but he has been struggling this month as he battles this nasty bacterial infection. We are just standing for complete healing and restoration of his little body.

Lyme's Disease

Well as summer starts officially for the Livin' family with school done today we also begin a battle. Drama King was diagnosed with Lyme's Disease today by our Pediatrician. The test results came back positive. He has a great prognosis but it still is hard realizing your youngest now needs to fight this horrible bacterial infection. The Doctor was surprised with how quickly we were able to determine something wasn't right.

After my Knight went on his missions trip we went to a friends house to stay for the duration of the trip. As the boys played in their backyard I found a deer tick in Drama Kings hair, embedded into the scalp. We were able to remove it successfully and began the weary vigil of watching and waiting. Lyme's Disease symptoms can take up to a month to detect. Thank the Lord he gave us wisdom and we began to pray. Not until this week did the symptoms begin to become visible. Today is exactly 3 weeks since the bite and the doctors were very happy to detect this so early on.

Now Drama King will under go 1 month of potent antibiotics and we are to keep a close eye on any other developing symptoms. I am glad we are starting the treatment now. We will continue to go out in the wilderness this summer but with added precautions. Just a note to other moms as I was telling the Doctor as we have camped regularly every year for the past 10 years we have never seen a deer tick. When we step into someones back yard we now are faced with Lyme's Disease. He said most reports of Lyme's is from people's own backyards. Hikers and outdoorsy people will be on the look out for them where as you let your guard down in your yard. So spray your kids when they go out. My husband and I always say that everything we camp with smells like smoke and bug spray. Now I will be more vigilant about spraying the boys for our yard. Please keep us in prayer over this next month. DK is doing great but the antibiotic is nasty tasting and the poor kid has to take it two times a day for a month. He tires really easily and is not himself, very cranky and irritable. He also complains that he is sore where the rash is. The Ped. said they were normal symptoms. It is also a non-formulary prescription which means the insurance is not helping us. We have to pay full price. Isn't that wonderful.