Dangers in the garden

“Please God, don’t let my Papa die this week. That’s all I got to say. Amen.” That was my 9-year-old grandson’s prayer when he had to go home early because my husband was admitted to the hospital.

It started late one night a few weeks ago when I woke up and heard my husband stumbling through the dark hallway. I got up quickly and went to him. He didn’t seem to know where he was, and when I tried to help him I realized his skin was hot and didn’t seem to know who I was.

I took his temperature. It was 100.2, and by the time I got him a cold glass of water and Tylenol, it had risen to 101.8. He said his head hurt.

Earlier that evening, when he came to the table for dinner, his hands were shaking. He could barely hold his glass. Our grandsons, who were visiting for the week, said, “What’s wrong, Papa.” He told them he didn’t know and said he wasn’t hungry and left the table.

I asked him if he felt bad, and he said he had a little headache, but he was fine.

Because we had two young grandsons in the house that night, I needed to get his temp down until I could take him to the doctor. The next morning at the breakfast table he seemed alright and didn’t remember anything from the night before. He wasn’t hungry and said his head was still hurting a little.

Once again, when I took his temperature, it started at 99.8 and rose to 101 by noon, so I took him to the ER.

After five hours of blood tests and examinations, including the COVID 19 test, the doctor said they couldn’t find what was wrong. However, they said he was too sick to go home, so they admitted him.

During the night his fever went up to 103 and he began vomiting. When I arrived the next morning he looked so sick that I called our children.

The doctor saw a rash on his arm under his watchband and decided to put him on Doxycycline, while they continued doing tests to figure out what was causing him to continue to run a high fever and be so sick.

The third day in the hospital, his fever subsided. I told him my husband was a gardener and spent most of his days from early Spring until late Fall in our garden. Then he told the doctor that he had found a small tick in his beard, but had a hard time getting it out.

That’s when the doctor decided to do a blood test to check for Lymes Disease or Tick fever.

The next day he was able to come home, but we still didn’t know what had caused him to be so ill.

A few days later, the doctor called to say the blood test was positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted fever.

The reason I wanted to share this story is because ticks can be dangerous.

Whether you’re a gardener, like to be outdoors, or have an outdoor pet, there is always the possibility of getting a tick bite.

A tick bite can be harmless or cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever or Lyme Disease. My husband has had both.

Ticks are more active from March to May and from August to November but can actually be out and about when the weather is above freezing.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever(RMSF) is one of the deadliest tick-borne diseases in America. It can spread by several species of ticks found in the United States and can be fatal if not treated early with the right antibiotic.

Symptoms of RMSF are fever, nausea, vomiting, stomach and muscle pain, lack of appetite and a rash may appear in 2-4 days.

Another tick-borne disease is Lyme disease, caused by the bacteria in an infected deer tick that has fed on small animals. The diseased tick can spread when it bites a person and stays attached for a period of time; In most cases, 36 hours. Lyme disease does not spread to another person.

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