My worst nightmare
Posted on May 15, 2007 @ 7:47 am
No, I’m not talking about the nightmare where I’m starring as Willy Wonka in a stage production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and can’t for the life of me remember any of my lines. I’m talking about my real worst nightmare. The one thing I’ve dreaded since I was a small child. The thing that gives me a severe case of the jibblies just thinking about. Well, that nightmare came true last night.
I found a tick on myself.
I absolutely abhor the thought of a tick embedding itself in my supple flesh, yet there it was — taking up residence on my hip. Drinking in my deliciously nutritious blood. Spreading God knows what diseases. Oh, and most of all, creeping me the hell out.
My immediate reaction was to run around the house, sobbing, waving my arms, and screaming, “Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!” Eventually, my wife got me to stand still long enough for her to yank it out with a pair of tweezers. Afterwards, she calmly declared, “Oh, look — it’s a Dermacentor variabilis. Female, if I’m not mistaken.”
It’s times like this when being married to a vet is less comforting than it sounds.
Anyway, I’m parasite-free now (to the best of my knowledge). Of course, I can still feel “phantom sucking” from the spot where the tick had attached itself. And I’m developing psychosomatic Lyme disease symptoms including fatigue, achy joints, headache, and malaise (of course, in all fairness, I’ve suffered from a general malaise for years now). Just to be on the safe side, I think I’ll just stay in bed for the next week and bathe in rubbing alcohol every few hours.
<shudder>
So, what really skeeves you out?
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Life in a Nutshell |
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i had lyme disease a few summers ago. it absolutely SUCKED. i have never felt so lethargic in my life. if you start to see a bullseye shaped rash forming around where the tick was, GO TO THE DOCTOR.
Been there, done that, except my tick was going after my abdomen. Luckily, I’m pretty sure I didn’t catch the Lyme.
i’ve always hated reading any story that takes place in the amazon because, invariably, there will be some reference to bugs nesting in someone’s body and babies being hatched etc etc etc. one of my absolute worst fears. i hate bugs. i would especially hate bugs that burrowed into me and took up residence.
and on that happy note, hi Jess! happy tuesday!
I had a tick when I was like 4 or 5. My parents burned it off with a match, if I remember right.
BTW, they didn’t use open flame… they put out the flame then put the match onto it immediately.
I generally get over creepy crawly feelings. Like one time this caterpillar landed on me out of the trees and I found it on me in my class. I just showed it to my classmates and such, haha. then I set it free. Then I realized my campus was infested with them and novelty was gone.
But…oh my god…House Centipedes. Those things are the nastiest ever.
Ticks are only scary because of Lyme Disease. I once found on in my hair but it hadn’t latched. The time I had a leech latched on me was worse I think. I do have a problem with cockroaches, but that is probably because when I lived in Louisiana I woke up in the middle of the night because one fell on me. EEE
Yikes thankfully i’ve never been bitten by a tick, but the idea has always scared this city girl.
congrats on being parasite free!
Oh, do I know the feeling. My girlfriend’s a biology major, wanting to be a zoologist. She’s constantly ooing and ahing over things that creep other people out.
That! That is what skeeves me out. It always has, but I guess it’s a passive discomfort because until you talked about it, I’d kind of forgotten. It usually only comes out when I’m in the woods. Gross!
Hmm, what skeeves me out? Probably when a guy describes his flesh as “supple”. That’s about as creepy as it can get…
Once, my mom put a bandaid on what she thought was a cut on one of her shoulders. After a day or so, it seemed to still be open, so she asked one of my sisters to look at it since it was too far back for her to see. It turned out that it had actually been a tick - and my mom crushed it with the bandaid. Now that’s hardcore!
Uh… pretty much that. And spiders.
I found a tarantula in my shower in Mexico.
Slugs. They have always freaked me out, they are unnatural.
Ticks are so disgusting… gahhh!
Lice skeeves me out though… what in the hell are they good for?
I got a leech on me once.
I hate it when an African Burrowing Bugaboo drills its way into your skin and lays its eggs under it.
leeches. leeches are just wrong.
Yep, the ticks skeeve me too. I found one inside my bra about 10 days ago and pulled it off before I realized what it was….eeeeeeeewwwww.
I also hate dogs licking me too. Those people that say “Give me a kiss” to their dogs? Insane. And I have a big ol dog. She just knows not to lick.
ACK!! I just saw a segment on ticks and their proper removal on Oprah. Apparently, burning it off your body is not a good idea. Strange, it works on so many other common household ailments…
Glad you got the sucker off though. And trust me, I’ve been laying around in bed for years save for periodic soaks in alcohol. It’s the only way to pass the time.
P.S. Malaise forever!!!!
6 or more legs is enough to scare the beejeebers out of me and all over the floor!
The ‘leech scene’ from “Stand By Me” still freaks me out too.