Well, you’ll never guess what NOW. Yesterday I was complaining to Dean about a little tender place on the front of my neck as we had breakfast together on our last morning in Kathmandu. Well by evening when I got to my hotel in Goa, and he was still in Kathmandu, the tiny sore on my neck was really surprisingly painful to touch, but all that I could see by the dim fluorescent light in the bathroom was a little blob which appeared dark in color. I decided that I must have traumatized a tiny skin tag while I was scratching my itchy neck over the past few days. Yes, I’ve been itchy from heat rash.
However, when I got up this morning it was even tenderer, larger, and in the brighter light of day, with my bifocal specs and my hand mirror, I suddenly realized what it was. There on my neck was a halo of pallor around the now 3-4mm blob, and then a rim of red around that, the whole thing the size of a dime. It was a tick, the size of half a pea, which was sitting there sucking my blood and anti-coagulating me! Well, when I realized this, I was pretty shaken, since it most likely was acquired initially in Chitwan National Park in Nepal, and thus had probably been latched onto me for three or four days, gradually gaining in size.
Various diseases passed by ticks, such as Lyme disease or encephalitis, are more likely to be transmitted the longer the tick is engaged especially beyond 24 hours, so I was pretty keen to get it off me ASAP.
However, I couldn’t really see to do it myself, and anyway, I didn’t want to grab the tick’s body and have it regurgitate its stomach contents (my blood plus who knows what else) into me, so I went to the reception desk to ask about a local doctor. It turned out that a doctor was on his way to see someone else at the hotel and so he would come and see me too.
He knocked at my door within 15 minutes. When I explained what I thought, he had a quick look and then reached up, grabbed the tick with his fingers, and pulled it out. Ouch! It stung sharply like a cluster of tiny thorns coming reluctantly out of my skin. He had to pull quite firmly. So much for my worry about regurge of the stomach contents. Who knows whether any mouth parts are still in my skin. Anyway, the doctor dropped the tick onto the ground, at which point it started to slowly wander across the tiles, so I stomped on it. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, knowing what I know. However, despite all the things that can be transmitted by ticks, most tick bites are innocuous, so I imagine that all will be fine.
Doctor’s instruction: wash it well. Doctor’s fee: Rs 500, or about $12. Pretty good for a doctor’s house call and treatment!
However, I couldn’t really see to do it myself, and anyway, I didn’t want to grab the tick’s body and have it regurgitate its stomach contents (my blood plus who knows what else) into me, so I went to the reception desk to ask about a local doctor. It turned out that a doctor was on his way to see someone else at the hotel and so he would come and see me too.
He knocked at my door within 15 minutes. When I explained what I thought, he had a quick look and then reached up, grabbed the tick with his fingers, and pulled it out. Ouch! It stung sharply like a cluster of tiny thorns coming reluctantly out of my skin. He had to pull quite firmly. So much for my worry about regurge of the stomach contents. Who knows whether any mouth parts are still in my skin. Anyway, the doctor dropped the tick onto the ground, at which point it started to slowly wander across the tiles, so I stomped on it. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, knowing what I know. However, despite all the things that can be transmitted by ticks, most tick bites are innocuous, so I imagine that all will be fine.
Doctor’s instruction: wash it well. Doctor’s fee: Rs 500, or about $12. Pretty good for a doctor’s house call and treatment!
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