Welcome To A Blog About Our Everyday Life: ellie's tick bite (UPDATED)

We've been asked quite a bit, 'what would you do if someone in your family was bit by a tick?'.....

For those that do not want to read this entire blog post, here is a bullet point list of the steps to take if you are bitten (if I have have missed a step, please message me so I can get it added):

Remove the tick, including the head of the tick
Immediately put the tick in a zip lock plastic bag and place in the freezer. Mark on the zip lock bag the date you were bitten by the tick
Mark on your calendar the date you were bit and start watching for symptoms of Lyme Disease. The symptoms will usually not begin showing for 2 weeks but can begin sooner or later.
Do your best to identify what type of tick you were bitten by (see below for the tick identification chart)
Begin watching the bite site. If you notice the spot developes a rash or raised area around it, take your tick out of the freezer and get it sent off IMMEDIATELY to a tick testing facility (we have used University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter). The tick can be tested for Lyme and other co infections.
For extra precaution, your Lyme Literate doctor may also recommend that you get tested, using IGeneX labs or another similar lab.
No matter what, even if you do nothing else, keep any tick you are bit by (stored in a zip lock in your freezer)

Now we'll get back to the blog post :)

Last night, Ellie and I were sitting on the couch. She was sitting on my lap and I was reading her a book. Her head was sitting just below my chin and her wild curls kept sticking in my lip gloss. At one point, I smoothed down the hair on the top of her head and my finger caught something that felt like a moveable scab. I instantly stopped reading and started sorting through her hair to determine what it was I was feeling.

'There's a tick on the top of Ellie's head, Matt!!'

As Matt started sorting through her hair, we both were trying to determine if the tick was embedded in the top of her head, or, if it was trying to embed but the amount of hair it had to go through to actually get skin was preventing it from biting Ellie.

Ellie has A LOT of hair :)

Matt pulled it out, head in tact, and I put it immediately on a piece of clear tape. Be very careful when you are removing your tick. Do your best to make sure you have the entire tick removed (it is common to remove the tick body while accidentally leaving the head)
The tape was folded up around the tick very carefully.

We then needed to determine what kind of tick was on Ellie- After using the chart below, we know it was an American Dog Tick (Male). The American Dog Tick can carry Lyme Disease.

Once a person is bit by a tick, you immediately start watching for a bullseye rash to appear around the tick bite. You also start watching for flu like symptoms (usually takes about 2 weeks after a bite to start seeing the symptoms of Lyme Disease- a good way to remember the date of the tick bite is to write it on your calendar). Since we were not sure if Ellie was actually bit or if the tick was just caught up in her hair, we started watching the place on her head where the tick was. This morning we noticed that a red scab had appeared at the tick site (no bullseye rash, only a red scab).

With the knowledge that Ellie was bit by a tick, we took the next step and will send the tick to Tick Encounter to have it tested for pathogens most commonly found in the American Dog Tick. The tick will be mailed first thing Monday morning and the results will be to us by early the following week. The cost to have a tick tested through Tick Encounter is $50.
If, in the meantime, Ellie developed a bullseye rash around the tick bite site or any other 'symptoms', we will immediately start her on (the antibiotic) Doxycycline. If the tick comes back positive for Lyme, Babesia, etc. we will start her on Doxycycline. We will do all of this within a 2 week window of the tick bite.

I will keep you all posted about the tick results!!

P.S. If you are bit by a tick but do not want to send if off for testing, save the tick in a ziplock bag and put it in your freezer. Watch the area where you are bit for a bullseye rash, if one developes, go to your doctor immediately and start on Doxycycline (or if you develop flu like symptoms around the 2 week mark after you are bit). At this point, take the tick out of your freezer and GET IT TESTED- A good resource for testing is University of Rhode Island's Tick Testing. For the contact info and instructions how to send your tick for testing, please click HERE.

UPDATE:
I sent a message asking Tick Encounter if it was ok that I put the tick on tape. I also asked if a tick that has been frozen for days or weeks could still be tested. Please see our messages below.