Friday, January 21, 2011

Tick Update

Well no new hikes for a few days, and none until probably Sunday. I figured I'd post an update on the tick, even though there's not much to report.

My doctor did not take the tick I saved and did not seem to consider a specific test for tick-born diseases. Because it's been almost two years since I saw him, he ordered a whole panel of tests. He sent me to one of those blood testing clinics, where they took samples into four separate test tubes. Two of them had something in them, so I assume those are the ones they're going to grow a culture of. The others are probably for the standard tests--cholesterol, liver function, blood sugar, etc., etc.

I'm not all that wild about my doctor because his practice always seems more intent on collecting the co-pay and sending you off for blood tests than actually providing the specific care I seek. Nonetheless, I'm overdue for a lot of these checks, so I can't complain too much.

I'm supposed to go back on the 31st.

As I previously mentioned, my COBRA-subsidized health insurance ends at the end of the month. I'm not sure what I'll do, next. I can't afford to pay $1300 a month for health insurance. If I move to a cheaper plan, I'm not sure how much what ever they may order for me at the end of the month would cost. I probably need to make a decision about my health insurance in the next week or so.

4 comments:

  1. Oh man, good luck with that. Unfortunately, I've been living on the edge for far too long in regards to health insurance. I hope it works out for you.

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  2. Can you take a better photo of the tick? Identifying the tick will ultimately tell you if you are in danger of having lyme disease or not...

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  3. Well, I hope so. When I saw the doctor, he ran a whole panel of tests, but not specifically for Lyme. He gave me the impression that any sort of infection would have shown up, though.

    So now my wife bought me a "tick spoon," something called "Ticked Off." She used to use it to remove ticks from her landlady's cat when she was in Delaware. Now she almost wants me to go hiking in tick-infested areas so we can use the spoon!

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