Last night, while we started to eat at Applebee’s, Sarena said, “What is this?” as she was pointing to something in the back of her hair. I looked across and saw some pea-sized black thing. Shiow-Lih saw it was a bug of some kind, grabbed a napkin, and disagreeably tried to disengage the sucker. It apparently had been feasting well on Sarena’s head. In a controlled hysteria, she placed the plump parasite on the table and used the steak knife and gave it several jabs. I went to grab some more napkins to clean off the blood. Meanwhile, the manager noticed something was going on and came over and asked what was the matter. We said we found a bug in Sarena’s hair. She said it was a tick. Our waitor then came over and confirmed too it was a tick. They also hastened to add that it was on there a long time (I guess implying that she didn’t get it in the restaurant).
I didn’t have the insurance cards with me, so we ran home, put the leftovers in the fridge and then went to the hospital emergency room. Actually, it was the first time I’ve ever been in a hospital emergency room. And it’s definitely much different than ER (the TV show). I was looking for people with gun wounds or heart attack victims, but the only thing was a guy came in with a splinter in his eye.
We had to fill out a bunch of (electronic) paperwork. Come on, it’s just a tick bite, I’m not trying to close on a house. The one that stood out was that I had to sign an agreement that I’d pay for the services. And they were sure to do that before telling me how much it’d cost. Good thing I have insurance, or I’d really be hesitant to sign it.
The nurse that came to see her was not the type that would win any nurse of the year award. She didn’t try to be pleasant and actually, rather, she was a bit unpleasant. However, she did confirm that it was just a dog tick, so there’s usually nothing to be worried of. She then prescribed an assistant to clean the area with soap and put on some antibiotic cream and give her a tetanus shot.
We waited it seemed like close to half an hour for the shot. We got tired waiting in that room and went out and asked what’s the holdup. They eventually explained that they had to order the tetanus shot from the pharmacy. So, we then went to the waiting room where they had some interesting toys for Sarena and Avram to play with.
When the time came for Sarena to get a shot, she took it like a champ and didn’t even let out a whimper. I was pretty impressed.
Now, today I need to call my primary physician to let them know what happened, otherwise the insurance might not cover the emergency room visit.
Links:
How to remove a tick
How to remove a tick
The best way to remove a tick
How to remove a tick
How to remove a tick