“What do you mean ‘the doctor tossed your tick in the trash’?” I asked the caller on the phone, after they reached out to me for help connecting them with a Lyme literate provider. “Well, the doctor said it was a dog tick and so I had nothing to worry about.”

This is where I take a deep breath and choose my words carefully. I don’t want to add to this patient’s concern but with so much good/bad, old/new information floating around, you want to know that what you’re being told is accurate information and it infuriates me to no end when patients tell me that their doctor threw away the tick they removed or brought in.

Listen to me very carefully: Doctors cannot test ticks in their medical offices. They do not have the proper equipment to do so and, based on the growing epidemic of new cases of patients being misdiagnosed, many lack the knowledge to properly diagnose and treat. Hence, the reason patients are chronically ill far longer than they have to be.

Here are some common examples that I deal with:

Bob is bitten by a tick over the weekend and calls his doctor Monday morning. He goes in with his tick in a Ziploc bag. The doctor states it is just a dog tick but not to worry because they are not known to carry Lyme and throws tick in the trash. Since Bob has no symptoms, he is sent home. Weeks later, Bob calls back with a list of symptoms and thus begins his long and expensive journey of tests and treatments that sometimes works, sometimes not.

Joe is bitten by a tick over the weekend and calls his doctor Monday morning. He goes in with his tick in a Ziploc bag. The doctor states it is a dog tick and recommends sending it to UMaine Tick Lab in Orono for testing. Doctor explains that dog ticks carry other debilitating tick-borne diseases. Since Joe has no symptoms, he is sent home with tick testing instructions. Four days later, Joe gets an email with his tick testing results — tick was negative for pathogens. Alternate ending: Since Joe has no symptoms, he is sent home with tick testing instructions and products to boost his immune system while he waits for results of tick testing. Four days later, Joe gets an email with his tick testing results — tick was positive for Erlichiosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He calls his doctor with results and when asked if he is symptomatic, to which he responds no, is told that he’s probably fine.

Wait! What? He’s “probably fine?”

Weeks even months later, my phone rings and it is Bob, calling for help because he has remained symptomatic even though his doctor told him he was fine. Oh, and Joe is calling in too because he’s nervous about having been exposed to a tick-borne infection and is seeking more information.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, contact us info@mldse.org or visit our website www.mldse.org for more information, available support and resources.

Paula is the president of the MLDSE, 2018 co-chair of the Access to Care Services and Patient Support subcommittee of the federal HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group, the Maine-partner of the national Lyme Disease Association, member of Maine’s CDC Vector-borne Workgroup and active in Maine’s Lyme legislation.