I have known several people who contacted Lyme disease. It's not uncommon in Pa. Most people were okay after a treatment of antibiotics. My doctor recommends that when I find ticks on me, that I put them in a jar and keep it just in case I would have problems or suspect the tick. I'm a little fearful because my friend's little brother got it and it wasn't detected until late stage and he was very ill and was hospitalized for awhile because of all the neurological problems he was having. As far as I know, he is fine now but for awhile he was very, very ill.

On a similar note - dogs/cats need tick prevention like Frontline or something similar. I had my dogs on it and faithfully applied it every month and my one dog still managed to contract lyme disease. All the sudden, he was very ill - couldn't do steps, wouldn't want to move, his joints swelled up, and he would limp terribly - alternating which shoulder hurt him. The test at the vet came back negative for Lyme's but she suspected it was a different strain than what the vet's blood test could detect and we sent his blood away to a special lab and sure enough he had a rare strain of Lyme's disease. He spent 45 days on antibiotics and seems to be in the clear although it's not unheard of for dogs to relapse with symptoms periodically. My vet recommends applying flea/tick meds every two weeks during tick season since my dogs have double coats. Even doing that, I just pulled a tick off my dog's paw the other day. The vet says as many as 80% of dogs she sees contract Lyme at some point in their life. Of course that statistic is only relevant to where I live, but still is food for thought.

I've found ticks on me a couple of times. In New England, it's pretty common. If the tick is still on you, you should remove it and bring it to a pest control company. They will tell you what type of a tick it is. If it is a deer tick, you definitely want to keep an eye on it. Mine weren't deer ticks.

I contracted Lyme disease a few years ago and it was the sickest I have ever felt. Another thing to be careful of is mis-diagnosis. I went to the hospital with a bull's eye rash and the doctor told me that it was unlikely that it was Lyme and only gave me 4 days of standard antibiotics (which would not have been enough to completely knock the infection out of my system). Luckily, I sought out a second opinion of an infectious disease specialist. I never actually tested positive for the disease, which is very common, but based on my rash and symptoms they were able to diagnose me and start the proper treatment. It still took months for me to feel 100% again.

I absolutely love Parker Posey and was sad to hear she has Lyme. It's a scary and sometimes chronic disease. Under Our Skin is a good documentary to check out. People don't often mention methods of protection n' prevention. LL Bean has tick repellent clothes and if you have tick-prone, woodsy property, keep thick brush to a minimum - you can use Damminix to treat your yard. Eco-friendly alternative to dousing your land with insect spray.