Bullseye – I Thought It was Bad Before

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While I do know that The best laid plans of Mice and Men often go awry, I was less than pleased about this latest setback. But I’m a big girl. Stuff happens.

Time to strap on the big girl pants, I ventured to the Centro de Saude. The Dr took one look at my knee, poked it a bit, quickly tired of the resulting howl I emitted, then promptly sent me to the hospital to see an orthopedic Dr. I kind of figured that was going to happen.

At the hospital they took me right in and ordered up the xrays, MRI, etc. Afterwards, I was laying on a bed in a triage area waiting for my results. It’s like a big bullpen area with a bunch of patients laying in beds too. None of us was bleeding profusely or in danger of losing a limb. It was low risk, less scary stuff going on in our room. I was on my phone most of the time reading.

Suddenly, in walks a Dr straight from central casting. Like one of those Soap Opera doctors on tv. Where the wind came from that blew through his perfectly styled hair when he walked towards us all in slow motion, I do not know. But he was unconcerned with having a lock out of place. As a confident Dr who was clearly in charge, he has no time for such frivolity. He’s too busy saving lives, for God’s sake. At least thats what the script says.

Following closely in his wake was a gaggle of very earnest looking Residents (new Drs). They all appeared to be a foot shorter than him (there has gotta be a casting director at that hospital or it’s in Dr Moviestar’s contract), looking up at their mentor with unabashed adoration, while clutching clipboards full of important notes they were jotting down any time he deigned to produce an utterance.

Dr Moviestar stopped at some beds and spoke to the patients. Then he quizzed the adoring crowd on what I believe were possible treatments, complications, etc. My medical Espanol is not great, but brown noser is a universal language. ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ As arms shot up.

I watched the group get closer. My injured leg was covered by the sheet, but my left leg was outside of it. And before you think it was because of Dr Moviestar, it wasn’t. It was hot in the room. And not just from the steamy Dr. 😉

With my sad Spanish I figured a) it would be a short stop over, or b) it might give one of the gaggle an opportunity to show off their ingles on all matters related to knee injuries. But we barely got that far.

Dr. Moviestar turned his blue eyed gaze my way. I’m pretty sure I heard music playing and bird song. Then his long, naturally curly dark lash-framed eyes widened in horror as he looked, not at my injured knee under the sheet, but at the one that was bent outside it. I wanted to say ‘Hey now. Don’t give me that look. I’m freaking 55!’ But, it appeared his expression wasn’t a beauty assessment of my good leg.

Sorry but as requested – A pic of what Lyme Disease looks like

He approached me and asked me to shift a bit so he could get a better look. I complied, confused while trying to explain that it is my right leg that is the issue. But he ignored me, poking at a tender spot on the back of my thigh where I had gotten an itchy bug bite on the Camino. Then he quizzed the group, who appeared stumped by what they were seeing.

The orthopedic Dr approached to tell me the results about my knee, but Dr Moviestar stopped her before she could deliver the news I had been waiting for.

‘This patient has Lyme Disease.’ He told her as the hoard gathered round. Gasp! Seems I had a big bullseye on the underside of my left thigh.

The other Dr peered around them and her eyes widened in horror, as well. She had examined my right leg. She had not rolled me over to inspect the back side of my opposite leg. And I wouldn’t have expected her to. I didn’t come to have my bug bites examined. And I had no idea I had been biten by a tick on my ill-fated Camino. Spain has ticks?!? And Lyme Disease?!?

So I have a torn meniscus. Big deal. Don’t laugh (I know it’s crazy, right?!?), but who had Lyme disease on their Kelli Bingo Card? Certainly not Kelli. But if I hadn’t injured my knee I never would have known about the tick bite. Suddenly, the injured knee is now a huge gift. You can get a new knee – my Dad got two of them. But, apparently, the results from Lyme disease can be devastating, debilitating and life-long. While I’m grateful for this knee thing, I’m even more grateful for Dr Moviestar. Call his agent! Whatever he makes they should double it. Because, all joking aside, he truly is saving lives. I think he just saved mine.

20 thoughts on “Bullseye – I Thought It was Bad Before”

    • I love my hiking skirt but will never walk again in anything but long, light colored leg wear. Never knew about tick checks or even treating clothes for ticks. But I do now. Glad you will benefit from my mishap. Only a week to go! I hope it’s wonderful.

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  • OMG! Thank you for your post/picture. I’m sorry you had not 1 issue but 2. You are truly lucky that they found the tick bite. I hope the meds help and you are feeling better soon. I can sympathize with you on both issues. I had a torn meniscus and a bad tick bite (not Lymes). I got the knee fixed but the tick bite did a number on me. I did find my tick but didn’t save it for the Dr’s to test. I know now that it’s important to do that so they can be sure of what disease it could carry. I got really sick and they hospitalized me as I started to get close to sepsis! I had to go through rounds of Antibiotics and even was isolated. The infectious disease Dr was saying that there are several new species of ticks that they cannot identify and they think I was bitten by one. So, it’s something everyone needs to be aware of when walking the Camino. Take care of yourself and good luck with your Albergue.

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    • I’m sorry you went thru that. It sounds A LOT worse than Lyme. But great information to have going forward. Not just for the Camino but for tall grass on the farm. I’ll focus on healing completely and getting all the necessary permissions and tax stuff set up fir the business. Use this time wisely.

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  • Wow! Two for the price of one!
    Yes, you were so lucky. I’ve had Lyme twice that I’ve been treated for—from the Appalachian Trail and living on the coast of Maine, it’s impossible to avoid. Bullseye once, but the second time it didn’t appear. Luckily I found the tick and was tested the second time. That’s when the antibiotic dose goes up to six weeks! Excellent doctor to notice!
    You caught it early, but now you’ll always be checking after being in the grass or woods.
    I’m sorry about the torn meniscus, but I think you’ve shown the world how good health care in Spain is! Maybe you should be their PR spokeswoman!
    I wish you a speedy recovery and continued good attitude about what you’ve had to deal with this past year. Attitude is everything!
    I’ll hopefully be walking the Mozárabe from Almeria to the VdlP to the Sanabrés next April and now I am forewarned to do my tick checks daily.
    Be well!
    Lynn

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  • Congrats on making it sound less dramatic than it is. I want to see the mark or the spot that made him diagnose that. I want to be informed sabout Lyme suddenly.

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  • Boom 💥, you hit the jackpot 🎰. What’s the treatment for both? Is the tick still there?
    Gary’s physiotherapist in the hospital here was similar to your Dr Moviestar, very handsome, surrounded by a gaggle of, mostly female, students all hanging on his every word. Gary was unimpressed.

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