Blessed to be Broken

It’s been a minute since anything ridiculous happened in my life but that minute is up.

It was a day pretty much like any other day until I decided to take a shower mid-afternoon.

Why mid-afternoon? Because I can. Duh!

I turned the shower on, and then got my birthday suit ready to hop in. Ok, maybe more like gingerly step in, so as not to start a dance move that wound up with me in the emergency room, all twisted up.

As I passed by my bathroom mirror, I noticed a red spot on my left torso.

What in the world is that? I twisted my torso and raised my arm up to get a better look.

How on earth did I scratch myself there? No blood, but it’s already scabbed over? It doesn’t even hurt. Huh.

Like any sane person, I grabbed my go to spray bottle of peroxide, and started to douse the boo-boo.

Grown ups still say boo-boo, right?

I waited for the stinging from the peroxide, but nothing happened. Hmmm. That’s weird.

I guess, I’ll just shower and see if the scab comes off in the shower.

No, lemme see if I can just pick it off. Oh, don’t think I don’t already know you do that too despite knowing we’re not supposed to. No judging.

But, before I pick it off, let me get my compact sized 10X magnifying mirror to see if I can get a better look.

Fail. The whole thing just looked like a blobby blur.

Great.

Let me just reach uncomfortably, and most awkwardly to this not so easy to reach place, and try to get this scabby thing off.

After a couple of seconds, I managed to what I felt like get the scab off, but nothing was on my fingers.

Uggghhhh. Let’s try it again, and not pull a muscle or tweak my back. Victory! I got it this time.

I placed the scabby thing on top of the 10X magnifying mirror. Could I really tell what it was? No. No, I could not.

So, I walked out of the bathroom, and got what I call my “smart glasses” so I could see better.

With my magnified smart glasses on, I got close enough to see the scabby thing wasn’t a scab at all.

Wait, is that scabby thing moving? Are those teeny tiny legs? Yes. Yes it is, and they are.

Being the inspector Gadget’s you all are, you probably already deduced it was….dun, dun, dun….a tick.

This is when I would say the realization hit me, that I had a tick on my person.

Sweet, baby Jesus, help me. What do I do now? Do I shower, do I go to urgent care, did I get the dang head of the beast out? So many questions, and me just pacing back and forth in my mind as to what to do next.

I know, I’ll bag that uninvited menacing hitchhiker up, so I can show it to the people at urgent care.

This is where I believe pirates get the phrase “shiver me timbers,” because all my timbers were a shivering. So gross.

After bagging that bad boy up, I decided to shower. I think that was one of the quickest showers I ever took.

After all that was said and done, I drove to urgent care. Thankfully, my son had called, and I was able to talk with him on my way there.

Lord knows the thoughts in my head woulda been outta control. Despite knowing I’m supposed to take every thought captive.

The people at urgent care were nice but very unimpressed by my tick, my heart rate, or my blood pressure.

They weren’t even impressed I got the whole tick out with my fingers, and that it was still creepy crawling around in the baggie. Ewwww!

I digress. The doctor did his once over, and then proceeded to tell me what was going to happen next, and what to look for in the coming days, and weeks.

I kept trying to close my mouth, but it kept falling open with each symptom he presented to keep an eye out for. Holy tick Batman! Who knew what one teeny tiny beastie thing could do?!!!

I mean, I heard things, but you know nothing makes you sit up straight, and pay strict attention until it happens to you.

They gave me a dose of antibiotics, and a topical cream, and sent me on my way ensuring I totally understood I’d need to see my Primary Care Doctor in 4-6 weeks for a full panel tick test. Check, check and check.

Ok, this is the part where I tell you about earlier in the day, before said creeptastic hitchhiker caught my attention.

I was in the middle of my online Jazzercise class when I paused the routine and took a drink of water. I decided a prayer of thanks was in order so, I thanked God for the ability to work out.

I thanked Him for showing me how my body was built for ability, and not for vanity. I thanked Him for helping me get through my current work out, and helping me to die to my flesh, and emotions, that didn’t want to work out.

This is the good part. Remember this was before I knew about the tick.

I then thanked Him for healing, and or curing my body from anything past, present, and future. I dare say I even teared up a bit before I continued with my workout.

So, now, here I am, a day later after said body invasion and so far, so good. I’m staying vigilant, but I’m also trusting this unknown thing to my loving and all knowing God.

I have no clue where I picked up my menacing hitchhiker, but I do know, the only way I saw that thing in the first place was because I turned my head at exactly just the right moment, passing by a mirror I could care less I saw my body in.

Coincidence? Like Gibbs used to say on NCIS, “Rule #39; there are no coincidences”.

So, check your body for ticks people. Because, yes, it could happen to you! Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And, I warn you, because I truly care about you!

Go with God my friends, this too shall pass.