Life of Joy

Today elphaba_of_oz found a bullseye rash, and she did something very, very unusual upon finding it.

Within hours, she went to the doctor and had it examined.

Because she did this, she is already on the antibiotics that give her an excellent chance of not experiencing the extraordinarily, really fucking bad, long-term consequences of Lyme disease.

Medical anthropologists and sociologists know that delay in seeking medical care is a normal part of most people's behavior in the U.S. It is relatively unusual for someone to have a symptom immediately checked. Because of inconvenience, nervousness and fear, people usually dither about with this sort of thing.

The consequences of dithering are sometimes neutral and sometimes very, very bad. In the case of Lyme, it would have been disastrous.

It is unusually smart behavior to get things checked immediately. It is unusually wise behavior to listen when people say "go to the doctor right away".

If you are looking for smart behavior to emulate---if you are looking to stand apart from the crowd, and be productively different---emulate this.

NOTE: If you follow the link above to her journal and click on the 'replies' to her first entry about the bullseye rash she found, you will see a reply in which onxytwilight provides a link to a webpage on Lyme disease. This link has a selection of photos depicting different bullseye rashes, on light, medium and dark skin. If you take a look, you will have a really good idea of what to look for in the future if you suspect Lyme disease is being signalled by an odd-looking rash.

Last week, one of my university students disclosed an HIV+ status to me. This student is extremely intelligent, very hard-working and exceedingly kind. The diagnosis came 3 weeks ago. At this student's request, I gave her/him a copy of my diss, though I did not expect it to be of much help. Our conversation and any support I could offer over the semester, I thought, would help more.

( Read more... )