Content warning: creepy crawlies

I had an Incident. Saturday afternoon I went for a hike with two of my friends. One of them insisted I let her spray me with tick repellent. After I got home I sat around for a couple of hours, ate dinner, relaxed, then discovered I had a tick attached to my calf in spite of the spray. I should have showered and taken off my hiking clothes as soon as I got home. I found another adult tick, unattached, while showering and then found a couple of pinpoint sized ones over the course of the next few hours because I sure as hell wasn’t sleeping. Besides I had to get the clothes in the dryer. But for some reason even though I’ve found ticks on me before, this one set off a full-body whole-life panic attack that is still ongoing. I’m crying at everything. Everyone is irritating me. And I just feel itchy and crawly all the time. I’ve examined crevices of my body I haven’t looked at in years. I shaved places I haven’t shaved in years. I’ve made my husband do several full body exams…he didn’t seem to mind somehow.

Apologies if I’ve now contaminated you with the creepies.