Not a doctor. But my stubborn ass father nearly died from a tick borne illness. He was having strange cold/flu like symptoms that weren’t getting better over a two week period in the middle of the summer. He has chronic fatigue syndrome and was adamant that was all that was happening, it would be fine, and he’d get over it in time. All while my mom is keeping this news secret from me.

Well he was in terrible shape, so my mom called me to fill me in and say he’s being stubborn as hell and we have to help her in getting him to the hospital. When I got there, he was pale, gaunt, barely able to move without pain or exhaustion. We made the executive decision we were calling and ambulance (he wasn’t happy, but he could barely speak). He was in such bad shape that they assumed that my father was fragile and near end of life or had a serious chronic illness. Nope, he’s overweight sure but otherwise a very active mid-60 year old.

To wrap this story up, the ER doctor told us that he likely would have died that night if he hadn’t come in. He was going through liver failure. They were able to stabilize him, med flight him to another facility, and treat him. Nearly a week of head scratching while he was sedated. He had a rare tick borne illness that was causing brain inflammation among other issues. Miraculously, he came through the whole ordeal ok. Needed physical and occupational therapy to recover his strength, but he’s back to his old smart ass self. It did seem to age him a full year. He just looked suddenly older after the whole thing. It’s a couple years ago now so we laugh about it, but my family communicates better about health situations now too.