EmUrgent Care

   I have to say I hate their name.  I get it, but I still hate the way it looks and sounds.  My next observation  is that the reception desk area is wide and open, no shatterproof protective glass or any way for the employees to lock themselves in, unusual in this day and age.  But this is Mechanicville and not  a dangerous place to be.  Unless of course you go back to the  1976 sniper  attack on Joyce's Tavern where a dozen people were shot by the black sheep son of an influential family. Only 2 of the victims died though, so it wasn't that serious.
    The building itself is very spacious, with quite a few examining rooms. I try to figure out the location of the last time I was in a room there: I could be in the very spot where my cat had inflicted bloody scratches on the arms of the cat groomer.  But that was almost 2 years ago.  This is now, and the configuration is completely different.
   I'd  had a few hours free, so I decided to get an antibiotic for a tick bite.  I've had tick bites before with no treatment, even the times I visited a doctor, though twice I had the blood test which read negative for Lyme Disease.  The other ticks I was able to pick off or tweeze out, sometimes with the help of others, but this time the tick has burrowed deep beneath the skin of my leg, and  broke off when I tried to remove it.  I might have missed it in the shower  especially since I missed a shower the day before when the water supply was cut off due to the installation of our new Culligan softener. They say it's important that ticks don't remain on you for more than 24 hours and since I didn't go out in the rain, it's a strong possibility the tick has overstayed.
    Laura, the P.A. of the Dave and Don visits,  hobbles in, her foot enclosed in a boot cast.  Turns out she suffered a stress fracture of her foot walking on a sandy beach while on vacation.  She asks why I'm there and then if I have any ongoing conditions. She says she hasn't looked at my records, all that idiocy that we assiduously fill out. It can't be that she was too busy---I was the only patient there.  She takes a look at my tick, says the area looks inflamed,and prescribes an antibiotic which has the twofold purpose of fighting the inflammation and also Lyme Disease. So I'm covered, unless, of course I develop symptoms, and then the protocol is to  go to an emergency room.
     That's why I came, so I'm satisfied, though the charge of $265 for the visit seems pretty high, considering it was a hands-off visit. I don't care though, because I'm one of the fortunate with health insurance.
     She sees no problem with the tick's head remaining where it is, says the head is not toxic and that it will come out when the skin scabs over.
      I'm reminded of a long ago issue of LIFE Magazine.  My father, a fan of Ripley-like stories, is showing a picture of a headless chicken, which is standing up and walking around. Someone had chopped its head off for a meal, but the chicken, a rooster I think, had refused to lay down and die, so the would-be executioner had a change of heart and decided to let it live.  They poured nourishment down its open neck.  So if a chicken can live without a head, can the head of a louse live without a body?   The food source is right there.  I'm not interested in harboring any more pets so I hope the answer is no.