The Moos Room™

00;00;11;03 - 00;00;25;22
Brad
And welcome to The Moos Room. Brad and Emily again. It's we. We are on a streak here. It's kind of crazy that we're. I guess summer is coming, but we're together again.

00;00;25;25 - 00;00;38;16
Emily
We. Well, we did it. We have gotten our poop in a group three weeks in a row now, so. Right. Yeah. Summer is coming. So don't expect this story to last forever. But no.

00;00;38;16 - 00;01;00;24
Brad
I don't expect it will. It's gonna get crazy really fast. Side note the cows in Morris at our dairy have gone to pasture. They went this week. So the grass is green, the grass is growing, the cows are happy. We're all getting into that spring and summer grazing mode. So it's it's going to go crazy really fast.

00;01;00;27 - 00;01;14;04
Emily
Well, and I know in my neck of the woods it's been a little dry, but we've gotten two good kind of shots of rain and I know how much that's helped my lawn. So have you guys gotten rain out there? And Morris, does that help the pasture?

00;01;14;07 - 00;01;33;04
Brad
We have. We got about a half inch, within the last day or so. So now the grass is just going to grow like crazy and it'll help the crops to. So it's much needed rain. We haven't had much rain out here this spring, so it's been, well needed within the last few days.

00;01;33;07 - 00;01;43;19
Emily
Yeah. Me as always, kind of my favorite when you get that first kind of good rain. And it seems like overnight everything goes from brown to green. I love that.

00;01;43;21 - 00;01;46;03
Brad
It is so nice. It is so nice.

00;01;46;05 - 00;01;54;05
Emily
You know? But with that right, I'm going to lead us in here. Bradley, even though you're supposed to lead today. I'm sorry.

00;01;54;07 - 00;01;55;23
Brad
But if you go right ahead. But you got it.

00;01;55;25 - 00;02;08;25
Emily
This is greening up. And if there's one thing we know but don't talk about very much with grass greening up, the ticks come out with that, don't they, Bradley?

00;02;08;27 - 00;02;40;14
Brad
They sure do. I've seen them out already. I've seen some crawling. My kids have had some crawling on them there. They are definitely out there. And May is National Lyme Disease Month. So I think we're going to spend the next few minutes, however long it goes. Talking about some Lyme disease and hearing firsthand some of you might have heard my story before, but actually there's more.

00;02;40;16 - 00;02;50;01
Brad
My story didn't end at just Lyme disease. And we'll talk about all of that as we as we go through. It was way more than just Lyme.

00;02;50;03 - 00;03;20;03
Emily
Yeah. You know, and I think that's part of having a Lyme Disease Awareness month, right. Of course, May is also mental health Awareness month, but we are taking a pause from that to also recognize that it is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. And like Bradley said, this is something that has directly impacted him. And I, I don't want to be the sharer of his story, but if you have been paying attention, this is something that's been going on for two years now.

00;03;20;05 - 00;03;41;26
Emily
So, you know, we we aren't just, like, talking about this for fun or, you know, just because we want another holiday or awareness month to, to talk to you about. But we're really wanting to talk about this because the impacts of it are real. And farmers are a part of the high risk group for getting Lyme disease.

00;03;41;28 - 00;04;06;24
Emily
And one other thing I will just mention briefly, Lyme disease is vastly underreported. Right. So we'll talk some numbers on diagnosis of Lyme disease, but it is probably one of the most underreported, you know, reasons, just because we don't always catch it. Right. But I'm, I'm really getting ahead of myself and it's it's the Brad the show today.

00;04;06;24 - 00;04;10;10
Emily
So Brad I will I will flip it back to you.

00;04;10;12 - 00;04;35;00
Brad
I never want it to make about my show, but I tell my story so other people can be informed. If you have unexplained symptoms or get bit by tick, you know what's happening? There is no doubt in my mind I got it from being in pastures where cattle are in long grass, doing whatever I was doing, taking samples, you name it.

00;04;35;00 - 00;04;57;02
Brad
And because we have lots of deer around, we have lots of mice which are vectors to Lyme disease. So that is where it came from. So from a farmer perspective, I think it's important that farmers know a lot about that and how to prevent it. And if you see symptoms, how you should take care of that.

00;04;57;05 - 00;05;17;15
Emily
So I mean, take us back Brad. The when I mean, I know I said about two years, but when did this all start. What did you notice first? And do you recall, like having to remove ticks off of you? In the time that this all started?

00;05;17;17 - 00;05;47;01
Brad
No, it really started back in probably late July of 2023. So that's almost two years ago. It's kind of crazy. It's gone on this long. But that's that can be some issues. I had noticed a bite or whatever it was. I thought it was a mosquito bite. It's really bad for a while, like a mosquito bite does. And it didn't really turn into a rash or anything.

00;05;47;01 - 00;06;13;21
Brad
It was on the back of my leg and I'm like, oh, a mosquito bite me. And, you know, it's it's probably all right. And it went away after a few days like mosquito bites do, and move on with your life. Well, kind of during our county fair and into the state Fair, I started feeling not so great, started to get tired, rundown, didn't really know what it was.

00;06;13;21 - 00;06;45;28
Brad
Of course, stress working too much, you name it, trying to power through it and you never really thought about anything. It's just, Brad needs to relax, not work so hard, not be so stressed out, and it'll all get better. Well, it didn't, as as the time went on through, September started to get, more symptoms. Most of it was just really fatigue was probably the biggest thing, get tired, didn't really have any other pains.

00;06;46;00 - 00;07;18;09
Brad
Into. Oh, where where should I be? Late September, I started getting other symptoms. So there were days I would sit in my office with the lights off and sunglasses on to see my computer screen because of light sensitivity. So you start having light sensitivities and that was probably one of the big flags. Light sensitivity, fatigue were were probably the two that came on right away.

00;07;18;11 - 00;07;39;11
Brad
And so I went to the doctor and actually I, I had a plugged ear, that I thought was an ear infection. So I went to the doctor. They're like, oh yeah, you got fluid in your ear, you know, here, take some over-the-counter drugs. And it'll it'll clear up. So that's what I did. Did it clear up?

00;07;39;11 - 00;08;06;26
Brad
No. Two weeks later, back to the doctor. I got fluid on my ear. You're still feels like it's full. So then they give me some steroids, etcetera, to clear the fluid out of my ear. And did that work? No, that didn't work either. So then I was, Then actually, after that, I started to get, vertigo, dizziness.

00;08;06;27 - 00;08;37;28
Brad
I'd wake up in the middle of the night and things would be spinning, and which is actually not a good sign, because that is means. That means that the limb has gone to your brain and is in your nervous system. So I would have dizzy spells once in a while. So then I, I was speaking at World Dairy Expo that week, and probably the biggest symptom that I have, and that is still actually ongoing a little bit is ringing in my ears.

00;08;37;28 - 00;09;00;29
Brad
I'd wake up and my ears were ringing. So bad that I wouldn't get any sleep at night. It was I put music I'd wear, earbuds to bed with music so loud just to help me fall asleep. And then I decided after I got back from World Dairy Expo, kind of the same week, that I needed to go back to the doctor again.

00;09;01;02 - 00;09;25;03
Brad
Because Brad is doing some researching online, trying to, you know, dare I say, self-diagnose, but trying to figure out what's going on, what what it is, and everything that I researched based on symptoms that are were having was it would all go back to Lyme disease or a tick bite of some sort. It was that was, you know, heck, I had anthrax.

00;09;25;03 - 00;09;31;23
Brad
I had everything under the sun. But the things that were kind of happening, it all went back to Lyme disease.

00;09;31;25 - 00;09;55;19
Emily
So, Brad, you've talked a lot about, you know, the physical symptoms. And of course, that's a main component of Lyme disease. But I'm curious if you don't mind sharing, you know, what was your mental health like during this time. You know what what impact, if any, did it have on that?

00;09;55;22 - 00;10;27;21
Brad
Actually, mental health was probably pretty good through September and such. I think once I really started feeling big symptoms, vertigo, spinning, especially the ringing in my ears, I would say my mental health status went south really fast. That was the hard part. Was who, you know, you start spiraling into things and you don't know what's going on and what is it.

00;10;27;21 - 00;10;51;00
Brad
And yeah, you just kind of lay around and don't do much. So it was it was, it was pretty bad for a while. Just once I started getting those symptoms and into my when I started treatment, which we'll get to in a second. It was it was not good. Not good, I'll tell you that. Probably more depression.

00;10;51;02 - 00;10;59;15
Brad
I won't say full out depression, but depressed attitude. You know, I was no, no motivation, lack of concentrate and things like that.

00;10;59;21 - 00;11;03;09
Emily
Yeah. Just kind of feeling powerless.

00;11;03;11 - 00;11;40;21
Brad
Right. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So in early October, I went back to the doctor. So this is my third time. Third time going to the doctor. And part of it is, I think the, you know, not not to trash medical community, they just don't know what Lyme disease is. They really don't. And I think a lot of people it gets masked as other symptoms and they just don't see many patients with Lyme disease, which is crazy because Minnesota, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and New York into the northeast, those are the states that have the high prevalence of Lyme disease.

00;11;40;21 - 00;12;05;13
Brad
And it's actually quite it's exploding here in the Midwest, in Minnesota, in Wisconsin. So I wish more doctors actually knew about it and could see the symptoms. And do some testing. Although testing is not, foolproof either. Sometimes you get lots of false negatives or false positives. Who knows? But anyways, I went back to the doctor and said, you test me for Lyme disease.

00;12;05;13 - 00;12;32;06
Brad
I know this is what it is. And of course we went through all these symptoms and I don't know if the doctor actually believed me. But I was tested for that hepatitis, HIV, diabetes. Everything. And then she's like, okay, well, we'll do a Lyme test that takes a week. I went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, takes a week to get the results back.

00;12;32;11 - 00;12;54;13
Brad
And, when it came back, it was Lyme positive. So not not that it was like I told you so, but it had been going on for a while. Enough to know that, I pretty sure that this is what happened to me, so it came back. Lyme positive. They also do a test for Berbizier. We'll talk about that in a bit.

00;12;54;15 - 00;13;16;01
Brad
Anaplasmosis and Erlich. Yeah, those were all negative on all negative tests. So the only thing that came back from was, was Lyme disease. So then right away put me on treatment, three weeks of doxycycline, which is standard, which is the standard treatment for Lyme disease. You know, supposed to take care of it, clean, clear everything up.

00;13;16;03 - 00;13;39;05
Brad
It it helped, you know, the weekend before I got was on treatment, I slept for, like, probably 20 hours a day. I was so fatigued that it was just draining me. So I got on treatment and, started to feel better. Had what they call Horkheimer reaction. So it's when bacteria inside of you die off really fast.

00;13;39;05 - 00;14;03;24
Brad
Your. So your body can't release the toxins fast enough and you go into, not feeling as well. It feels like you're it's getting worse before it gets better. And so I had those I stayed home for probably the three weeks where I was into treatment just because I couldn't handle it. It was fatigued and my gut was microbiome was being destroyed as we as we speak.

00;14;03;26 - 00;14;31;21
Brad
And I ate basically, I ate toast for three weeks. That's about all I could stomach. For food. I lost 20 pounds quite rapidly because I wasn't eating anything, waiting for the treatment to to work. So then in the meantime, I canceled 4 or 5 trips that I had. I just shut everything off and stayed home, which is what I actually needed to do.

00;14;31;23 - 00;14;58;01
Brad
Then I started feeling better. And, after the three weeks of doc cycling and things were going well, I still had ringing in my ears, through Thanksgiving, I started getting fatigued again and tired and and like, things were kind of going downhill again. And as that the chiropractor here one day and they suggested that I go see a Lyme doctor in Alexandria.

00;14;58;01 - 00;15;24;12
Brad
So which is 45 minutes north of me, and just talk to him and see, see what the story was. So I did that in December because I was having symptoms again, same fatigue. Just didn't feel like I was feeling as well. And so I went to the Lyme doctor, new Hope, Lyme, new Hope center in, in Alexandria.

00;15;24;17 - 00;15;44;12
Brad
Wonderful place to go. I would recommend it if you're looking for a place that's where you should go. At least here in the Midwest and talked with the the Lyme doctor there. I think the doctor, he had had experience with Lyme, I think his wife and his one of his kids had Lyme disease. So he knew a lot about it and knew how to treat it.

00;15;44;15 - 00;16;16;13
Brad
And so mid December I went back on antibiotics. New antibiotics this time. Doxycycline, if you don't know, it's a tetracycline. And it can be pretty harsh on your system, especially digestive things like that. So I went on a zit from myosin and rifampin. Because sometimes Lyme can go into a dormant state and you need to take care of that.

00;16;16;15 - 00;16;23;27
Brad
So that's where I was in December. Hopefully that it would subside symptoms that I was.

00;16;24;03 - 00;16;26;29
Emily
This is December of 20 2323.

00;16;27;02 - 00;16;27;16
Brad
That's right.

00;16;27;23 - 00;16;31;01
Emily
So from this was just July to December is what you were.

00;16;31;03 - 00;16;33;20
Brad
That's right. That's right. We're six. My only six months.

00;16;33;20 - 00;16;35;18
Emily
Wow wow.

00;16;35;21 - 00;16;59;09
Brad
Yes. And so then, in into that. So then I was on, on those, drugs for a month, and so you kind of go on and off antibiotics for a while to see how the symptoms are. And there was no, no more testing. Most Lyme doctors, they treat symptoms because it is. And actually my body responded very well to antibiotics.

00;16;59;11 - 00;17;24;26
Brad
Then I was on those for a month and I went off and felt much better. Kind of the end of February, started having, I was better, but still had lingering symptoms. So I went back on antibiotics for another month in February through the end of March, to help symptoms. And then and then I went off.

00;17;24;28 - 00;17;54;22
Brad
Went off antibiotics was feeling really good. Kind of getting back to normal. I shouldn't say normal, but, feeling better, moving more, getting more active. Went to Florida for a family vacation. Felt better. So things were going well. And then I went to a conference in Denver in June of 2024. And started having symptoms again.

00;17;54;22 - 00;18;17;09
Brad
My legs would get really hot and I'd get sweaty at night. I'd have chills, and in the meantime, the ringing in my ears is never went away. So I still had ringing in my ears and only in my right ear. And some of it probably goes back to I had, ear infections when I was a kid.

00;18;17;09 - 00;18;39;22
Brad
And I had, long story short, is I blew a hole in my eardrum when I was probably ten, and so it's affected my right ear. Yes. Side story is the doctors told me as I aged, I would have less hearing in the ear, so I can use that as an excuse. What? I can't hear you so.

00;18;39;24 - 00;18;41;22
Emily
You always need a loophole, don't you, Bradley?

00;18;41;22 - 00;19;06;12
Brad
That's right. There's always one. There's always a case for something. But. So then talk to the Lyme doctor. So I went back on antibiotics, in mid-June, because we thought it was maybe some other things going on. Inside of me and not just the Lyme. So I was on it for another month and then went off in July.

00;19;06;15 - 00;19;39;01
Brad
Again, same same drugs as this were mice and rifampin. And then things were doing well through into July through kind of state fair here at the end of August, get into kind of mid September or early September, just just getting fatigued again. You know, I'd fall asleep at 5:00 at night. Not not for the whole night, but I'd fall asleep at five, wake up and kind of this fatigue and things like that just basically felt rundown.

00;19;39;04 - 00;20;11;02
Brad
So I went back to the, Lyme doctor and this we decided we would do additional testing to see what else was going on, to see if there was what they call co-infections. So sometimes ticks, especially in the Midwest here, will carry other diseases. And we'll get to that in a second. But so I, I did some tests and, it gets sent off to the lab a week later, got my results back.

00;20;11;04 - 00;20;41;06
Brad
What does it show? Well, it shows that I still had somewhat possibly, low Lyme disease infection, still kind of ongoing Lyme disease infection. The biggest one that come up was really a high load was but busier. So that is a red blood cell parasite related to malaria that ticks also carry 40% of the time. Ticks here will carry Berbizier as well.

00;20;41;06 - 00;21;15;19
Brad
Red blood cell parasite. That really does the same thing. Fatigue, ringing in my ears, etc.. I also, had antibodies, but no active infection. But I also had antibodies for Lycia and Anaplasmosis in me. So whatever. Decided to have lunch on me one day, had lots of stuff in it. And you will see that sometimes that, this tick had all four of those, in them.

00;21;15;22 - 00;21;42;24
Brad
And so part of the reason some antibiotics work for some things, they don't work for others. So you kind of have to switch. So we have to take care of the babies. Yeah. That was the thing that was probably ravaging me the most, azithromycin was supposed to take care of that, but I think it was at such a high load that it just it was keeping it at bay and not really killing it.

00;21;42;26 - 00;22;17;03
Brad
So I went on anti-malarial drugs for three months to take care of, and these are, this is not just one day. These are double doses to really take care of it. So I was on Antimalarials from end of September through the end of December 2024 to take care of the busier, especially. Yes, got to take care of the co-infections and maybe the Lyme and still there.

00;22;17;05 - 00;22;54;02
Brad
So as of today, mid-May, I have been off antibiotics for about four and a half months. No other thing. So, it's been quite the journey. How do I feel today? Well, things are doing much better. My gut, my my gut microbiome totally destroyed from antibiotics ten months plus of antibiotics. So that takes its toll on you. I'm.

00;22;54;05 - 00;23;22;14
Emily
I will say, you look a lot better. You know, I had a front row seat, especially to that really rapid weight loss you had. Right. And I think we've, we've seen people, right, that have lost weight really quickly when they've been sick. And they just the main thing I notice is like the cheeks get sunken in and but I will be honest with you, Bradley, you looked pretty gaunt there for a while.

00;23;22;16 - 00;23;33;00
Emily
And so, yes, just from an outsider's perspective, you look so much healthier. Your face is fuller again, not fat. I'm not calling you fat.

00;23;33;06 - 00;23;33;26
Brad
I know, I know.

00;23;33;26 - 00;23;55;16
Emily
I know, right? But you just. You look healthier again. One question I have. Maybe it's a little ignorant. Maybe I should know this, but, I mean, are they able to fully eradicate Lyme? Like, is the goal that you have no Lyme infection? Or is this a thing that you kind of will deal with forever now?

00;23;55;19 - 00;24;24;04
Brad
No. You can you can be fully healed of Lyme. There is no question. Sometimes it takes people longer than others because it's not the same for everybody. Some people can do their three weeks of cycling and and never have symptoms again. And take care of it. Others take much longer. I'm, you know, a couple of years in some people I know have chronic, chronic Lyme that's been going on for quite a while.

00;24;24;07 - 00;24;49;07
Brad
But yes, you can fully eradicate it. It's a bacterial infection, just like any others. It just takes a, say the difference between, like, Lyme disease. It's a, it's a spiral bacteria. And it likes to bore itself into, tissue and organs and other things. So it tries to evade the immune system instead of other things like a pneumonia, a bacteria or something like that.

00;24;49;07 - 00;24;53;15
Brad
So it takes a little bit longer to, to take care of it.

00;24;53;17 - 00;25;04;00
Emily
Well, it sounds like early detection probably also plays a major role in how hard you are impacted by it.

00;25;04;02 - 00;25;28;12
Brad
It is correct. Correct. You know, I, I was a student, I was working with, in an office last summer or whatever, had lots of symptoms, fatigue. And he said, this has been going on for a long time, years, years. And he kept telling me of the symptoms. I'm like, have you ever had a Lyme test? It's like, no, the doctor can't figure out what's going on.

00;25;28;12 - 00;25;48;01
Brad
And I'm like, I think you need to be tested for Lyme immediately. Because I think that's what you have, because the symptoms that you have are what I had. And you need to do this immediately. So then he went in and actually got tested and messaged me a week later and said, yeah, it came back positive for Lyme.

00;25;48;01 - 00;25;49;00
Emily
Wow.

00;25;49;02 - 00;26;13;28
Brad
I that's good for you. His his battle is much more fierce than mine. By having the symptoms for five plus years. You know, I, I only had symptoms for a couple months before I started treating, and I can't imagine doing it for five years or so, but it it takes time and you can you can't eradicate it and you can heal.

00;26;13;28 - 00;26;15;21
Brad
There is no doubt about it.

00;26;15;24 - 00;26;47;16
Emily
Yes. One I know I have, a colleague in the farm safety space that that had Lyme disease. But he got pretty lucky in that he did get the, the telltale bullseye rash, which I think also helps with faster diagnosis. So, yeah, he believes his was diagnosed and caught within 2 to 3 days. And yeah, he did his, you know, weeks of doxycycline and then has been fine since.

00;26;47;19 - 00;27;21;11
Emily
Yeah. So yes I think it really runs the gamut in how quickly you can get diagnosed. And then yes, how how long you're experiencing those symptoms and. Right, I mean, I know there's been a couple celebrities that have come out that, you know, they said they were struggling for seven years before they got their diagnosis. So, hopefully this is a good reminder to folks that if some of these symptoms sound familiar to you, maybe you should be requesting, panel for for nine.

00;27;21;13 - 00;27;51;28
Brad
And remember that, it's not always Lyme as well. You're starting to see more of these co-infections come with the Lyme like I had, you know, member in my early test. I was negative for all those things. But nine months later they were there and they had blossomed into very high risk problems. So, it's it's kind of one of those things you have to advocate for yourself and keep going.

00;27;51;28 - 00;28;06;03
Brad
Otherwise I could be miserable for a long time. So that's one thing that I stress is it's not just Lyme that can be the issue. There's other things that come along with it.

00;28;06;06 - 00;28;26;23
Emily
Yeah, yeah. Right. I because I had never heard of Berbizier before. You told me about it, right. And that and Bobby's is just one of, of a whole host of related issues you can get that are not Lyme, but tick borne illness, we'll call it. Yeah, yeah.

00;28;26;25 - 00;28;59;18
Brad
So that's Brad's story. And I only tell it to I shouldn't say warm but so other people know what you might experience. And I'm willing to talk with anybody about it. I think it's important that other people know symptoms and what happens. It is unfortunate somewhat that. So I went to the Lyme doctor and that's not covered by insurance and that this is a problem, with people as well.

00;28;59;18 - 00;29;19;22
Brad
Well, I should say a little bit of is covered by insurance. If you have, really good insurance, they might help with some of it. But a lot of people and this is why we go to the medical doctors, because insurance covers it. When you go to a specialist like that. And with Lyme especially, a lot of people, it's out of the pocket.

00;29;19;22 - 00;29;38;11
Brad
And which is unfortunate and that's why people don't do that kind of stuff or see those specialist, because of that. And then it, it could spiral out of control really quick. So that is one thing to be aware of as well.

00;29;38;13 - 00;30;06;07
Emily
Yeah. Well, yeah, I want to shift things a little bit here now, you know, and and first I want to pose a question to you Bradley, because I know that since this has happened to you and you have gone through all this, you have not stopped walking through pastures, right? It is a part of your work. So I am curious, how have you changed what you do when you are done walking through a pasture?

00;30;06;09 - 00;30;42;21
Brad
Yes, I have, you know, back then you just never thought about it. You never really thought about ticks on you until you felt them. And so once I, I, I probably am way more vigilant now, if I'm out walking in the pasture or doing something, I will, for lack of a better term, I will strip down and search everywhere, to, to make sure that I don't have any ticks, because sometimes, just because ticks can be quite small and you might miss them if you don't see them.

00;30;42;21 - 00;31;14;09
Brad
So, I will tick check myself quite quickly sometimes if I'm close enough to a shower, I'm just gonna take a shower right away and, you know, check myself and take that off. Probably a little more vigilant at wearing, spray, Deet spray and stuff on on clothes and, maybe not walking in the tall, tall grass like I used to, you know, kind of being a little more aware of the surroundings and and making sure that I'm a little more vigilant.

00;31;14;09 - 00;31;18;17
Brad
So, yes, I do.

00;31;18;19 - 00;31;23;10
Brad
Way more, tick checking than I used to. Way more.

00;31;23;13 - 00;31;50;17
Emily
Well, I'm I'm happy to hear it. And I hope that our listeners are now thinking about I need to be checking myself for ticks more thoroughly. And, you know, yes, this is pastures. This is you know, I know we have a lot of listeners that are outdoorsman, right? Hunting, fishing. I mean, if you are out in outside where there is grass, there could be ticks there.

00;31;50;19 - 00;32;16;10
Emily
And so you mentioned, you know, a couple important things, Brad, the chief among them being checking yourself for ticks after you are in those spaces, that is, a huge part of it is. Yeah. Don't don't wait till you feel them crawling on you. And now my whole skin is crawling, right. But really checking yourself, you know, asking people to to check you.

00;32;16;13 - 00;32;39;13
Emily
Another kind of easy tip is wearing lighter, lighter colored clothing as well. Just because ticks will be easier to see, right? Ticks are darker, you know, dark brown typically. So yes, if you're wearing a lighter t shirt or, you know, lighter colored pants, they should show up a little easier on there so you can find them easier.

00;32;39;16 - 00;33;07;10
Emily
That's kind of a simple, easy thing. While we're talking about clothing, you know, also being fully covered covered by your clothing. I know most farmers wear long pants, when they're doing chores, but I know when it's really hot. Some of us will wear shorts. And. Right, that's just exposed skin free buffet for the ticks. So it is advised to to wear long pants, tuck your socks into your pants.

00;33;07;10 - 00;33;08;05
Emily
Do you do that, Bradley?

00;33;08;06 - 00;33;27;01
Brad
Right. I will do that now. Or I'll wear some sort of leggings underneath. I, I don't care if I'm hot out in the pasture. I've always wore long pants, so. Yeah, I don't wear shorts. I make my kids make fun of, how how white my legs are, but, I don't. So I was wearing long pants.

00;33;27;04 - 00;33;32;19
Brad
But yes, either tuck your pants in or have some sort of leggings underneath where you can know.

00;33;32;22 - 00;33;35;18
Emily
Like a layer that fits tight against the skin. Yeah.

00;33;35;24 - 00;33;36;27
Brad
Yes.

00;33;37;00 - 00;34;11;22
Emily
Yeah. Oh, I like that. Yeah. Tight fitting layer against the skin. If, if getting too hot does not bother you. Right. Yeah. And also another thing you mentioned was repellent with, with Deet. So that is, you know, a lot of people have a lot of feelings about various insect repellents. You know, but I think especially again, if you were going to be in, heavily wooded area or in a pasture with very tall grass, it is probably worth it to to wear that repellent.

00;34;11;25 - 00;34;33;17
Emily
You know, and there are a variety of, of tick specific repellents that are approved by the EPA that you can find, you know, I know usually the ones I defer to are any of the ones marked for deep woods or that type of marketing, because those will have the Deet in them. But just like with anything.

00;34;33;17 - 00;34;50;04
Emily
Right. Reading the label, you know, again, finding something that is EPA approved for, for ticks, you know, that is another great way to, to defend yourself.

00;34;50;06 - 00;35;12;18
Brad
Just be more vigilant. That's the that's the the key. Don't think that. You're not going to have ticks if you're where we are. Obviously you should check all of the time. If you find one on you. Kind of the thing is, you know, remove it. You know, a lot of us are like, oh, we see. And then we just brush it off really quick.

00;35;12;20 - 00;35;44;27
Brad
Probably not what we should do. Basically, we should remove them promptly, try not to squeeze them because you might, squeezing the tick might regurgitate whatever they have inside of them into you. And that's not what you want. So, obviously pulling it out. Close to the skin is is is best. And if it is in you, you should save the tick and send it in for testing.

00;35;44;29 - 00;36;09;13
Brad
You can send it. There's many a few places online where you can send the tick. They will test it to see if it has Lyme disease or the Borrelia, which is the bacteria that causes Lyme. So you can test the tick if you if you are worried. So I would recommend doing that if you find the tick. A lot of people don't find the ticks and get Lyme disease, but if you find one, you should test it.

00;36;09;16 - 00;36;25;20
Brad
Yeah, it's not just it's not just, what we call the blacklegged tick or the deer tick. There's a what we call a wood tick. You can can spread Lyme and all of that. So you should test the tick if you, if you're able to, to see it and get and capture it.

00;36;25;22 - 00;36;53;11
Emily
Yeah. So I just want to reiterate that if a tick is on you remove it. If a tick is already attached to you, you should use a tweezers, sanitize it beforehand. However, you may do that. And then, you know, carefully pull it out with the tweezers, like Bradley said, kind of get close, be gentle, because you do not want to break the tick apart.

00;36;53;13 - 00;37;16;05
Emily
It is possible to leave parts of the tick in you if if you pull it out a little too rough. So just be gentle and, you know, grab it out, make sure those the mouthparts, the sucking, pinching parts are out and removed. And yes, once, once it's out, if you can save the tick, you know, a little container, a little baggie, and then clean the area.

00;37;16;05 - 00;37;41;03
Emily
Right. Alcohol pads, you know, wash it off with anti-microbial soap and warm water. And, and make a note if there's any symptoms. Also, again, keep an eye out for that telltale bullseye rash. It is exactly what it sounds like, right where the bite is. There'll be a circle of red, and then there'll be a circle of normal looking skin, and then a larger circle of red.

00;37;41;03 - 00;38;04;10
Emily
So it makes a bull's eye. That does not happen in every single case of Lyme, but about 90% of cases. Those bull's eyes will form. But of course, they are only there for a few days, so be vigilant. You know, even after you've checked for ticks or removed the ticks. Keep checking your skin. For for that bullseye rash or for.

00;38;04;11 - 00;38;06;09
Emily
Yeah, little bites.

00;38;06;12 - 00;38;22;26
Brad
Be vigilant. Be vigilant. You shouldn't. Don't don't be scared of ticks. Just because of things that can happen. But you should be vigilant and, advocate and take care of yourself, and, it'll it'll be much better.

00;38;22;28 - 00;38;42;16
Emily
Yeah, I I'm sure, you know, checking for ticks might sound a little silly, but hopefully if you really listen to Brad's story, it doesn't sound so silly, because I would rather take a couple extra minutes to clear ticks off of myself than to endure the two years that you have. Brad.

00;38;42;19 - 00;39;07;06
Brad
Yeah, and it's it's it's been a blessing in many different ways. So you could say that Lyme might be bad, but I, I see the positives in it as well. It's helped me tell others about that. It's helped me slow down, not be so crazy. Maybe enjoy life a little bit more. Not be so stressed. Although I still working on that.

00;39;07;07 - 00;39;15;04
Brad
But it's made me realize, to just kind of slow down a little bit. I don't need to be going 150 miles an hour, 24 hours a day.

00;39;15;07 - 00;39;19;20
Emily
Yeah. If you don't slow down, nature will find a way to slow you down,

00;39;19;27 - 00;39;22;05
Brad
That's right, that's right.

00;39;22;08 - 00;39;45;24
Emily
All right, well, I think we'll wrap it there. You know, if you are connected enough. Yes. If you are interested in more tech safety information, we will link in the show notes, the, tech farm safety check from UMass. We will link some other resources as well about Lyme and tick safety. And Bradley, I just want to thank you for sharing your story.

00;39;45;24 - 00;40;04;15
Emily
I know it's not always easy to talk about the struggles we've had and the things our bodies have been through, but I do think that it makes a difference when we share what we've experienced, whether that's mental health or Lyme disease or something else. So thank you, Brad, for you for for sharing with us today.

00;40;04;17 - 00;40;08;21
Brad
Happy to share with anybody who wants to listen.

00;40;08;23 - 00;40;20;09
Emily
All right. Well, we hope that you all stay safe out there. Check yourself for ticks regularly. We will wrap that episode there. We hope that you stay safe and we will catch you next time on the newsroom.

00;40;20;12 - 00;40;25;07
Brad
Bye bye. Whew.