Nurse practicioner (sp?) originally called it a viral infection and to just go home and hydrate. Took blood, everything came back fine - even white blood cell count was normal, not elevated like we expected. The next day my wife noticed a large welt on the back of my left calf just behind the knee. It didn't hurt, it didn't itch...I didn't even know it was there to be honest. Thank GOD she saw it because that pointed us towards a skin infection. The next morning we noticed the bullseye around the welt, which had grown in size. The bullseye is classic Lyme's Disease so I went back to the dr.

The crazy thing is, a second round of bloodwork also came back negative for Lyme's but apparently this is common. The bullseye was the key and only visible for a couple days, then it just looked like a huge welt. Because we caught it so early, doc says it didn't have a chance to get into my bloodstream which is why the labwork keeps coming back negative.

The best offense is a good defense. Keep them little buggers away and you'll never have to worry about diagnosing it.

PSA - if you do experience flu-like symptoms, check everywhere for a bite site. It could be Lyme's and you can catch it early and get rid of it.