Please wake me from this real estate nightmare, or just give me your advice!

[Anonymous]

While you can move to an area with less risk, you are not confronting the issue. The issue is your anxiety. And, that can be treated. Every place has risks. If you live in a city, there might be crime. If you live in California, there may be earthquakes. If you live in Kansas, there may be tornados. At the beach, there may be hurricanes. In the desert, there may be rattlesnakes, scorpions, and deadly insects. You cannot constantly live in fear. There is more to your situation than you may even realize. It might seem like posters are "piling on," but most are giving good advise. And, there is nothing wrong with talking to a psychiatrist. I recommend a psychiatrist in case you need medication in addition to therapy.

Suggesting therapy is not "piling on." This poster could benefit from therapy. Both of my parents had Lyme disease when I was younger. My mom's case was severe. However, this cannot stop someone from living. I cannot imagine what it would have been like if we moved when something like this happened. My parents still live in my childhood home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry OP. I totally get it, and I think people who haven't been impacted by tick-bourne diseases may not realize how much they are increasing in frequency, how severe they can be, and how hard it can be to get treatment. The difficulty of getting treatment is maddening, it's almost like gas-lighting by the medical profession. Old thinking (more than 10 years old) on tick-bourne diseases is woefully inadequate for the epidemic we're seeing now.

I have a family member who was bitten by a tick and now is allergic to all red meat. 10 years ago, this was unheard of and people thought developing a meat allergy later in life was impossible.
http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/meat-allergy

Anyway, those who have said you can be bitten anywhere are right, but obviously you're in a higher risk area/property. I'd recommend 3 months of counseling to see if you can overcome the fear/anxiety and truly feel peace in your home. If not, then I'd sell and move. Anxiety will ruin your life, logical or not, and there ARE lower risk areas.

+1 People are piling on, but back to the initial problem, I'm so sorry about this OP. I hope things improve.

[Anonymous]

I keep making typos today. I mean to delete that second paragraph since I rewrote most of it in the first paragraph.

Anonymous wrote:While you can move to an area with less risk, you are not confronting the issue. The issue is your anxiety. And, that can be treated. Every place has risks. If you live in a city, there might be crime. If you live in California, there may be earthquakes. If you live in Kansas, there may be tornados. At the beach, there may be hurricanes. In the desert, there may be rattlesnakes, scorpions, and deadly insects. You cannot constantly live in fear. There is more to your situation than you may even realize. It might seem like posters are "piling on," but most are giving good advise. And, there is nothing wrong with talking to a psychiatrist. I recommend a psychiatrist in case you need medication in addition to therapy.

Suggesting therapy is not "piling on." This poster could benefit from therapy. Both of my parents had Lyme disease when I was younger. My mom's case was severe. However, this cannot stop someone from living. I cannot imagine what it would have been like if we moved when something like this happened. My parents still live in my childhood home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry OP. I totally get it, and I think people who haven't been impacted by tick-bourne diseases may not realize how much they are increasing in frequency, how severe they can be, and how hard it can be to get treatment. The difficulty of getting treatment is maddening, it's almost like gas-lighting by the medical profession. Old thinking (more than 10 years old) on tick-bourne diseases is woefully inadequate for the epidemic we're seeing now.

I have a family member who was bitten by a tick and now is allergic to all red meat. 10 years ago, this was unheard of and people thought developing a meat allergy later in life was impossible.
http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/meat-allergy

Anyway, those who have said you can be bitten anywhere are right, but obviously you're in a higher risk area/property. I'd recommend 3 months of counseling to see if you can overcome the fear/anxiety and truly feel peace in your home. If not, then I'd sell and move. Anxiety will ruin your life, logical or not, and there ARE lower risk areas.

+1 People are piling on, but back to the initial problem, I'm so sorry about this OP. I hope things improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC and got Lyme! Like IN the city, NE to be exact.

But really this is about more than Lyme. It sounds like you may have realized that you are a city person and this lifestyle just isn't for you. Would a different house in the town nearby be better for you? Is there an area near there where you would feel more comfortable that isn't a country setting?

Are you serious? Were you in DC when you were bit? And where?

Dog park most likely. That is as outdoorsy as I get. No idea where I was bitten, only showed up on blood work. Never saw a tick bite or a bulls eye or anything like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC and got Lyme! Like IN the city, NE to be exact.

But really this is about more than Lyme. It sounds like you may have realized that you are a city person and this lifestyle just isn't for you. Would a different house in the town nearby be better for you? Is there an area near there where you would feel more comfortable that isn't a country setting?

Are you serious? Were you in DC when you were bit? And where?

Dog park most likely. That is as outdoorsy as I get. No idea where I was bitten, only showed up on blood work. Never saw a tick bite or a bulls eye or anything like that.

NP here. I live in an urban part of NoVa. I also had Lyme Disease. A few years ago I was in the dermatologist's office for something else and thought I would mention an odd 'bruise' on my leg. The dermatologist practically fell off of her chair when she saw my leg and the big bull's eye. She didn't even wait for the blood work (which she did for baseline confirmation) and prescribed a 30-day antibiotic. We didn't have a dog at the time and my outdoor time is primarily in our own yard or on turf sports fields so I have no idea how I got bitten but now I know how easy it is to have something like this happen!

OP, I think that you are using the Lyme Disease as an excuse to move and that's fine, of course, as long as you can identify what alternative will work best for you and your family. If you want to move, then give yourself permission to move. But it sounds like you have some anxiety and other issues and it would be a shame if those issues became so overwhelmingly prevalent and disabling that they negatively impacted the environment in which you are raising your children. You don't want them to pick up on your anxieties and develop their own.

[Anonymous]

Lyme is a mild and minor disease so long as it is treated quickly. You are now educated about the symptoms so it shouldn't be an issue. Try lithium for your mental problems. You can also get a Lyme vaccine for the dogs (not available for humans anymore because so many hypochondriacs sued the maker).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can put a 6 foot (or even 8 foot) fence around the perimeter of your property to keep the deer out.

I'm really hoping this is sarcasm. If not, you do realize the ticks aren't actually still attached to the deer when they bite you, right? But once again, I'm really hoping this is sarcasm.

Actually I wasn't being sarcastic. Ticks are associated with the presence of deer. Even though the tick did not jump directly off the deer onto you, the deer did bring it to the area.

I admit my property is much smaller than OP's, but we put a fence around it and never have deer in the yard.

I just literally shuddered thinking about how much it would cost to fence four acres with an 8-foot fence impenetrable to deer.

Have you cleared all 4 acres? Are you actually outside using all 4 acres?

I would maybe clear 2 acres to fence and leave the rest wooded for privacy. That should be plenty of buffer between the deer and your porch swing.

[Anonymous]

A) Why would you loose a ton of money on the resale?

B) move back to the city to a GREAT area. I used to live in Columbia Heights. Now I'm in Logan Circle with zero regrets.

C) Amy Tan wrote great articles on this subject https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/2003/08/05/amy-tan-ticked-off-about-lyme/68458500-c46b-4b5e-a2b0-f375fb7a9b30/?utm_term=.7e06293b8643

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A) Why would you loose a ton of money on the resale?

B) move back to the city to a GREAT area. I used to live in Columbia Heights. Now I'm in Logan Circle with zero regrets.

C) Amy Tan wrote great articles on this subject https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/2003/08/05/amy-tan-ticked-off-about-lyme/68458500-c46b-4b5e-a2b0-f375fb7a9b30/?utm_term=.7e06293b8643

Thanks for this. We would lose money because other buyers aren't as starry-eyed as we were: our house was on the market for YEARS before we stupidly bought it, because others were (quite rightly!) scared off by the house's age and condition. We were touched by its classic beauty. The house is objectively lovely and in a great location and we have improved it a LOT. Still, its age, and all of the political uncertainty, will probably make it a hard sell. Unless a couple of other citified fools come wandering this way...!

To those of you who've suggested that I medicate myself: I'm glad that you never experience dilemmas and regrets. Nice work!

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter where you are in the D.C. area anymore because the deer are everywhere including D.C. proper. If you're on 4 acres you should be able to have guinea fowl on the property. Google those birds. They eat ticks. I have heard people say their properties in Loudoun Co. were cleared of ticks after they got guinea hens. I've also heard chickens will eat ticks too. I don't have guinea hens mainly because my DH is adamant that we won't get them. Watching guinea hens work a field is really cool. They line up shoulder to shoulder, and methodically walk across a field, pecking at the ground, eating whatever bugs they locate. Guinea hens might just be the answer for you, and give you peace of mind about the ticks. I don't know if your location would be too cold for them, though. I believe they originated in Africa, but really not sure.

[Anonymous]

I am still stuck on the fact that you bought a house in a place with shaky schools and high crime when you had 2, now 3, kids. That's got nothing to do with illness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would stay and put something all over my yard. Like diatomaceous earth or something non toxic to me and pets.

otherwise sell and move to AZ.

Spoken like someone who has no clue how large 4 acres is. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am still stuck on the fact that you bought a house in a place with shaky schools and high crime when you had 2, now 3, kids. That's got nothing to do with illness.

Sorry, to be clear -- our current house has fabulous public schools and is really safe. But it's true that we are very strongly considering moving our family to a much less-safe area with weaker schools. As the Lyme misery progressed, we decided that our squeaky-clean, carefully considered reasons for moving to the burbs just might not matter as much as we thought. But then of course we sometimes question that line of reasoning too. Thus the dilemma!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am still stuck on the fact that you bought a house in a place with shaky schools and high crime when you had 2, now 3, kids. That's got nothing to do with illness.

These are real reasons to move

BUT if they are exaggerated then I'd try to stick it out for another year to see how you feel. Sounds like you have some kind of ptsd after dealing with all of his health issues. Try to make some healthy memories there first before giving up on it.

My cousin lives up there and all four family members have had Lyme disease (caught early) and they are all fine now. Same with many of their neighbors. It sucks but it's manageable. Just try to not let it consume you. Definitely spray.

[Anonymous]

I would move in a heart beat. Even If I could live in a house like this for myself I could not do it to my kids. We live in a condo in the city, my husband found a tick on himself before he was bitten. We took it to our GP who identified as a dear tick and put him on antibiotics anyway as a precaution. We traced the tick to a panic we went to a few days prior, where my DH sat on a wooden bench the entire time. Our GP said you can pick it up even from petting your pet if you take them hiking in the woods. A friend has a nice home backed to the woods in VA suburbs, her dog got lyme and died within 6 months of moving here. They also used to let the dog out to roam the woods all day.

Another friend had two of her kids pick up lyme from camping trips. No thanks. Yes you can get it anywhere, but you increase your chances by a higher margin based on where you live. I would sell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would stay and put something all over my yard. Like diatomaceous earth or something non toxic to me and pets.

otherwise sell and move to AZ.

Spoken like someone who has no clue how large 4 acres is. Good grief.

So get a spreader and hire someone.