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Madison County man gets delayed diagnosis from tick bite

A close call for a Valley man who became seriously ill after he was bitten by a tick. 

The disease that came from that tick was diagnosed in the nick of time. Mike Gilbert was eventually able to find doctors who tracked down his problem.

"It never was much more than that little spot right there," said Gilbert, pointing to a tiny spot on his leg.
 
But that's all it took, one little tick bite that swelled just a little bit, and turned a bit red in color--to make the 67-year old seriously ill.

He was working in his backyard, just along the edge of the woods back in June. 
 
Gilbert pulled the tick out and didn't think anything more about it, until a few days later.

"I had a 103-plus fever, chills, shaking," he said, describing some of his symptoms.
 
Gilbert went to one Valley emergency room two different times and shared his symptoms and told them he was bitten by a tick days earlier.

"He horse laughed the idea that a tick had anything to do with it," said Gilbert.

"He said you've got a virus, go home and see your family doctor."

So, Gilbert did. He says his family doctor dismissed his concerns as well.
 
Gilbert got weaker and weaker, he lost 26 pounds in two weeks and could no longer work on his farm or in his yard.

On a third visit to a different hospital, Gilbert was admitted to the cardiology floor. His illness had taken a toll on his heart.  His diagnosis: Tularemia--an infectious disease most often spread through tick bites.

"It's a close cousin to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease and several of them are real close," he said.
 
Nearly seven weeks after the bite and weeks of treatment, Gilbert is slowly recovering and happy to have survived. He hopes his story will help others.

"If you go to the Dr. With some kind of fever and things like that and a few days later you're not making progress just raise the roof and demand to have an infectious disease doctor on the case," he said. 

Gilbert's still on several medications to help regulate his heart but feels he will make a full, albeit slow, recovery.