CRABBY: Bitten, Broken, and Still Fighting

Summary

Garage Logic: "CRABBY - Bitten, Broken, and Still Fighting" (July 1, 2026)
Host: Gamut Podcast Network | Guests: Jay, Kenny, Gabe

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Episode Overview

This powerful episode of Garage Logic’s “Krabby Coffee Shop” takes a surprisingly serious turn as co-host Jay details his harrowing battle with acute Lyme disease. What begins as classic Garage Logic banter turns into a cautionary tale highlighting the perils of tick-borne illnesses, especially in Wisconsin and Minnesota’s Northwoods. Through pain, humor, and hard lessons, the crew delivers a frank rundown of symptoms, treatments, and why ignoring your health can be disastrous.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jay’s Health Crisis: The Descent into Lyme Disease

• Initial Symptoms and Delay in Seeking Help

  • Jay describes onset of severe knee pain, swelling, and spreading discomfort after what he thought was a routine flare-up of an old injury.
  • Quote:

    “I am riding the Lyme disease Death Star right now. Across the galaxy.”
    — Jay, [04:49]

• Progression of Symptoms

  • Pain radiates from his right knee down to his ankle and eventually both legs, feet, and right hand, immobilizing him.
  • Unable to eat (everything tastes like metal) and faces sleepless nights, writhing with joint pain.
  • Quote:

    “From the knees down to the toes, all of that was in throbbing, like arthritic type pain...would not lessen up.”
    — Jay, [08:40]

• Stubbornness in Delaying Medical Care

  • Both Jay and Kenny reflect on the male tendency to "tough it out," even in the face of extreme symptoms.
  • Quote:

    “Any normal person here would go to the hospital or call the doctor, but we're mentioning...Maybe it'll get better tomorrow. Right?”
    — Kenny, [08:15]

2. Hospitalization and Diagnosis

• Tick Bite Connection

  • Upon hospital admittance (by ambulance), staff suspect gout but pivot to Lyme after Jay recalls three tick bites in the previous months.
  • Important symptom: amber/orange-colored urine.
  • Quote:

    “If your urine turns the color of like an amber lager beer...get to an ER immediately.”
    — Jay, [15:15]

• Treatment Plan

  • Acute Lyme diagnosis leads to high-dose antibiotics and strong painkillers (Percocet).
  • Advised to monitor pain and return if symptoms don’t subside in three days.

3. Medical Insights: Lyme Disease Realities

• Severity and Risks

  • Lyme’s bacteria aggressively attacks joints and muscles; can potentially affect the heart and cause long-term or fatal outcomes.
  • Kenny recalls a friend dying from Lyme and a relative narrowly avoiding an unnecessary pacemaker in China due to Lyme’s cardiac complications.
  • Quote:

    “I know a guy that died from Lyme disease.”
    — Kenny, [20:37]

• Tick Identification and Removal

  • Proper method: slow, gentle, straight pull with tweezers; never scratch or yank sideways.
  • You should save the tick in a damp bag for identification if symptoms develop.
  • Quote:

    “Ever since you told me about this...I’ve been thinking back to the many ticks I’ve pulled off myself.”
    — Kenny, [25:06]

4. Public Service: How to Avoid Jay’s Fate

• Regional RISK

  • Northwestern Wisconsin (Hayward, Spooner, Danbury, Webster, up to Superior) is “ground zero” for tick-borne illness per Jay’s doctor—January is the only “safe” month.
  • Quote:

    “You're right in the belly of the beast...more cases per capita of tick born illnesses in western Wisconsin than anywhere else in the country.”
    — Jay, [29:10]

• Practical Prevention

  • Check for ticks after outdoor activities: especially behind the knees, underarms, waistline, nape, and hard-to-see spots.
  • Balloon-like swelling of joints is a red flag for tick-borne infections:

    “If your joints start to balloon...you are almost certain dealing with potential lyme disease or a tick borne illness.”
    — Jay, [35:46]

• Message to Listeners

  • The episode is positioned as a public service—don’t take tick bites or lingering joint pain lightly.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Male “Stubbornness”:

  “What the hell is wrong with us guys generally to where we let it get that bad before we seek help?”
  — Kenny, [10:45]

• The Reality of the Pain:

  “I'm almost crying now because it hurts so bad.”
  — Jay, [08:32]

• On Taking Ticks Seriously:

  “Please don't ignore the tick factor. These horrible little evil bastards are out to get us.”
  — Kenny, [36:19]

• On Checking for Ticks (and Humor):

  “Back in the early days, one of the fun things we used to do was check each other for ticks. You know, and one thing leads to another, and the next thing you know, you're waking up from a nap.”
  — Kenny, [36:19]

• On Personal Responsibility:

  “I would rather be in there working with you guys than feeling like this, trust me.”
  — Jay, [35:09]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 04:49 – Jay describes entering “Lyme disease Death Star”
• 06:37–09:42 – Day-by-day recounting as symptoms escalate
• 10:45 – On men’s reluctance to seek medical help
• 12:44 – Arrival at hospital, diagnostic process
• 15:15 – Significance of amber-colored urine
• 17:35 – Discussion with infectious disease doctor, advanced cases
• 20:37 – Kenny shares stories of fatal and near-fatal Lyme cases
• 25:06–26:48 – Proper tick removal, importance of saving ticks
• 29:10 – Dr. says Jay lives in area with “ground zero” tick cases
• 35:46 – Swelling as a sign of tick-borne illness
• 36:19 – Summary warning and prevention tips

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Tone & Takeaways

Throughout, the hosts mix signature Garage Logic candor, humor, and pragmatic “common sense” with an urgent health message. Jay’s vulnerability and the crew’s relatable stubbornness drive home the episode’s moral:
Don’t downplay tick bites or strange joint pains, especially in high-risk regions. Quick action saves suffering—and possibly lives.

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Final Public Service Reminders

• Always check yourself (and loved ones) for ticks after time outdoors.
• Remove ticks properly and save them if you develop symptoms.
• At first sign of severe joint swelling, strange urine color, or spreading pain, seek medical help immediately.
• Even tough, “independent” types can wind up in real trouble by delaying care.

“These horrible little evil bastards are out to get us.”
— Kenny, [36:19]

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Happy 4th of July from Garage Logic—be vigilant, stay safe, and check for ticks!

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Hey, it's Pete Arnold from Hire It Pro. And I've used garagelogic to promote my business for years and I have seen great results and new clients for my service from the GL audience. I recommend it to any business looking for new customers. G l ers are pretty awesome. You just gotta ask for an introduction.

[A]

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[B]

is a very big day for the Krabby Coffee Shop. We have a brand new partnership with Ecofund Motorsports in Forest Lake in Burnsville and this is going to be good for our listeners and extra good for Jay Coles who seems to be missing right now. Not in his chair because I think we can finally get Jay set up with a Yamaha side by side. Living in the north woods of Wisconsin. Absolutely demands ownership of a side by side. And Yamaha is the leader in off highway vehicles. And of course, ecofund, our source for that in the Twin Cities. Now, I know Jay well enough where I wouldn't trust Jay on say, a Moto Guzzi or Aprilia Yamaha, Kawasaki motorcycle, all of which Ecofund sells. But I would trust Jay on a Vespa or Scoot Star scooter or even a Bintelli electric bicycle. Either option would be great for getting around his small community and a blast actually on the trails in the woods. And they're also perfect for the Metro. Absolutely. But I know what Jay really wants. The official name is a personal watercraft. I call them water scooters, and Jay calls them the most fun you can possibly have on the water because he's owned them. Ecofun Motorsports. They carry both Yamaha Jetstars and Kawasaki Jet Skis, and they are an absolute blast for the entire family. Now, you know what? If you go to the website, we could sit here and talk about the many products that EcoFund has for us, but we'd be here all day. Seriously, there's so many motorcycles on their website that I've been obsessing over. But you know what? Let me pare it down to this. EcoFun delivers fun. It's right there in their name. And it doesn't matter whether it's dirt trails, bicycle riding, a motocross track, or the open road on a motorbike, or fun water sports. Eco fun, absolutely. The source of our joy and amusement. Stop in and check them out. EcoFun is in Forest Lake. You take the Highway 95. Excuse me. Highway 97, exit from I35, go west for one block. They're right there. And they're in Burnsville on the east side of 35W. Take the County 42 exit, go north on Grand. They're at 14009 Grand Avenue. And of course, you can see the entire [e-mail] let's. Let's do the show.

[C]

Great. So good. Yeah,

[B]

you might have heard him mumbling in the background. I think that's the medicine talking. Jay, are you alive?

[C]

Sorry. You think I'd learn how this works?

[B]

Are you okay?

[C]

Jay, can you know where I am? I. I am riding. I am riding the Lyme disease Death Star right now. Across the galaxy.

[B]

Let's. I am. I'm so worried about you. Let's Go back to last week's crabby. Do you even remember that on. We had Cal on from Mediator. Remember that?

[C]

I do. I do. And I was so glad that you took the reins through most of the show because my concentration was so low because my knee was hurting so bad.

[B]

If you watch. If you watch the video of that show, you are kneading and rubbing that knee through the entire thing. And at the time, we didn't know what the deal was. You just thought it was an old injury and then operation and just flaring up, Right?

[C]

Correct. Yeah. I had my right knee surgically repaired 23 years ago, and I have every now and again, you'll tweak it and it'll swell up and it'll bother you for, like, a day. But not severe pain. Right. It's, you know, manageable. So I didn't think any. I didn't think anything other of it other than, wow, this hurts a little more than it usually does. And it's really hard to concentrate right now.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

What the hell? But what the hell is what I. You know, I've had it before. It'll be just fine. Right.

[B]

And you said even driving in, Jay, it was your right knee, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You said driving in was painful. Just running the throttle.

[C]

Yeah. What I would have to do was after, you know, the first hour into it, I would literally brake with my left foot. I couldn't move my right foot over to the brake, so I would lift off. Just lift my foot off the gas and brake with my left foot. Oh, that the whole way home after the show, too.

[B]

So let's jump a day forward. Thursday of last week.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Did get better.

[C]

Yes. I'll take you day by day. So Thursday I wake up. The knee is worse. The right knee. Now, you know, follow along on your bingo cards. So light knee starts to really hurt bad. And I'm like, damn, did I do more damage? Maybe I damaged it or something, and I don't even realize it. And then I felt it spreading down my calf to my ankle. All right? And now. Now it's to my ankle on my right side. So. And for. For people to understand the level of pain. Kenny, think of it. If you're having, like, an arthritic attack, like, really bad arthritis, like, throbbing pain.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That's what it feels like. Like if a baseball hit it and it throbs in pain, you know exactly what it felt like. Now I've got the knee, the calf, and this and the damn ankle.

[B]

And this is what, Friday by now, this.

[C]

That would have been Thursday into Friday into Friday. So that would be day three, right? Now, day two, Friday, I wake up Kenny. Now my left knee starting to swell and bother me just like the right one. And it's getting bigger by the minute. Then again into Saturday, down my left thigh, or excuse me, down my left calf into my. Into my ankle. Now I can't, Kenny. I can barely stand on my own two feet to do anything because the pain from the knee to the ankle is off the chart.

[B]

So now, Jay, Jay, any normal person here would go to the hospital or call the doctor, but we're mentioning. And you know, maybe it'll get better. Maybe it'll be better this afternoon. Maybe it'll be better tomorrow. Right? Isn't that what. Yeah, because that's what I would think.

[C]

Yeah. No, it's exactly what I did, Kenny. I'm like, well, this is weird. I'm almost crying now because it hurts so bad.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[C]

You know what? Let's just give it another day. Well, by the next day, Sunday, now it's my feet, my toes, my ankles, my calves, and my knees. So if you look at my. If you look at a body, from the knees, from the knees down to the toes, all of that was in throbbing, like arthritic type pain would not. And Kenny, it wouldn't lessen up. I would have to struggle at night to find a position in bed where nothing hurt and try to fall asleep in one position.

[B]

And I'm guessing. I'm guessing you were eating Advil and ibuprofen and everything else.

[C]

Everything else except food. I couldn't touch food. Anything I put to my mouth tasted like I was eating metal. Oh. Yeah. So. Wow, Kenny, I. I haven't eaten since last Wednesday. I haven't eaten for seven days.

[B]

Oh, oh, oh, you shouldn't have told me that. You did finally go to the hospital.

[C]

Yeah. So now I'm into Sunday, right? And everything is hurting so bad, I can't even stand it. All of a sudden. By Sunday night, as I'm trying to fall asleep, it's now hit my right hand. I can't use my right hand for anything. And the only way I could get up was to try to push myself up with my strong hand, my right hand, and balance myself with my left. Now with both legs incapacitated, Literally incapacitated in pain. The right hand is as bad a pain, Kenny. I couldn't move. I was immobile. And a friend of mine who lives up here in Danbury with me, he. He. He says, I'm coming Over Monday to check you out. He goes, this isn't normal. And he walked right in and said, we gotta. You gotta call. You gotta go to the hospital. We gotta call you an ambulance. And the reason we had a call, I took an ambulance is because there was no way my friend or anybody else could get me up off the bed into a car. We needed three or four ems, plus my buddy to get me into the ambulance to get me over there.

[B]

We could do a whole extra show on what the hell is wrong with us guys generally to where we let it get that bad before we seek help. I mean, I had a heart attack and Instead of calling 91 1, I drove myself in so I could have a heater on the way to my death. What the hell is wrong with us? Why is that?

[C]

Two years ago June, it's so funny. I had copa coffee. I was having chest pains. I drove myself to the hospital, had two heaters along the way.

[B]

That's something about gen. It's got to be Gen X, right, Jay? We're so independent that we can't even call 911.

[C]

Well, and it's not a heart attack, right? I wasn't having a heart attack.

[B]

I was having a panic attack until I called. I called my sister in law, a heart specialist, and she's cursed at me and said, you call 911 right now. And she saved my life. Well, I drove home, but, you know, probably.

[C]

Well, when I got to the hospital, you could probably relate to this. They go, how'd you get here? Ambulance. And I go, no, I drove myself. And the nurse goes, oh, you're one of those, are you?

[B]

Yeah. Okay, so they've seen our kind. Let's go back to Monday of this week. You finally got to the hospital. And wait a minute. Did the hospital you go to, do they also treat like, say, horses and cows and pigs and dogs and cats, or is it a real hospital?

[C]

Oh, listen to you. Oh, so if they did treat horses and cows, it wouldn't be a real hospital? Is that what you're telling you?

[B]

Well, make a good point. You make a good point. I'm sorry.

[C]

You know, I might feel safer these days with people who treat horses.

[B]

Okay, let's not go down that road. But yeah, we could do a show on that.

[C]

Well, while you're by, while you mention it, I could look out my hospital room and see a cow pasture.

[B]

Okay, so. All right, that's perfect.

[C]

Yeah. So I get there and, you know, these. This is where I went from a heart attack, is they're Great, right? They're awesome. And they thought maybe gout. Right. Because I've had a history with gout.

[B]

It sounds like gout. Yeah.

[C]

But I haven't had a gout flare up in years, and I know I'm on daily medication for it. And then I started telling them more of the symptoms, and they said, have you had a tick bite that you remember? You know, significant tick bite in the last month or two? And I said, yeah, three of them.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

And I go, okay, we're going to run a bunch of Lymes tests. And the Lymes test are never definitive. It takes about two to three weeks to be, quote, unquote definitive, you know, clinically definitive.

[B]

Oh, really?

[C]

Yeah. But if you hit enough markers and I hit enough markers, they just came back within an hour or two and said, yeah, you've got Lymes. And by the way, we're looking at your symptoms. You have. We're pretty certain you have an acute. An acute case of Lyme's disease. And so what we're going to do is put you on these really strong antibiotics. And, Kenny, they gave me pain pills when I left there, and prescriptions for pain pills. Now, I don't know if anybody else out there listening has, you know, gone in for pain or this, that, or the other. I mean, when I left with. After heart surgery, they only gave me 10 oxycodone. Right, right. So I. I even said to the physician, I said, wait, you're gonna send me home with pain pills? And then I'm going to get prescriptions for pain? You know, pain. He goes, yes. He goes. Believe me. He goes, you qualify for the painkillers.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah. That's how. That's. I want to give people an idea. The level of pain that can be associated with Lyme's disease. It's off the charts, because what it is. Huh.

[B]

I think oxys are. That's. If I remember right, that's Percocet. Right. Because Vicodin is hydro codone, Hydrocodone, Oxy.

[C]

So, yeah. So the brand name I've got is Percocet, Correct?

[B]

Yep. Okay.

[C]

So that's unusual. But the reason the pain is so bad and unfortunately, I've had to learn this the hard way. Oh. The other thing I want people to look out for, Kenny. And this. If I had known this. Now, it's a little bit gross, but if I had known it at the time that this was starting, Kenny, I would have got to the hospital much sooner. If your urine turns the color of like an amber lager beer. Like an orangish brown.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That is Lyme's disease.

[B]

Really?

[C]

Yes. And mine had turned this amber lager color, like almost an orange. And I thought, what the hell? I have never had urine that color. And the physician told me that's another reason they believe I have Lymes is because of the color of my urine. Yeah, no kidding. Listening out there, even though it's gross, if your urine starts to turn to that color, get to the physicians, get to an ER immediately. Immediately. The sooner you can treat the antibiotics, start the antibiotics, the less pain you're gonna have. So I'm now well down the road, and what the doctor told me is this is. It's nothing more. It's a nasty bacteria. The Lyme disease is a nasty bacteria that literally attacks your joints. And when it starts to move from knee to knee to ankle to ankle to toes to toes and gets. After all, you know, then your fingers and your hand and all your joints, your autoimmune system, your antibodies can't move fast enough and quick enough to cover the ground. It's like an army of. It's like an army of bacteria just munching away at your body, at your joints, not the rest of just your joints.

[B]

Doesn't it also affect muscles?

[C]

Yes, yes. You have muscle contractions. Your muscles become sore. You. I had a hard time standing. It felt like my legs were going to give out. Because your muscles become very weak because your body is spending so much time fighting, you know, fighting the disease that the rest of your body, you know, suffers, if you will. And. Yeah, and you can get a severe headache. I didn't get a severe headache. I did have a headache. I had a low grade fever. I had everything. Chills, you know, couldn't get warm. It's. It's a nasty, nasty ordeal, man.

[B]

So did they keep you Monday night or did they send you home?

[C]

They sent me home because they said. They offered. They said, what would you like to do? And I said, well, I do better, believe it or not, in my own bed.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And I said, you could give me the painkills, and I'm only a half hour drive away. I'd rather sleep in my own bed. They left it completely up to me, but they told me if it wasn't better by Wednesday, today, I should consider coming back in.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

So I thought, all right, doing that. But then I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who's an infectious disease doctor in St. Paul, and he said to me, he goes, well, I would encourage you to go in if you feel you need to go in because I'm still in a lot of pain today. It hasn't really gotten much better at all. It's gotten a little bit better, but not much, not hardly at all. He said to keep in mind that because I was in the more advanced stages, that this took off pretty quick because it might take three days for those antibiotics to kick in. He goes, give it three full days of antibiotics and then if you're still in trouble, go back into the er. So I guess at all times, it depends.

[B]

Let's pause there because there's more to it and I have to tell you something that I'm really nervous about telling you, but I think, I think you need to know this.

[C]

Oh yeah. Especially with lines.

[B]

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[C]

I'm definitely laying down. Yeah.

[B]

I know a guy that died from Lyme disease.

[C]

Oh yeah? Yeah. I knew you can die from this. Yeah, I knew. I already knew that. Yeah.

[B]

And I also found out talking to my sister in law, the same gal that saved my life, heart related, that when her son now, oh God, I believe he's in his 30s by now. When he was 16, he went on a trip to China and before he left on that trip, he got bit by a. Bitten by a tick. And then the symptoms came on in China and it was, it was affecting his heart. And the Chinese doctors there wanted to put in a pacemaker and they had never heard of Lyme disease. And she, Charlene flew over there and tried to, you know, she wanted to be with her son obviously, but she tried to reason with the doctors and finally because it was heart related, she was able to come back to Minneapolis. She worked at the Heart Institute, Chicago Avenue South, Minneapolis. And through doctors and nurses there, they were able to get a hold of the doctors and nurses in China and convince them not to put in a pacemaker and to give her son certain medication. And he did finally recover and now is, you know, healthy and happy and you know, married with kids.

[C]

Holy crap. What would you. Did she. Do you recall how. What were his symptoms?

[B]

It was related to muscles around the heart. So he had what I'm guessing was irregular heartbeat and that's what was throwing off those doctors. And I've been sitting on this, my, the other guy also from my in laws side, J.D. john. He was super healthy.

[C]

Jay.

[B]

He didn't look like us. You know, we're shaped funny. No, he was in shape. He was rock solid, zero body fat, well exercised, of sound mind and body. And this brought him down and gave him a heart attack.

[C]

Oh my God. Well, I've heard it can affect the heart muscle that the heart muscle is not safe from Lyme's disease.

[B]

Do you remember what the ticks looked like that you pulled off you. And how did you pull them off?

[C]

Yeah, well, the one was on my lower back and I'm thinking it might be the one with my lower back. Yeah, only because they say it's, it's these, these things are going to, these symptoms are going to appear within three to 30 days.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

So I think what was my last worst one? I'm like, well, that one that was kind of on my lower back, you know? You know how you're. I just reached back. I thought I had a bad itch. You know what I mean?

[B]

Yep.

[C]

And I scratched. And. And as I scratched, I noticed it started to bleed. Oh, my God. Yeah, it started to bleed and I pulled my hand away and I could see a tick sitting there. Oh. So I cussed out the tick. So I. Obviously the tick was in me or getting in.

[B]

You scratched him out, come out.

[C]

And it bled just, you know, enough where it was weird. Right. And then I saw the tick and I was like, oh, well, you know what, though? That's a wood tick. It was if those. A wood tick. I don't worry too much.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And I also think that might be a misnomer. I. It.

[B]

I think so.

[C]

I think so too, because, yeah, it was. Tell you, you know, be careful of the deer ticks. Right, Right.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I didn't think anything of it. I'm like, oh, it's just a wood tick. I'm fine. I get about a half dozen wood tick bites up here a year.

[B]

Sure. So especially in the spring. I thought this wood tick thing was, you know, April, May, and maybe a little bit into June. Then once you get into the heat of the summer, you're okay. Turns out that's not true.

[C]

Correct. Yeah, it. Well, it lessens. So my guy, my friend, the infectious disease physician, he said it peaks from now until like 4th of July. It's the worst it's going to be.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And then it tapers off, but it never really goes away. He's had tick borne illness cases every month of the year, Kenny, except one, and the only one that he hasn't in all of his years. And he just retired a few months ago. So you can tell he's been doing it, what, 30, 40 years? He. He's only had. He's had tick borne illness cases and patients from every month of the year except January. He goes, so really, Jay, January is your only safe month? If you ask me.

[B]

This is information I didn't want to hear, but I need to know. Let's go back to the tick. Pulling the tick off from. Ever since you told me about this, which was, by the way, you didn't call me with this until Monday, but I've been thinking back to the many ticks I've pulled off myself. And one was a couple of years ago, and it was visible I could see it, and it was one of those really tiny ones, and I grabbed a hold of it, and I could tell it was embedded, and I pulled straight up, and I pulled gently for a long time, and finally it let go, and I got it out, and then there was no bullseye, no welt, no nothing. And I figured, well, I fooled him. I did good. It sounds like you did the wrong thing and you scratched it out sideways.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And that's part. Yeah, that stinger. You know, the barbs on a hook? That's what the stinger is. It's got a bunch of those little barbs, and it embeds itself in there.

[C]

Yes. So I probably did it wrong inadvertently. And then, Kenny, because it was in my back, I didn't bother to ask anybody to check for a bullseye for the next week. Right. Yeah. I'm a guy.

[B]

Right. Of course. And then the other mistake you made, and I didn't realize this, and I. Of course, we all make it, is you didn't save the tick. And I guess what you're supposed to do if they're deer ticks is. Is put them in a Ziploc bag with a little wet paper cloth or something in there, seal it up, and just keep that tick, because you need to go to the doctor. You need to have it checked out, and you need to. You need. They need the tick. They need to see the tick for some reason.

[C]

Wow. I didn't know that.

[B]

Yeah. The. One of the great joys of pulling a tick off is exploding it with a match.

[C]

Well, that's what I do every time. Giddy about burning them.

[B]

I know. It's. Yeah, It's. It's payoff.

[C]

Yeah. It's like, hey, you little effort.

[B]

You little.

[C]

You effed around and found out.

[B]

How do you like it now? That's what I always yell at him. So right now you're. You're at home, and truth be told, we did hook up a video link. And, Jay, you look like a hobo. You look like you're near death. You're all pale and white, and there's tinges of blue. You're unshaped, shaven. And I didn't want to put that on the air because we probably should have, because it's so shocking that I think people would actually. If they saw you right now, they would be a lot more careful about ticks.

[C]

Yeah, 100%. And I would have done it. I would have been like, I don't put my face out there. I don't care.

[B]

I know that's that's a problem with you. You don't care about things. You should have. And you should be at the hospital right now. You shouldn't be on this show right now. You should be at the hospital.

[C]

Well, after talking to my friend Dr. Borenstein, he was more, he was more pragmatic. He said, look, he says he's a guy's guy. He goes, he goes, give it another day. Give it three full days of the antibiotic, then go in. He goes, if it's been three full days, go get it checked again. But he said, look, some of these things, Jay, unfortunately, you know, it goes, we just got to push through it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

He goes, just push through it. And he goes, you're probably going to be just fine. But he goes, he goes, lesson learned. And I told him, I said, you know, look, I've lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota except for eight years in Utah. So 57 years of my life, I've lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota and never had something like this happen to me. So maybe I got a little cocky about it. I don't know.

[B]

Well, I mean, we've been around these things our whole lives. I mean, you know, over a lifetime I bet we've all picked off 100 ticks or more.

[C]

Oh, you know, yeah. Easily. And didn't move to the woods here. When I take my dog out, like, and if I take my dog out, Kenny, in May for a good walk back into the woods with him at all, and I come out, I'm gonna have six to eight ticks on me easily.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And didn't the doctor say something about your area, where you're at right now?

[C]

Yeah, he did. He goes, so where'd you move to in retirement? And I told him and he goes, oh, God. He goes, you're right in the belly of the beast. He goes, there are more, I believe, if I can remember correctly, said more cases per capita of Lyme, excuse me, of tick borne illnesses in western Wisconsin than anywhere else in the country.

[B]

So let's cover that from, I'm gonna say on a map from Highway 8 over to, oh, the Hayward area and then up north to Superior, right?

[C]

Yeah, he said Hayward. He said Spooner, Hayward, Danbury, Webster, all the way up to Superior. That whole kind of. Well, for us, you know, I guess it's more northwestern Wisconsin if you live in Wisconsin. But yeah, for us, you know, we refer to it as western Wisconsin since we're, you know, work in Minnesota. But yeah, he, yeah, he said that is ground zero for tick borne illnesses. Because this isn't, you know, he goes, J Lyme's disease ain't the only one. He goes, there's several tick borne illnesses.

[B]

Oh geez.

[C]

This happens to be the most common one.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

So if you think about those little buggers, they, they can wreak a lot of havoc with, with more than just one, more than just one disease. They spread a bunch, man. They spread a bunch all right. Naughty little bastards is what they are.

[B]

Let's, let's take one quick break here and come back and wrap this up. The 4th of July holiday finally here. And if you spend it with friends and family on the lake Warner's Dock in New Richmond and on the web warnerstock.com they have a huge selection of premier and Bentley pontoons that are on sale right now. We do it all from our pontoons over the fourth. It's so fun viewing the fireworks competition, the pontoon parades. I especially love swimming out in the middle of the lake off the pontoon. That's fantastic. And remember, if there's kids in your family, these are the good old days for the kiddos. Make those memories. They're lifelong memories for the kids. You can check out everything they have online@warner stock.com or better yet, stop in and shop the large air conditioned showroom over in new Richmond. Warner's doc. They've been in business 79 years now. That's four generations of family committed to keeping our families happy on the water all summer long. They do it all. Sales, service, storage, pontoons, fishing boats. Oh, docks, of course. Lifts. Warner's dock in New Richmond. The place for all of our boating needs. Check out the inventory. Warner's dock.com. well, speaking of the fourth and pontoons, Jay, I'm going to spend my fourth partying, having fun. You are going to be gobbling Percocets and staring at the ceiling.

[C]

Yeah. And a bunch, a whole bunch of antibiotics they get, they're gonna put me on these antibiotics for like three months.

[B]

Oh boy.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah, it's, I, it's serious, it's serious stuff. I, I, I learned the hard way out. I'm telling you, man, I, I was, I understood it, but I didn't understand it till now.

[B]

Yeah, nor did I. I mean, I've known about it and they're, they go on about it every year on the news and it's like, yeah, you know what? Yeah, I know. Shovel snow, mow the grass, check for ticks. Right. We all know that. And you kind of stop paying attention and caring. But I mean, seeing you and hearing this story really brought it out for me. And we were thinking about taking the week off, but, you know, you got the lime thing, and I thought, well, let's use that.

[C]

Yeah, no, it's fine. I. As long as I lie here and don't do anything, I'm okay. And I can. You know, it's not like it's. But the reason I didn't call you till Monday was because, like you mentioned, it'll be. It'll be better tomorrow. Yeah, I'll be able to do more tomorrow.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, I just. It just kept snowballing to the worst, you know, it was not getting better. And then Monday, that's when I said, I gotta call Kenny and go, dude, I don't know if I'm gonna be much help this week.

[B]

I don't know if you're gonna be much help next week.

[C]

Oh, God dang, Kenny. If this thing is in better, if I'm not feeling better in a day or two, you know, at least, you know, if the painkillers and the antibiotics don't start kicking in, then we may have a whole different story to do next Wednesday.

[B]

Jay, this. This. I mean, there's been cases where it's. Long time recovery.

[C]

Yes, I. Yep. And the doctors told me that. He told me that the position said, you know, he goes, you're an older guy now. He goes, this may take a little bit longer, that you may be aff by this for a while. And I go, what's a while? And he goes, you know, they'll never put a time frame on it. They won't. He goes, well, let's just say more than a week or two. This may take a while for you to get over because you're getting beat up pretty bad where your body's getting just pounded by this bacteria.

[B]

Well, you do me and all of us a favor. Hold down to the. The VFW or the Legion. Get one of your buddies. I don't know if it's Shorty or Shitty Bill or one of those guys. And get them to take you to the hospital today. Just get checked out, all right? Please.

[C]

All right. Well, I was gonna listen to Dr. Borenstein and do one more day, and if it's this bad tomorrow, then I'm not.

[B]

Well, you could keep doing that every day, and then one day you can wake up dead. Cole, I. I don't want to make this about me, but I'm trying to care for two aging parents. I've got Sushire with the sepsis. He's got One foot in the grave with the septus. Right. And now I got you with a foot and a half in the grave with the Lyme.

[C]

It's pretty good.

[B]

Could you just do me a favor and get better, please?

[C]

I will do, man. Yeah, no, I absolutely. Listen, I would rather be in there working with you guys than feeling like this. Trust me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Well, we missed.

[C]

Did Gabe tell you I showed him the knee that was bothering me?

[B]

No.

[C]

Hold up my short leg and go.

[B]

A week ago.

[C]

Yeah. Last Wednesday, I go, gabe, which. Which leg. Which leg do you think is bothering me? You know, Gabe looked at, went, whoa.

[B]

You had a big old watermelon on the. On your knee.

[C]

It's a big watermelon on my knee. Is Gabe there? Where is he? I'm here. He's not lying.

[B]

That was a balloon.

[C]

That's for sure. It was a balloon. And that's the other thing to look for. Thanks, Gabe, for using that word. My. The physician and Dr. Borenstein, the physician at Spooner Health and Dr. Borenstein said if your joints start to balloon, like literally swell the balloon size, you are almost certain dealing with potential lyme disease or a tick borne illness, because that's exactly what happens to the joints. They swell up like balloons. Yep. So there you go.

[B]

Back in the early. I've been married 80 years now. Back in the early days, one of the fun things we used to do was check each other for ticks. You know, and one thing leads to another, and the next thing you know, you're waking up from a nap. So I don't know, folks, I wanted to do this show today as a public service. Please don't ignore the tick factor. These horrible little evil bastards are out to get us.

[C]

Here's what I would say, Kenny, because we used to do the same thing. We would check each other for ticks. I stopped doing that with my kids when they were. And I shouldn't have stopped doing it. It's a simple thing. If you could just check for ticks. The back out in the woods.

[B]

The back. The back of the neck, the underarm, all the places you can't see.

[C]

Correct. It'll save you the possibility of excruciating pain.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So just do it. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And if you're married, and maybe you've been married 80 years like me, you know, one thing might lead to another, or you might just gross each other out. Either way, that's your. It's your problem. Yeah. Gabe, thank you very much. Happy 4th of July to you, sir. Jay, go to the hospital, get better. I really. I really need you to get better. And to everybody else, thanks for listening to the Krabby Coffee Shop. Have a safe, fun. Happy fourth of July.