NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Dickson father of four remains hospitalized at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville after he was bitten by a tick.
Earlier this month, Gary Hudson pulled two ticks from his body before leaving for a 10-day family vacation to Florida.
On the way home, on June 12, Hudson's wife Christal told Nashville's News 2 her husband who also suffers from weakened immune system due to psoriatic arthritis, fell ill and began to develop a fever.
He was rushed to the hospital two days later after his fever spiked to 103.6 degrees.
Doctors tested Hudson for several tick-borne illnesses including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain and ehrlichiosis.
The tests came back positive for ehrlichiosis, an infection that typically develops one to two weeks following a tick bite and is often characterized by fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hudson was given a prescription and sent home only to return to the hospital the next later after his condition worsened.
Wednesday, more than two weeks after he was first admitted, Christal Hudson said her husband remains hospitalized in the intensive care unit at St. Thomas and on a ventilator.
"We can see him 15 minutes every three hours," Christal said.
Hudson's wife told Nashville's News 2 in an effort to find answers to her husband's condition, she and friends began searching for answers and calling hospitals in other states.
"It wasn't 30 minutes and we got a call back from an R.N. and she said, ‘Three years ago I was right were your husband is and she said I am still taking antibiotics,'" Christal said.
She continued, "People with psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis have a reaction to tick bite when they start throwing this broad spectrum of antibiotics at you trying to get you well and they get sicker and sicker and it baffles the doctors."
Doctors are continuing to run tests to see if Hudson has more than one disease.
The family has set up a Web site at CaringBridge.orgoffering updates on Hudson's condition to family and friends.
