I'm posting this as an advisory to those who hunt , fish, camp or do anything involving the outdoors. Hunting season for deer starts early in South Carolina and back in July I spent several days on our farm prepping for food plots etc. Lots of grown up areas and plenty of wildlife. And of course, ticks. I finished bushhogging and showered, being careful to look for ticks. Next day I found I missed a small one on my left calf. I removed it and moved on. Next day (about the 29th of July)I noticed the redness and what looked like an infected bite. Cleaned it up and went on, Within a week my leg started swelling, and the redness covered my calf and half of my foot. My body temp went to 100 overnight and the sweats came with it. I went to my doctor and told him about what was going on and he immediately placed me on antibiotics with the thought that this was Lyme Disease. I was told that Lyme Disease cannot be tested for until the subject has had the symptoms for at least 3 weeks. At the time of my MD visit it had been 2 weeks. Things got worse. My temp was erratic but never below 100 and as high as 102.5. No sleep, muscular and joint pain and nausea. My wife said I was talking out of my head when I was able to sleep which wasn't often. I went to a different MD and they were shocked by what they saw. My leg was swelled up over twice it's normal size and the bite spot was really infected. I was given a shot of a strong antibiotic and put on another strong antibiotic to take. Doctor said I should have been put on an IV antibiotic the day I went to the first MD but now they would go after it without that and would test for Lyme Disease. They were comfortable that we had caught it in time. Five days later they called me at home and gave me the news. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. So I was given a really strong oral antibiotic and told to watch it closely. It had been a month since the initial bite by this time. I could get around but became ill after any stressful activity such as walking or lifting. Today is September 22 and I am off all meds and the redness and swelling have been gone for several days. Still weak but getting better. The stress of this thing caused a PVC problem with my heart and I had some tests regarding that but was told there was no real problem. Lots of folks have that problem so no big deal. For those that have read all of this I appreciate it. RMSF can kill you if not treated. So can Lyme Disease. Luckily I made the decision to go on to the MD and it was caught in time. I've never been that sick or sick for that long. It's like the flu on steroids. So if that tick bite starts to turn red or the area starts to swell and look a bit infected, GO TO THE MD THEN, not later. Hope this helps someone out there.