Hello all

I'm in Kansas City, MO and on Tuesday I pulled a lonestar off of my lower right stomach. It couldn't have been on there long at all (not that it matters?) And likely attached within 30 min-hour of when I pulled it. I looked down, saw the spot and went into a panic because i was well aware of the implications, plucked it off and tossed it down the toilet. In hindsight I wish I would have saved it but i went into instant freak out. I took some rubbing alcohol and applied it to the spot to clean it.

I enjoy the hell out of cooking. During the summer I use my smoker or grill to cook something multiple times a week. That's often beef or pork. There's few things better than a perfectly cooked ribeye. I also ingest red meat for the protein content as I love lifting weights (not in an obsessive way but just as a daily regiment) so there's also a level of this that's also a part of my health goals, not just because I love steak.

I've heard of alpha gal but I also haven't been bitten by a tick in at least a decade and, while I enjoy the outdoors, I'm not camping every weekend type of person so it didn't seem like a real threat.

Now I am here....my wife tells me I am overreacting but it's legitimately put me in a Funk and semi depressive state worrying about what might happen if I can't enjoy so much of what I love in life. Researching has been hard. In am effort to comfort me my wife has looked into it a bit and says it's "not guaranteed to cause it and/or is rare" but I can't find anything that makes me feel better in terms of data because there isn't much.

I wish there was something that said "if x happens the chances of y occurring = this". What are the odds that I am screwed? I know every single person bit by a lonestar dosent have to deal with the allergy but ultimately I wish I could find something that told me what that number is.

I'm trying to keep my mind off of it as much as possible and almost definitely going out of my way to eat red meat over the past 48 hours as if it was going to be "my last meal".

Any feedback is appreciated as I have no idea where else to go because I feel a doctor appointment would be pointless.... I have one small welt where I pulled the tick out of and it's midly itchy but not something that's noticeable.