One time about 20 years ago - long before I knew anything about Lyme - I went camping with one of my kids. We left on a Thursday evening and returned Saturday morning.
I went to shower since I had not in two nights. I noticed all these freckles on my legs.
They weren't freckles. They were deer ticks. All embedded. I couldn't get them off, and I'd heard a little about Lyme, so I went to the local clinic. They helped removed them. They stopped counting at 50.
I asked if I needed any abx. They said no. They told me I only need abx if I became symptomatic, but because it was less than 48 hours that I had been exposed, I was at no risk. So they sent me home.
I started having subtle neurological signs within a year. Within three years I was having trouble driving. That's about the time I noticed my first EM.