My hand is better. Thanks for everyone that was worried :)

[Aerows]

[Lifelong Protester]

1. Did you have to get shots?

Weren't you the one who was nipped by the racoon? Glad you are better.

[Aerows]

2. I'm in shot number two of the rabies vaccine

I have 3 more to go.

[Lifelong Protester]

12. Hope those go well. And hope there are no

nasty side effects.

[Aerows]

21. They make me so crabby

Thank heavens my family will put up with me.

[kestrel91316]

64. They don't have any noticeable side effects.

I had 3 of them years ago when I got exposed to rabies.

The only bad part is the immunoglobulin injection on Day 1. Ask Aerows about THAT.

[Aerows]

77. Don't ask me about that

I like to keep the vulgarities to a minimum.

Profanity. Profanity. Profanity.

That's what I'll say.

[Nay]

80. Oy! I didn't know that shot was part of the rabies series. I had one years

ago, and damn, did it hurt. Right in the ass/hip, IIRC. Owwww.


Glad you got the shots, aerows -- your DU parents will always steer you right.

[Aerows]

82. No, that was the easy part

the horrible part was getting injected six or seven times, probing into the wound. PROBING, injecting, swelling, blood and I'm thrilled i didn't piss myself.

[Nay]

84. That makes me sweat just to think about it. I am still glad all of us

moms and pops, grammas and grampas, convinced you to go to the doc. I think you dodged a bullet, dude.

[Aerows]

85. Surprisingly, after all of that

I still think I dodged a bullet, too.

[pnwmom]

101. I think the difference is that she's had to have injections right into her hand and foot,

into the bite sites.

I'm assuming if you've been "exposed" rather than bitten, you could have shots in less painful places?

[kestrel91316]

107. Oh absolutely. She got the worst of it. I has potential respiratory/

mucous membrane exposure, and no bite. So I got my immunoglobulin injection in my arm (by mistake - should have been in the gluteus, but that's a whole 'nother story) which was breathtakingly painful, but can't possibly hold a candle to multiple injections into a bitten-up hand.

I get sick just thinking about it.

[pnwmom]

108. Me, too! I don't want to imagine how that must have felt.

I'd heard that the new rabies shots aren't as bad, but I think I'd rather have them in my stomach rather than what she had to go through.

[Aerows]

110. You really don't

Please don't feed wild animals or you will end up with a mess. Or someone down the street will.

[pnwmom]

111. Don't worry -- I stay away from wild animals. I wouldn't be doing them a favor

if I interacted with them anyway.

[Aerows]

112. Well, now I know why you don't LOL! n/t

[pnwmom]

113. I just meant that wild animals are better off not interfered with. They need their space.

Although I might make an exception for a bird feeder in the winter.

[Aerows]

114. I'm the kid

that has to put her finger on the stove.

[pnwmom]

115. You're the adventurous one! Just don't be the kid

with the toe in a raccoon's mouth. Been there, done that, right?

[Aerows]

116. OMG, honey

nobody wants what I went through.

[kestrel91316]

136. The abdominal injections were vaccine - duck embryo origin, 21 days.

The vaccine now is human cell origin, and only 2-5, in the arm over a couple of weeks, depending on individual circumstances like prior vaccination against rabies.

The horribly painful immunoglobulin injection hasn't changed. It's only ever been just on Day 1.

[JanMichael]

131. They weren't that bad

If you remember, we were both treated a couple months ago.

The shots weren't that big of a deal- all we noticed was just kind of feeling slightly lethargic for a day or so

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I'm glad you're better, my dear Aerows!

[Aerows]

5. Me too!

thanks to the DU crew for making sure I would. MineralMan helped me call the Department of Health. I will *always* be grateful!

[AAO]

66. Aerows - Hope you recover soon. Please tell me those shots aren't as painful as they say!

[Aerows]

69. I don't like to lie

I really don't.

[AAO]

71. Is it as bad as a a catheter up your pepe?

[Aerows]

72. I'd rather have that

please give me a catheter up the pepe instead of a rabies battery in the wound. Seriously.

[AAO]

73. Have you ever had one without any medication?

For me, it was the most horrific experience of my life.

[Aerows]

74. I'm allergic to pain killers

I had to go through it with none.

[AAO]

75. I guess that's why I take so much precaution around unknown animals!

Good luck with the rest of the shots, and damn, I'll be thinking about you. Keep us posted!

[Aerows]

76. Good policy

no one wants to go through what I did.

[AAO]

79. We have these red foxes that come into the field next to our house.

My wife wants to try to walk down to them and get as close as possible, trying to offer them food. Needless to say I've so far been able to stop her. It only take a second from fun to turn to death. A rabid animal is very difficult to deal with unprepared.

[Aerows]

81. Tell her to learn from my misfortune

It hurts to get treated for rabies, and hurts worse to die from it. Nobody wants to have what I went through in the ER.

[truebluegreen]

104. Tell her it would also likely result in the death of the foxes.

Like the old saying: A fed bear is a dead bear. Don't let wild animals become accustomed to people, it is dangerous for both parties.

[Aerows]

119. It would. You don't want to play with wild animals

I love animals, but when you get involved with nasty teeth because they are angry about lack of food? No, it gets serious.

[JanMichael]

132. They aren't

not even the first round where you get four or five shots. It's just not the big of a deal anymore.

[Aerows]

133. Piece of cake

particularly in the wound site. Never notice it. Except for the blood flying everywhere and the swelling.

[JanMichael]

148. My wife and I just went through

this less than 6 months ago.

Both of us. Emergency room, 4 visits, once a week. So- I didn't say it was a "piece of cake," but it's damned sure not the same as getting shots in the wound AND stomach muscles, OK?

[maddezmom]

4. Good deal

:hugs:

[Aerows]

11. Thank you

DU helped a bunch, too, but helping me find the right resources. I'm grateful as all get out.

[malaise]

6. Great news

[Aerows]

10. It is!

My hand hurts like an SOB, but I'm alive

[malaise]

15. Well the one thing I know about human beings is that we do not remember pain

so better a little pain than rabies.

[Aerows]

24. I got stuck with more crap

than a knitting circle. Thanks, though, I'm grateful for the DU family.

[malaise]

27. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Hope the needles were thinner than those knitting needles - you're cracking me up here

[Aerows]

37. I said something ugly

I'm usually a nicer person LOL. Raccoons can ... I can't think of a way to say it.

[malaise]

45. Ha - missed it

[Aerows]

52. I'm not sorry you did

I try not to be vulgar .

[catrose]

96. I hope someone took away the raccoon?

I hate to think of you're having to be on the lookout and armed/armored every time you go outside.

[Aerows]

97. I'm scared as hell

it is still out there, and I hope they find it so that I don't have to keep going for shots.

[CTyankee]

7. Good to hear! You had us all worried, kiddo!

[Aerows]

9. I was worried too

I don't mean to be a drama queen, but it scared me.

[CTyankee]

25. I think that is called "a wise fear."

[Aerows]

36. It is a strange and crazy situation

I wanted to cuss my eyes out when I went through the bit at the hospital. NO ONE in their right mind wants to have inoculation. Nobody.

[CTyankee]

40. Sadly, I no longer believe what doctors say about certain medical procedures or tests.

An "x-ray study" that I was scheduled for turned out so horribly that I told them to stop in the middle of it. It was not all that okay after they "re-positioned" me but from then on I have been highly skeptical of "painless" medical investigations.

[Aerows]

43. My hand got x-rayed, too, to make sure it didn't hit bone

or break it, because I am pretty thin. It didn't, thankfully. Wild animals with teeth. No!

[CTyankee]

49. mine wasn't a simple, external x-ray...it was an exploration of my gut. I swore "never again."

I was told "we've never heard any complaints..." from my surgeon's office.

But from what I gather from your posts, it was the shots that were so painful, which I can certainly believe. What an ordeal for you!

[Aerows]

53. I wouldn't wish it on my

worst enemy, and it hurts like an SOB, still, a week later. I'm still rocking with one hand, though.

[LibertyLover]

141. I know what you mean

Years ago I had some abnormal liver function results so my GP sent me to a gastroenterologist who immediately wanted to do a liver biopsy. I refused and when was condescendingly asked did I know what a biopsy was, my response was yes, I did know what it was and that it hurt. I capped the refusal off by reminded the gut doctor to look for horses and not zebras when one heard galloping. He relented and ordered an ultrasound. It turned out I had gall stones brought on by dieting, which was what my GP suspected all along.

[CTyankee]

142. I have now decided that I will never have another colonoscopy, after this latest one.

My GI doc was really nice. She said she understood that at my age it is too rough on my body and since I have no family history of colon cancer and 2 normal prior ones, I will not be called for one in 5 years, as was SOP. Enough was enough.

[Cha]

57. It would scare me too!

Glad you're healing, Aerows.

[Aerows]

63. Thank you

It scared the crap out of me.

[kestrel91316]

65. There is no such thing as too concerned when a raccoon bites you unprovoked.

[Aerows]

94. You helped encourage me to go to the hospital after the

first one blew me off, and bless you for that. This has been a freaking nightmare.

[kestrel91316]

98. Rabies is something you do NOT get a second chance with. You have to handle it correctly right from

the start. I consider it my professional duty to make sure people do so if I get wind of a possible exposure, even if it's over the internet.

[tblue37]

100. I hopeyou complained to the first hospital and to the health department

about the unconscionable treatment you were subjected to at the first ER,

[CherokeeDem]

8. So good to hear....

What an ordeal you've had to endure.

Glad your hand is healing well with no complications.

[Aerows]

14. It was a pile of crap

But I think I'm out of the woods, so to speak.

[Matariki]

13. Yay!

Do the shots hurt? When I was a kid, my parents scared me about rabie shots - said you had to get them in the stomach every day for a month. I think they were trying to keep me from petting raccoons.

[Aerows]

17. Nobody

wants to have a shot in the wound, let alone multiple ones. If your parents scared you about them, they were completely right. They had to clean up blood when they were done. At least I went to the bathroom before they got started with the injections.

[Matariki]

19. You have to get the shot IN the wound??

ouch! I'm so sorry

[magical thyme]

50. that was the old post-exposure series

the new one is not supposed to be as bad. Although reading below that the shot is in the wound....yeeeeouch!!!!!

[Aerows]

56. I would tell you how pleasant it was

but I'd be lying through my teeth.

[kestrel91316]

68. Day 1 requires immunoglobulin injections into the tissues around the wound.

But the vaccines after that part are no biggie at all.

At least now it's only one day of hell instead of 21.

[kestrel91316]

67. Those shots in the abdomen went the way of the dodo bird

nearly 35 years ago.

Current rabies post-exposure prophylaxis consists of a nasty injection of immunoglobulin into the tissues around the bite wound on Day 1, and then a series of 5 piddly little inconsequential injections of vaccine in the arm over a 2 week period, I think.

I had a SINGLE dose of the old duck embryo vaccine in my arm in vet school as the first in the preventive series we had to have. It was the most horrible medical thing I've ever had done. Thank heavens when the second dose was due they had just come out with the new human diploid cell vaccine, which was a piddly thing.

I am eternally grateful that the Research Gods chose our vet school to do the clinical trials in. I would not have been able to complete even the short preventive series if it had all been the duck embryo vaccine.

[Aerows]

95. Wound. PROBED. Injected, several times

Bathroom, glad I went to it before hand. I'm fairly hardy, but that was horrible, terrible and use an ibble.

[kestrel91316]

99. I have to be careful not to think about that part too much. I'll faint just at the

visual imagery and the idea of that sort of pain.

[Matariki]

16. Also curious what animal control had to say

because if I recall the people at the emergency room were kind of dismissive.

[Aerows]

18. I had to go back to different hospital in a different county

because the one in mine is incompetent. Oh, and Animal Control told me to call the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. They aren't competent, either.

[distantearlywarning]

20. Very glad you got treated!

Also curious about Animal Control's take on your story

[Aerows]

28. I called them

You are welcome to call them too. Hancock County MS. Feel free to share your views.

[Demo_Chris]

22. Good deal, I was worried. :)

[Aerows]

42. Thank you for caring

It's been a fun week. I have 3 more to go, but that is child's play compared to what they did in the wound site.

[livetohike]

23. Yay! What an ordeal, but "it's better to be safe than sorry"

[Aerows]

34. Better than dead.

[nenagh]

26. Arrows, you were bitten around your ring finger, if I remember correctly..

Are the cuts on the back of your hand, in the semi circle ...from the injections they. Gave you. In your hand?

I 'm just so glad you made the phone call and also thank Mineral Man for the numbers..

Well done Aerows... Thanks for the update..

[Aerows]

32. Puncture wound in between the middle and ring finger

and it got a grip on me in the back of the hand, and yes, it was lovely what they did to my hand. It has been a week and that's how it looks.

[Warpy]

29. It still looks really sore

I imagine the shots are part of that.

I'm just glad you're feeling better.

I don't suppose they caught the raccoon. It's probably dead by now.

[Aerows]

33. It's freaking houdini

It isn't showing up, and trust me, I'm trying so I don't have to keep going through this.

[William769]

30. Good!

Now please don't feed the animals.

[Aerows]

31. LOL Ass

If only the neighbors could get the message!

[MineralMan]

38. I'm glad to hear it, Aerows.

Once you have all the shots, you'll have no worries at all.

[Aerows]

39. Thank you so much

for directing me to call the Department of Health. I'll be forever grateful.

[MineralMan]

41. I'm just glad I could help.

My pleasure.

[spanone]

44. k&r... i have a raccoon that feeds on our deck occasionally ....

thanks for raising awareness of the possibilities.......

although i know that wasn't your intention!!!!

[Aerows]

46. Please don't feed them

They get vicious when hungry and if you encourage them, the second there is no food, they get aggressive. It could be you, your pet, or a child the next house over.

[etherealtruth]

47. Very glad to hear you are getting better . so sorry about the "shots". Be well n/t

[Aerows]

54. Thank you :) n/t

[City Lights]

48. Glad to hear you're better!

Looks like it was very painful.

[Aerows]

51. It was on the pleasantness scale somewhere between

explosive diarrhea and getting bitten by a raccoon. Oh wait, that's what happened.

[nadinbrzezinski]

55. Good

[Solly Mack]

58. Good! Glad to hear it!

[irisblue]

59. happy news

wasn't there a problem with your foot too?

[Aerows]

61. It never broke the skin

wool socks rock.

[hootinholler]

60. Looking much better!

[Aerows]

62. I am so thankful for MineralMan providing the numbers for

the Department of Health. Hancock County is suckage, since we lost our Gene Taylor. Now we have a teabagger.

[cherokeeprogressive]

70. Glad to hear it. Thanks for the update. n/t

[LisaL]

78. Did you ever see that raccoon again?

[Aerows]

87. A huge one came by last night

the little one I haven't seen (the one that bit me). We have a freaking plague of them.

[LisaL]

88. They look so cute but they are vicious.

[Aerows]

90. You can look at my hand

I love animals. They are extremely vicious when they don't get their way and food.

[greatlaurel]

83. So glad you got the correct medical attention

I was out walking my dogs just a few minutes ago and thought about your situation. Thank you for the update.

The teabagger issue is a very real problem in every state where they have power. They cause much collateral damage very similar to rabid racoons.

Good luck in your recovery.

[Aerows]

89. I was referred to this, referred to that

tell me why this isn't an animal control issue?

[Aerows]

117. DU rocks

Thank you for the rally.

[PeaceNikki]

86. Holy shit, I missed what happened... but - FEEL BETTER!!

EEeeeek!

[Aerows]

92. I've been through the wringer n/t

[madokie]

91. Thank you for keeping us updated

you're a good man.

[Aerows]

93. In a storm?

[LiberalEsto]

102. Glad to hear it

I'm sorry your first shots were so painful, but I'm happy that you're doing what's needed to prevent rabies.

I hope everything goes well from here on.

[Aerows]

120. Nobody wants to go through that, but I'm alive

Hurt doesn't describe it, and may everyone learn a lesson, do NOT feed raccoons.

[Silent3]

103. Without the picture, I would have been asking what your hand is better than. :) n/t

[NutmegYankee]

105. Glad to see you are doing better.

Sucks that the first step is what you got in the hand, but hey, beats painful death by rabies right?

[Aerows]

109. It does

but I don't recommend it!

[arthritisR_US]

106. Nasty bite, good to hear it's mending! :) nt

[Aerows]

118. I'm glad that I ranted and raved enough

that it finally got treated.

[LuvNewcastle]

121. I'm glad you're better, Aerows.

I'm glad I live in town. I've seen lots of coons out in the county, and I always try to stay away from them. They're nasty creatures. It's ridiculous that you had such a hard time getting help to get rid of that thing. You ought to have Al Showers from WLOX come out and do a segment about it. I'll bet a lot of people out there are in danger of having the same thing happen to them, and they wouldn't know what to do. Stay safe and take care.

[Aerows]

122. It never occurred to me to notify the news media.

I don't want to be on TV. I would like people to be more educated.

[LuvNewcastle]

123. I know what you mean. I wouldn't want to be on tv either.

Still, there needs to be a way to tell people about it so they'll know what to do if they're in a similar situation. The Sun Herald, I guess, or Facebook are my only answers.

[Aerows]

126. Sun Herald is our newspaper

People need to know to quit feeding these things. It's dangerous.

[Aerows]

124. My cousin is in the radio business

Nicest man you will ever find. Phil kicks butt.

[quinnox]

125. Glad to hear

[Aerows]

127. Hopefully I can get the word out

so that nobody has to go through this.

[PearliePoo2]

128. About your neighbor that feeds these little, masked terrorists...

Did you have a lengthy discussion with her and point out the error of her ways?
She needs to knock it off pronto...for the safety of the entire neighborhood.

[Aerows]

130. I'm going to let the neighbors handle it

We had ... an altercation during Katrina, and let's just say her husband doesn't like me very much.

[Gothmog]

129. This great news

I thought of you when they discussed the Arkansas coon dinner on up on Saturday. They evidently ran out od coons for this dinner

[Aerows]

143. I have plenty of them here

Please come get them!

[Gothmog]

147. The concept of eating Raccoon is a little strange

I am not sure I could run for office in Arkansas

[Aerows]

134. Got another shot today

Pain in the ... hand.

[alphafemale]

144. Didn't you say you were bit in the foot also though?

Do they only have to inject in the one site?

[Aerows]

145. It nipped me on the toe

but it didn't break the skin because I was wearing thick wool socks. My hand is the pain in the ass.

[myrna minx]

135. I'm so glad you're going to be ok.

[Aerows]

139. The DU family really came through during this mess

I will be forever grateful.

[stevenleser]

137. Hope you feel 100% soon.

Those shots sound awful.

[Aerows]

138. I'll get there :) thanks for the well wish n/t

[kentauros]

140. I'm glad to hear that you're healing! :)

(I'd only read part of that original thread and decided not to wade into the fray as it seemed...)

Keep us posted (when you're not so crabby )

[Aerows]

146. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy n/t

[femmocrat]

149. Glad you are doing better, Aerows.

What a terrible thing to go through.