sweetypie
06-05-2014, 02:36 PM
Ugh. I thought I was over my health anxiety, but I've been getting it more and more lately.
Basically, I saw this cute kitten and it kept meowing at me. I thought it was the neighbors and I started to pet it and feed it and then I realized that it wasn't fixed and was probably a stray. (Later, I was able to confirm this.) I was petting it and it got so excited that it started playfully swatting at me and wound up scratching me in a few places, not too badly, but I did bleed some. I washed the wounds and put neosporin on them and bandaids.
Anyway, my dogs are huge dogs that were trying to eat the cat, so we realized that we could never adopt it without it's life being constantly at risk.
So I took it to a shelter and they found out that I got scratched until I bled and now they have it under observation to make sure it didn't infect me with rabies. Less than ten people, EVER, through out all history have survived rabies and only two of those didn't receive the vaccination (which I didn't receive.)
I called the doctor of the only place around here that takes my insurance and they said that the soonest I could get an appointment was A MONTH FROM NOW. Which is already too late to get your rabies shot. I read somewhere else that if it's been six days, that's already too late as well.
The cat was very nice and didn't act like it had rabies, but I read that cats don't act like they have rabies until right before death. Before that, though, they can still give the rabies to you.
And I read that there's a very small chance you can get rabies from a scratch because it's usually spread through a bite.
But I also read that when you get your first symptom, it's too late for them to help you and that you are going to die in a few days. And that the death will be extremely painful.
I've literally stopped functioning completely. I'm self-employed (for this reason) and I've stopped working completely. I just sit around panicking all day, unable to do housework or take showers or function. I've been forgetting to eat sometimes. I scream in my sleep that I have rabies and that I'm dying because I'm having nightmares about it. I keep imagining symptoms that aren't there. (One of the first symptoms of rabies is getting a headache and I keep getting confused about whether or not I have a headache.) I keep telling my Mother and husband extremely morbid things, like how they show bury me when I die.
AND I READ ONLINE THAT IT CAN TAKE YEARS FOR RABIES TO FULL INFECT YOU SO I FEEL LIKE I CAN'T DO ANYTHING THE NEXT TWO YEARS UNTIL I KNOW FOR SURE THAT I'M NOT DYING.
I mean, the cat is under observation, but they basically said that they wouldn't observe it for the full 10 days and that they wouldn't call us and tell us the results so they made me feel not at all comforted and pretty hysterical about it.
I don't want to overreact and go to the emergency. And I don't want to get shots that I don't need because I ALSO HAVE A PHOBIA OF MEDICINE.
So I'm basically in some kind of person you-know-what right now. And I don't know how I should handle this like a rational person.
I am seeing a therapist, but it's a new therapist and I don't trust her yet.
Basically, I saw this cute kitten and it kept meowing at me. I thought it was the neighbors and I started to pet it and feed it and then I realized that it wasn't fixed and was probably a stray. (Later, I was able to confirm this.) I was petting it and it got so excited that it started playfully swatting at me and wound up scratching me in a few places, not too badly, but I did bleed some. I washed the wounds and put neosporin on them and bandaids.
Anyway, my dogs are huge dogs that were trying to eat the cat, so we realized that we could never adopt it without it's life being constantly at risk.
So I took it to a shelter and they found out that I got scratched until I bled and now they have it under observation to make sure it didn't infect me with rabies. Less than ten people, EVER, through out all history have survived rabies and only two of those didn't receive the vaccination (which I didn't receive.)
I called the doctor of the only place around here that takes my insurance and they said that the soonest I could get an appointment was A MONTH FROM NOW. Which is already too late to get your rabies shot. I read somewhere else that if it's been six days, that's already too late as well.
The cat was very nice and didn't act like it had rabies, but I read that cats don't act like they have rabies until right before death. Before that, though, they can still give the rabies to you.
And I read that there's a very small chance you can get rabies from a scratch because it's usually spread through a bite.
But I also read that when you get your first symptom, it's too late for them to help you and that you are going to die in a few days. And that the death will be extremely painful.
I've literally stopped functioning completely. I'm self-employed (for this reason) and I've stopped working completely. I just sit around panicking all day, unable to do housework or take showers or function. I've been forgetting to eat sometimes. I scream in my sleep that I have rabies and that I'm dying because I'm having nightmares about it. I keep imagining symptoms that aren't there. (One of the first symptoms of rabies is getting a headache and I keep getting confused about whether or not I have a headache.) I keep telling my Mother and husband extremely morbid things, like how they show bury me when I die.
AND I READ ONLINE THAT IT CAN TAKE YEARS FOR RABIES TO FULL INFECT YOU SO I FEEL LIKE I CAN'T DO ANYTHING THE NEXT TWO YEARS UNTIL I KNOW FOR SURE THAT I'M NOT DYING.
I mean, the cat is under observation, but they basically said that they wouldn't observe it for the full 10 days and that they wouldn't call us and tell us the results so they made me feel not at all comforted and pretty hysterical about it.
I don't want to overreact and go to the emergency. And I don't want to get shots that I don't need because I ALSO HAVE A PHOBIA OF MEDICINE.
So I'm basically in some kind of person you-know-what right now. And I don't know how I should handle this like a rational person.
I am seeing a therapist, but it's a new therapist and I don't trust her yet.