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View Full Version : Not another RABIES POST?! Health anxiety bleeding over onto son



deejayjewels
22-06-18, 19:50
I know. More rabies. I have scanned though, and as I'm sure is true for many here, I feel my situation is unique, and I need outside opinions from people with objective perspectives!

I know I have health anxiety. I know it. I've had it for as long as I can remember. And I go through rabies fits every few years. The difference is, I now have a child. He's a years and a half old. And my health anxiety over myself hits me NOTHING like it hits me over him! But I can't find any sources citing the specific circumstances that concern me and so I have come here looking for thoughts and advice.

I'll make it as short as possible: a month back, Sage (my don), his father, and myself road tripped to Colorado to see our friend in his ju jitsu tournament. Friend had a cat. Cat did not like Sage. Cat scratched son's eyeball OPEN SO THAT HIS IRIS DANGLED OUT OF IT. Yes, it is possible, apparently. He had emergent surgery and things were put back in place as best as they can be. And after haggling with the owner (relative of friend on Vacation elsewhere), I obtained vax records for Bellamy the cat. BUUUUTTTT wouldn't you know my mind has since found a way to keep the fear alive?

I've done the research. I know the numbers by county and species how Colorado experiences rabies in wildlife. And I know how long the rabies virus can survive outside of the body (which is NOT seconds, people!) The terror that grips me: What if Bellamy the cat had caught a bat within 24 hours previous to brutal mucous membrane contact and had infectious material on her claws at the time of the attack (saliva, cfs, brain tissue, etc)?

This is destroying my life. I can't clean. Go shopping. Even kiss or share a meal with my son without thinking he will soon be showing symptoms, that because the scratch occurred in a mucous membrane directly next to optic nerve and brain, even an incredibly low viral load would be enough to do the trick, and it's only a matter of time! Please help me. I can't do this anymore. YES I HAVE BOOKED THERAPY. But I am still waiting on it!

AMomentofClarity
22-06-18, 19:53
That’s quite a situation to endure, sorry you had to experience that. But, as far as your rabies concern, your reaching for a scenario that’s 1 in a trillion odds. Lots of people are scratched by cats, none of them get rabies.

deejayjewels
22-06-18, 19:57
That’s quite a situation to endure, sorry you had to experience that. But, as far as your rabies concern, your reaching for a scenario that’s 1 in a trillion odds. Lots of people are scratched by cates, none of them get rabies.

Trust me, I try to reason with myself with nearly those exact words, always. But how many are scratched in a mucous membrane with a direct link to the brain, by a cat who had recent contact with rabies infectious material? It would be the absolute perfect storm. And no one would expect it!

What if my son IS the case study?! Sometimes these things hit me so hard I can do nothing more than sit and tremble.

Fishmanpa
22-06-18, 20:03
Ouch... poor little guy! I'm glad he's ok now. So about the rabies? Respectfully, no... just no :lac: AMOC said a trillion to one odds, I say "absolutely impossible". On another note, perhaps you have a future vocation as a science fiction writer :winks:

Positive thoughts

deejayjewels
22-06-18, 20:13
Ouch... poor little guy! I'm glad he's ok now. So about the rabies? Respectfully, no... just no :lac: AMOC said a trillion to one odds, I say "absolutely impossible". On another note, perhaps you have a future vocation as a science fiction writer :winks:

Positive thoughts

Can you please help me with the science portion of impossible? It helps me to understand how things work, and i like to think if I have irrefutable evidence suggesting the impossibility that perhaps I can move on.

Though I suppose, there is always the concert that my brain moves on to another thing to be afraid of.

But this.one I just can't handle!

AMomentofClarity
22-06-18, 20:41
I’ve had plenty of HA, I understand the “what if” thought process. There’s a reason that there’s only 2 rabies cases per year in the US....it’s extremely hard to contract. And you’re not even talking typical means, you’re thinking of a series of perfect storm type events, that even if they did happen, are still EXTREMELY (like impossibly) unlikely to result in rabies.

Fishmanpa
22-06-18, 21:37
Can you please help me with the science portion of impossible?

It's not the science, it's the circumstances. You're claiming a domestic house cat that's been vaccinated, went outside, happened to catch not just anything, but a rabid bat, got rabies on it's claws, came inside, never cleaned or groomed himself, and scratched your son, infecting him.

In other words... impossible. The irrefutable evidence is in your thought process.

Positive thoughts

deejayjewels
22-06-18, 21:38
I should have just opted for post-exposure prophylaxis!!! ������ But I wasn't thinking! And I just can't escape the thought that he is the one in trillions. ������

AMomentofClarity
22-06-18, 21:42
And I just can't escape the thought that he is the one in trillions. ������

And that’s the problem with health anxiety.

Fishmanpa
22-06-18, 21:56
one in trillions. ������

There are 7.6 billion people in the entire world and you're worried that he'll be the one of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000? (a million times a billion). You wanted science and facts? There ya go! Impossible!

Positive thoughts

ServerError
22-06-18, 23:28
Is the cat still alive and healthy? Given that it was a month ago, the cat would be very sick or dead.

We're dealing in the realms of fantasy here.

MyNameIsTerry
23-06-18, 01:43
That must have been a very upsetting experience to go through and it's no wonder your anxiety is do high. I hope Sage is doing well and has a full recovery :hugs:

I find it annoying that you had to haggle with the owner over the cats records because if anything they should be extremely apologetic.

Because of the nature of the injury, and the corrective procedure, the doctors would have had to consider all the potential infection possibilities. I'm sure you realise that any injury is open to infection and you also realise how it's one that is much rarer that is stuck in your mind. So you've managed to dispel worries of other problems that are more likely (which the doctors would have also checked for) and this again points to the selective nature of anxiety.

Perhaps work on reducing your overall levels of anxiety which should reduce the intensity of these thoughts. It may be easier to work on dismissing them then.

Scass
23-06-18, 04:51
How harrowing!
I understand health anxiety over your child. Mine is a few years older and isn’t quite as extreme anymore but still pretty bad. I try my absolute best not to show it to her, but I notice other things suffer because of it. Everything used to just go on pause except worry and looking after my child. And that’s ok to an extent when you have a poorly child, of course you’re going to worry!

But it’s been a while now and your child is absolutely fine. The resilience of children is something beautiful to watch. They can teach us so much, and we should try and learn from it. I bet your boy (beautiful name by the way) has not let this deter him from his never ending search for fun. I bet he’s still affectionate and funny, and I bet he’d still go up to a cat and try and stroke it.

He doesn’t have rabies, you know he doesn’t. So put that theory to bed. Get up - physically and mentally and start tackling the housework a little at a time. Put the radio on, listen to music and I bet you’ll start to feel better a little at a time.
Then start pencilling in a time each day to do something relaxing for yourself. Meditation or mindfulness or deep breathing. Start a diary to record how you’re feeling and how you are coping.
Talk to us, to your friends or family.
Cuddle that little boy, he’s going to give you lots more frights, and he needs his Mama to help him chase away the bad stuff xx


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

deejayjewels
26-06-18, 10:13
I just wanted to drop in and thank each of you. I've had to reschedule my counseling, and I literally open this thread and re-read your words to me like, multiple times a day. Sometimes (often, really) it's the only thing that gets me through the day.

I still have episodes of panic over it. Where my mind tries to tell me "you know, it's not all THAT unlikely, what if it diiiiid happen?" And so then I there, and I pull up case report after case report on good ol' Google to remind myself that no recorded case of second-hand transmission (except for things like vets with scratched hands sticking 'em down the throat of a bovine suspected to have rabies) have ever been reported, not even in other countries, or at least from what I can find.

I keep tallying the days, thinking of deadlines where I can finally "start to relax," lol. I just wish it didn't get like this. I wish it was as easy to unconvince myself as was to convince myself. I feel like I can't ever breathe.

Anyways, thank you. Any more with firm words for me are way more than welcome to let me have 'em.

deejayjewels
27-06-18, 04:39
Yeah.... Literally anyone.

It's so hard to beat back. I keep watching Sage, wondering at his behaviors and what "might be a symptom of rabies," all the while screaming in my head, "Bellamy did not have rabies on her paws! Bellamy did not have rabies on her paws!"

Why can't I just believe it? I can clearly tell I look/sound crazy. But why not to myself? Why does my subconscious believe so hard that Sage will start showing symptoms of rabies any day now, and I'll have to lose him through such a horrible death?

paranoid-viking
27-06-18, 10:32
I know. More rabies. I have scanned though, and as I'm sure is true for many here, I feel my situation is unique, and I need outside opinions from people with objective perspectives!

I know I have health anxiety. I know it. I've had it for as long as I can remember. And I go through rabies fits every few years. The difference is, I now have a child. He's a years and a half old. And my health anxiety over myself hits me NOTHING like it hits me over him! But I can't find any sources citing the specific circumstances that concern me and so I have come here looking for thoughts and advice.

I'll make it as short as possible: a month back, Sage (my don), his father, and myself road tripped to Colorado to see our friend in his ju jitsu tournament. Friend had a cat. Cat did not like Sage. Cat scratched son's eyeball OPEN SO THAT HIS IRIS DANGLED OUT OF IT. Yes, it is possible, apparently. He had emergent surgery and things were put back in place as best as they can be. And after haggling with the owner (relative of friend on Vacation elsewhere), I obtained vax records for Bellamy the cat. BUUUUTTTT wouldn't you know my mind has since found a way to keep the fear alive?

I've done the research. I know the numbers by county and species how Colorado experiences rabies in wildlife. And I know how long the rabies virus can survive outside of the body (which is NOT seconds, people!) The terror that grips me: What if Bellamy the cat had caught a bat within 24 hours previous to brutal mucous membrane contact and had infectious material on her claws at the time of the attack (saliva, cfs, brain tissue, etc)?

This is destroying my life. I can't clean. Go shopping. Even kiss or share a meal with my son without thinking he will soon be showing symptoms, that because the scratch occurred in a mucous membrane directly next to optic nerve and brain, even an incredibly low viral load would be enough to do the trick, and it's only a matter of time! Please help me. I can't do this anymore. YES I HAVE BOOKED THERAPY. But I am still waiting on it!

Hypocondria by proxy. Not unheard of; not at all. You really need help for this if it is even starting to affect your family life.

---------- Post added at 11:28 ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 ----------


Is the cat still alive and healthy? Given that it was a month ago, the cat would be very sick or dead.

We're dealing in the realms of fantasy here.

I would be dead within 5 to 10 days. But I notice know that facts does not help everyone on this board. Some people get reassured by facts while others clinge to it no matter what. Then reassurance is of no use.

---------- Post added at 11:32 ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 ----------


I just wanted to drop in and thank each of you. I've had to reschedule my counseling, and I literally open this thread and re-read your words to me like, multiple times a day. Sometimes (often, really) it's the only thing that gets me through the day.

I still have episodes of panic over it. Where my mind tries to tell me "you know, it's not all THAT unlikely, what if it diiiiid happen?" And so then I there, and I pull up case report after case report on good ol' Google to remind myself that no recorded case of second-hand transmission (except for things like vets with scratched hands sticking 'em down the throat of a bovine suspected to have rabies) have ever been reported, not even in other countries, or at least from what I can find.

I keep tallying the days, thinking of deadlines where I can finally "start to relax," lol. I just wish it didn't get like this. I wish it was as easy to unconvince myself as was to convince myself. I feel like I can't ever breathe.

Anyways, thank you. Any more with firm words for me are way more than welcome to let me have 'em.

You have been given the scientifical facts about it; still it does not help and you still not feel reassured? So why do you keep asking about reassurance when you know that it wont help you anyway? We are not therapist who knows how to deal with anxiety, many of us are just sufferers ourself and can not doo a better job than therapists can.

deejayjewels
27-06-18, 17:42
I would be dead within 5 to 10 days. But I notice know that facts does not help everyone on this board. Some people get reassured by facts while others clinge to it no matter what. Then reassurance is of no use.

Literally never thought the cat had rabies, so. I was worried about the possibility of an interaction with a rabid animal (eg, catching a rabid bat, which do not fly well in the first place) and thus getting infectious material (saliva) on her claws prior to attack, at which point she would have delivered the virus directly to his optic nerve (in a manner of speaking).

Far-reaching as my thoughts and fears might be to some, it's terror I'm filled with, not complete stupidity. I'm well aware of how the virus works, that failed vaccine in animals has never truly been proven in reports, and that a rabid cat, even if it had been pre-symptomatic, would have long since died by this point.

ServerError
27-06-18, 18:53
Nobody thinks you're stupid. But you want reassurance and I can tell you that the scenario you're envisaging is complete and utter fantasy. Anyone else will say the same. Beyond that, it's up to you to use that reassurance to build on.