Not another RABIES POST?! Health anxiety bleeding over onto son

[deejayjewels]

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]

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]

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]

Ouch... poor little guy! I'm glad he's ok now. So about the rabies? Respectfully, no... just no 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

Positive thoughts

[deejayjewels]

Ouch... poor little guy! I'm glad he's ok now. So about the rabies? Respectfully, no... just no 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

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]

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]

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]

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]

And I just can't escape the thought that he is the one in trillions. ������

And that’s the problem with health anxiety.

[Fishmanpa]

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