Hi All,

Woke up about two months ago with something that looked like a scabbed bite on my hand. Texted a picture to a friend who said it looked like a snake bite. Tried to put it out of my mind for about a week, and then contacted the CDC hotline. The hotline operator told me to text a picture to her - she then told me that it looked like a "textbook" bat bite ("sharp edges and everything"), and that I should get it checked out at the ER. The ER took a look (at the picture, since the scabs were by then gone) and ordered the shots.

We subsequently had our house checked out, and apparently there used to be a known bat problem - the people who lived in the house before us installed a one-way bat door on the roof, but it had since been broken, creating, essentially, a "two-way" bat door. There were droppings in the attic.

I may have gotten the shots too late. After the last shot, I got a rabies titre test to ensure I was creating antibodies. It came back negative (antibodies were "absent"), and I had to get a booster. Nobody knows what to do. The hospital I went to, ranked 11th in the country, basically shrugged and said they had no data on my situation, and that I should try to work with my PCP for next steps. My PCP says I may never create antibodies, and has no idea of what to do next.

The CDC was borderline useless - the doctor I spoke to said that if I hadn't experienced symptoms a week after the bite, I should be fine, although their own website (and everyone else's - WHO, etc.) says the incubation period is around 2-3 months. Everyone has just thrown up their hands. I'll hit two months in about a week. My husband doesn't think I was bitten by a bat (as we never actually saw one), so he doesn't feel the same sense of urgency. I hope to God I wasn't, but I can't rationalize it away. My husband was sleeping in the other room the night before I woke up with the bite as he had a bad cold and was snoring and restless. I distinctly remember leaving the door wide open and wondering if I should shut it.

Every muscle ache is terrifying. I'm having panic attacks, which is new. I feel like I'm trying desperately to save my life and nobody cares. Thanks for listening.