What the doctor didn't tell me.

For a month now I have been feeling pretty terrible, physically.

I have been fatigued for one thing, so much so that some days I feel like I can barely function. I have also had this lingering cold, which is better but not quite gone. Then the arthritis flareups, probably one reason I am fatigued because the pain wakes me throughout the night. It's not just one thing hurting, it's my hands and wrists, my shoulders, neck, lower back and hips, and my knees and ankles. I have also been experiencing numbness and tingling in my hands.

I was starting to think there was something seriously wrong with me.

Then a thought occurred to me, it hit me when after two weeks from my last shot, I started to feel better, much better. Then I went for my last shot this past Thursday and guess what? I feel terrible again.

So I did a quick search on the side effects of rabies shots.

Check, check, check, check.

Hmmm, no WONDER I have been feeling awful!

One side effect is arthritis type pain. Now I do have arthritis, but never this bad, and apparently the shots compounded the pain.

Which affected my sleep, in a major way.

It can also cause headaches and nausea.

I didn't experience the headaches, but here and there the thought of eating wanted to make me gag, even when I was really hungry. I would start to eat and suddenly I just wouldn't be able to take another bite, leaving nearly whole plates of food unfinished and discarded.

After reading this info, I feel assured that I am not losing my mind or that I haven't developed some awful illness.

And at least it's only temporary, especially since I am done with the series now.

Boy, I am glad about that!

And I would rather have experienced these side effects than the alternative, but I think the hospital should have told me that these side effects were possible.

The doctor never said a word, and there was nothing on the papers they gave me.

I should have realized sooner though, I don't like taking meds unless I absolutely have too since I often experience side effects, my body just does not metabolize things the same way as others.

This has even happened with meds I took in the past that never bothered me, and suddenly I was experiencing sleeplessness or headaches or worse.

So I live a basically no meds life, and if I buy something OTC then I read the label carefully because certain ingredients will really effect me.

If a doctor prescribes something, I ask about possible side effects, but this time I didn't think to do so, probable because it was necessary and I really had no choice.

Any time you put anything in your body there is a risk, even something like a rabies shot.

I am just glad they changed the way they do it, instead of 15 to 30 shots in the stomach, in a matter of a few days, it is now done over a course of a month, 7 to 13 shots depending on the wound, and most of them are in the arm. The first 3 shots were done in one visit, one around the wound site, one in the bottom and one in the arm, after that they were all administered in the arm.

If I felt this bad after getting 7 shots over a months time, it makes me glad I didn't have to have 15 to 30 in a matter of days. I can't imagine how sick I would have been.

So I am thankful that it is over with now, and I am thankful that they changed it.

I am also thankful that soon I should be feeling like my old self again.

Yesterday, Animal Control set box cages up in my basement since the cats have free access.

They are all trapped, it's awful.

This morning, I heard one of them crying through the kitchen floor.

I am crying with them, and I can't bear to go down there. I wish Animal Control would just come and get them, this is torture.

Not that I want to lose them, but this waiting is killing me.

When I got up this morning, I fed the dog, and had to remind myself that I didn't need to feed the cats. When I let the dog out for her morning ritual, it was hard not seeing the cats on the back porch waiting to be fed.

As for the rabies shots, they have changed things, no longer are they administered in the stomach. I received one in my arm, one in my behind, and the last one and most painful, was one needle which was repeatedly shot in around the wound area. The other four will be administered over the next 28 days, on the 9th, the 15th, the 20th, and January 3rd. They also put me on antibiotics for any secondary infections that may arise. Fortunately, I had my tetanus shot in 2005, so that is still good and I didn't have to have that additional pain.

It was so bad, I told the nurse that I would rather give birth.

But the needle pain fades, the heart pain is another matter.

On top of the loss of my grandchild, this is hard to bear.

I know with God's help, I will get through this.


DT held me last night as I sobbed, he is just as upset, he really loves Knock Knock (Enoch).

I am so thankful that my dogs are safe, I don't think I could have handled the loss of them as well.

Never ever assume

As I write this post, I am in pain physically and in my heart.

I assumed Noodles rabies shot was a three year shot, and I was wrong.

There was a raccoon in my yard yesterday, Animal Control came and got it. Noodles went after the raccoon, and they fought.

Today, Animal Control called.

The raccoon had rabies.

They came to set traps for my cats.

Enoch and the two kittens were too young for shots.

Yesterday, Noodles scratched me.

Tonight, I had three rabies shots and I have to go back for four more.

My heart is broken over Noodles and Enoch. They are my babies, and they are taking them and going to put them down.

Never assume your animals are safe.

I could have taken a chance and not went to the hospital, and I may have been dead in ten to fifteen days.

Rabies is a gruesome, painful death.

As painful as the shots are, I had rather be safe than sorry.

How weird is it that all my dog's shots were three year shots, but the cat's wasn't?

There is nothing I can do to save my cats.

And it breaks my heart.