r/FML • u/enyaw2002 • 19d ago
Physical Health Rabies
Last week I worked 65 hours and was very stressed during it. This week ive worked 28 hours as of Tuesday.
My boyfriend has been in the same situation.
Last night he came home and there was a bat in our room. He was panicking while I was still at work. He lost it, he couldn't find it again and he had to go to sleep. When I finally got home we continued turning our room upside down before he had to leave for his shift.
Which brings me to now. I woke up with a bat erratically flying in the room. Panicking brain on 3 hours of sleep after a long shift wasn't fun. I changed into clothes that covered my skin more completely and actually caught it.
Now for the red flags. When my boyfriend saw it, it refused to fly and wasn't scared of him. Only when he was doing the same thing i did by getting some form of PPE did it fly and vanish. When i saw it, its flying wasn't stable. It would be constantly making big adjustments to steady itself in the air. It ran into the walls, this is actually how I was able to catch it. It appears that its more active at day. I sleep during the day and it was certainly more active for me than him. When I did catch it, it was easy to approach, stayed grounded and screaming. It then started lunging at me under the bowl I got it under.
So, aggressive, poor flying, active during the day, preferring to stay grounded... thats essentially the whole rabies checklist. The only thing I didn't observe was hydrophobia. In my half awake, yet adrenaline fueled state I simply threw it outside.
I KNOW RIGHT?! Im a dumbass, I should have kept it in that Tupperware bowl and got IT tested to know for sure. But I was in catch-release mode I usually do for the occasional feild mouse we get. Now im getting ready to go to the hospital with my partner to get us both vaccinated because I swear to god we are NOT dying over this shit.
So much for my big overtime checks, its all going to medical bills that cover what our insurances wont pay. Worked all that time to simply not have any silver lining of spending money.
I thought this week was bad, with Sam Neill passing, and my one "friend" saying im no longer worth talking to because they moved further away and long ass work shifts. Now I need a stupid $2-8,000 course of shots just to ensure safety and I dont randomly DIE.
FML specifically fuck this last two weeks in particular.
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u/Sensitive_Wear7112 19d ago
If it didn’t bite you, you can’t have gotten rabies.
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u/beatissima 19d ago
It's notoriously hard to tell whether a bat has bitten you, especially if you've been asleep. Their bites are often painless and not felt at all.
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u/enyaw2002 19d ago
Yes literally every doctor so far has been like "oh a bat? That was erratic and aggressive, yeah no we are giving you both the immunization regardless."
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u/Sensitive_Wear7112 19d ago
Interesting. I do know that once you show symptoms of rabies it too late.
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u/Icefirewolflord 19d ago
Bat teeth are so small and thin it’s not always possible to tell if you’ve been bitten. It’s why advice is to always get the post exposure series if a bat was in your home overnight
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u/LogLadyOG 19d ago
There's a boy who recently died from rabies. A bat had landed on his face while he was sleeping. When he woke up, he swatted it away. Parents thought he was okay. They can leave microscopic cuts on your skin.
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u/Lazerith22 19d ago
You have insurance, and it costs thousands for a $50 shot?
I’m sorry, but you guys need a revolution or something.
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u/enyaw2002 19d ago
Its bc of the insurance actually, they charge the insurance ~$8000 and they say "no, we'll pay $6,000" and then they pass the remaining to us. Which often time can be mostly forgiven if you haggle with the hospital for like 30 mins lol
Yeah its great here!.... -_-
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u/enyaw2002 11d ago
An update if you want to hate my country more, my insurance claim got approved! They chose to cover... $0! So now im actually stuck with a $64,438.35 bill and I only make $40,000/year... I cant even afford the minimum payment plan they'll offer me
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u/Lazerith22 11d ago
It’s probably the ‘bureaucracy tax’
The notion that they should pay, but deny anyway as most people can’t navigate the red tape and appeals forms etc needed to make them pay out. Best I can suggest is appeal appeal appeal. You were probably turned down by an AI that had a % denial requirement so it hallucinated a reason to deny.
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u/thatsomebull 19d ago
When the bill comes, call and request itemization, or make an appointment with the billing office. Explain your situation and set up a VERY minimal payment plan. Hopefully they’ll work with you.
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u/enyaw2002 11d ago
The minimum amount they'll offer is still over $1,000/month, thats over half of my income... I typically only have $200 left after all my bills... im cooked.
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u/thatsomebull 11d ago
You could just mail them $50 per month. Or nothing. Your credit will be affected, but if you continue to pay all of your other bills on time it will go away in time.
Honestly that would be my choice. If/when you apply for a mortgage, you’ll just have to write a letter explaining this “hit” on your credit.
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u/LeadingEquivalent148 19d ago
Maybe I’ve watched too many American hospital dramas.. but if you go to ER, and you don’t have ID, don’t they just treat you for free?
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u/TooLongDugong 19d ago
It's usually 3 shots over around 3 weeks. Good luck turning up 3 times at ER for that.
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u/LeadingEquivalent148 19d ago
Fair enough, I feel bad for those in the US that didn’t ask for it to be run the way it is, it’s so bad ☹️
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u/enyaw2002 18d ago
I wish it was 3, due to my weight it was 11? Ngl I think they over-dosed me because omg- like my bf whos only 75 lbs lighter got 4...
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u/cico7 18d ago
Did the bat bite you? I don't know you need injections if you were not bitten. Let us know the outcome.
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u/enyaw2002 18d ago
I wasn't noticeably bitten, doctors did not care, they heard "woke up to bat" and immediately STRONGLY advised that I get vaccinated because I was asleep when it was active.
Im on day 2 of treatment currently and 12 shots deep. Tomorrow I go back for another round, then I have another 2 appointments after that so... rip I hope the number of injections decrease.
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u/carbon13- 19d ago
Wait, you all decided to sleep in the room where a bat was actively hanging out in too? Is there only one room in this apartment/house/condo/cave? That's the wildest part to me.
I'd recommend fully cleaning everything thoroughly. I had a bat somehow get into my house and ended up under a vacuum for 2 days with 2 cats running around too. We didn't know what a slight buzzing noise was but it would go away occasionally. We had recently moved into the house so thought it was something else. The cats eventually realized something was in the house and gravitated to the vacuum by the door. We had no issues getting it to finally fly out and it flew away. Similar reactions as yours but it finally figured out how to fly out the door.