Mishandled, Misheard, and Moving On: My Day 14 Rabies Reality

What do you do when the people trusted with your life completely fail you—and then act like nothing happened? Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we are diving into Episode 5, and we have officially hit Day 14 post-exposure.
If you listened to the last episode, you know my Day 7 visit to the Emergency Room was an absolute nightmare. The staff completely mishandled my treatment on day 1 ,swore everything was placed correctly and offered no corrective action that I needed . Because of that, I made a firm decision that I would make sure this was taken higher and that this would not happen to anyone else!!
But walking into this same ER is terrifying to my system and I have to ask Now what?
In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on what Day 14 actually looked like. I’ll share the exact steps I took to advocate for my own health , how I manage to navigate the medical bureaucracy when I felt completely abandoned. Most importantly, I’m going to be entirely honest with you about the crushing overwhelm and emotional toll of this experience. Grab your headphones—let’s talk about how to take back control of your health when the system fails you.

@TONGUENOTBITTENPODCAST

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

What do you do when the people trusted with your life completely fail you? And then they act like nothing happened. Welcome back to the podcast Tongue Not Bitten. Today we are diving into episode 5, and we have officially hit day 14 of the post-rabies exposure. Um, for me. Of course, it's not day 14 today, but this happened on April 30th. Um, if you don't know, if you listen to the other podcast, you know that on April 30th, I got attacked by a rabid fox. And so now we're talking about what happened on day 14 post-exposure. If you listen to the last episode, you know my day seven visit to the mercy room was an absolute horror nightmare. The staff completely mishandled my treatment on day one. They swore everything was placed correctly and offered no corrective action that I needed when I was requesting it to be corrected. And that was my last official day for it to be corrected. Because of that, I had made a firm decision that this would not happen again, and I am always going to be taking this higher. But let's talk about day 14. I'm having to go back in to the same ER that has terrified my nervous system. And knowing that they had lied, and so on this episode, I am pulling back that curtain on what day 14 actually looked like. I'll share the exact steps I took to advocate for my own health today, and and we'll talk about real answers and management of your health care. So, um, as you know, on day seven, I requested my medical records, and we did not have them in my hand, so I had asked them to mail them to me when they only gave me my um patient portal printout. So now it's fixing to be day 14 and I'm having to go back. But before day 14 comes, let's talk about these medical records. So, as you know, I talked about day seven and how I had the fees, the safety liaison in there, and the RN nurse Kim kept saying that everything was placed right. She just knew it was, blah, blah, blah. And we were kind of confused how she would know that, considering the fact that we don't have my records and they're saying they couldn't see them. But she swears that he placed everything right. Okay, so let's fast forward. So before day 14 comes, I absolutely do get my medical records in the mail. And I was absolutely right. I know it was traumatizing, but I was like, you know, like I said, God gave me that discernment of, you know, this just isn't right. Like something isn't right. One, they didn't clean my wound, they didn't look at my wound, they didn't measure my wound, they didn't put anything in my wound, they did nothing to my wound that the fox had attacked on my lower left leg. And it wasn't a phalange, a finger or toe. It was the lower left leg. There was no reason why they should not have done that, but they did not. So they mishandled that. That's number one. Number two is I wasn't sure what he was putting where. He had syringes on the bed, and he put two in my shoulders, and he put two in my left glute and my right glute, my butt, my buttocks. So I was confused as to what went where. I didn't see him mix these shots. Um, he was not the nurse practitioner that ordered these shots. He was an RN that came in and gave me these, and he was sweet as he could be, but I had no idea what he placed where, and I was confused as to why we were putting something in the glutes in the first place. But I was hopeful that what we placed in the glutes was a tetanus shot instead of anything I needed. But apparently, my records came in, and this is what they said, and I'd hide these too if I were them. Um, the rabies immunoglobulin was placed intermuscular, that he says, but that's not true because where he placed the mission detail was in my left glute and one in my right glute. So he put both of the globulins in my right and my left buttocks, my my glutes. That is fatty tissue, and it takes it slows down things from getting to your body. And this is something that should have been placed in the wound itself. However, it was not. My medical records here say, yeah, I was exactly right, he placed those in my glute. So that put me at risk, and it also suppressed my immune system from making up enough antibodies to fight off the rabies virus, which is fatal. So that's neglect, mishandling, and malice malpractice. That's number one. So number two is he placed the rabies vaccine itself in my right muscle, which is my right dilatoid shoulder at a 90-degree angle, which is sus. So he placed that there. That's you know, that's fine, that can go there. So he placed that in my right one. Okay. So then he placed the technique shot in my left muscle shoulder at a 90-degree angle. He placed it in my left delatoid shoulder muscle. So that's what he placed. The rabies globalin should have been in my wound and around my wound, but it wasn't, or it could have been in a shoulder, but it didn't get placed there. It got placed in both of my glutes. So they lied. Kim lied completely. They lied and they they swore up and down everything was fine. So now I'm when I got my records, I called the Department of Rabbi's over the state, um, the doctor that I talked to, and I told him what they did. And he said, You need to go and get your rabies shot there. So you've been going there, so that's where you do. You go on day 14, you get your shot, but then I'm gonna order them to do a titer. So on day 14, I'm very upset. I mean, I'm gonna I'm like trying to breathe and pray through getting through this because now you've lied to my face, you have mishandled my health, and you have put me at risk. So I'm having to go back into the same freestanding ER, and I'm having to go back in there and get day 14 rabies series shot. So I go in on day 14. This should have been so for a non-immune compromised person, this would have been the last shot I would have had to get. Because you go day zero through day 14. On day zero, you get the globalin and the shot, and then on day three, you get the other shot, and you know, then day seven and then day fourteen. So this would have been my last shot. So on day 14, I go in, and actually the nurse practitioner, actually, a nurse calls me back, and that's nurse I've never seen before either. And I he says, Wow, I heard you had a hard time, he's sweet as he can be. And I'm like, Yeah, and he gives me the shot. And then the nurse practitioner that I actually saw the first day that didn't stay long, that was gone, that did not give me the shots, came in and he said, I don't know what happened. You know, I heard you were going through all this. Now we're having to give the shots, practice runs, and yada yada. I don't know. Uh supposedly they're giving them on each other. I don't even know. So at this point, I'm just drowning everything out because I really don't want to talk to any of these people. But I'm so glad Kim didn't come in because literally, probably I don't know if I could hold my composure with her. Um, I'm still going to report her for all this as well. But this was bad. Um, I just kind of was like, okay, yeah, it was bad. It's real bad. Y'all, it was really a mess up. And so anyway, I had to leave there, and the um state had called the main hospital to get me a titer ran. He wanted a titer ran to see if I had enough immunity built to fight the virus. So I had to go on day 14 as well and go to the main hospital to get a titer drone. He said, just go in there. Um, the lady called me from there and said, just come in, say my name, and at the ER, when you come in, and I'll meet you down there at the front desk and we'll take you up and do a titer. Um the state has required that to be done because it was mishandled. So um I go in, I say the lady's name, and she comes down as we as she can be, and she takes me up to the lab after the, you know, to draw the titer. And she has the paper, the request from the administration and the state. And we get to the lab after we go in the elevator, and she gives the paper to the lab up there, and the lab, I looked at the paper, both a female and a male, looked at the paper, looked at each other, and they gave it back to her, and they said, We don't do that here. We can't do that here. We don't do we don't do those things here. And she looked and she's like, No, we have orders to do it. You know, the the administration has said to do this tighter, and the state is saying that it is required for her to have this done. She's got to have this done. Well, they look and they give it back to her, and they're like, No, we're not doing that, we're not doing that here. Now, this was daytime. It was not four o'clock yet. I know a lot of labs shut down at four. This was not four, I think it was like 2:33. I couldn't even remember, but around that time it wasn't four. So she looks at me awkward and she apologizes, and we go back down the elevator and she goes, I am so sorry. Um, we'll get this handled, we'll get this done today. I am so sorry. I don't know why they can't do it. We have paperwork, they're the lab. I'm not sure. Now, whoo, put yourself in my position now. Not only has this all been mishandled, neglected, and I and I'm sick and this is bad. Now we're at a hospital where the lab is telling. I I'm like, I know in what world? In what world do you have request to do a blood drawing and you're not gonna do it and you have, I would have fired both of you right there. You know, I know that that's not how that works, but we're going to each HR big time. Um, I'm writing this up. We're going to HR for the both of the lab people that said they could not draw this tighter. Because now in my head, I'm like, are you kidding? What kind of incompetent system do we have? It is falling apart when people can tell an administrator in the state what they're going to do and what they're not going to do and their employees of the hospital. I I am just devastated. So now I'm like, okay, great. Now what? So she apologizes. We I felt so sorry for her. I mean, she it was so embarrassing to her, and I felt bad. We go back downstairs and she said, I'm gonna get this taken care of. Don't worry about it. Just hang out right here. So I'm having to hang out in the ER with people that are sick, and I'm sick from the and I have lupus, and I really don't need to bear around sick people, but I'm sitting here waiting for them to figure out what they're gonna do because this titer has to be done today. So as I'm sitting there, I'm like, I'm praying, going, you got to be kidding me. What in the world is going on with our healthcare system? This is awful. I knew it was awful before, but this is just you got to experience this to have it happen to you. This is done. And I don't know if you've ever had this happen to you, but this is absolutely insane at this point. I have no confidence whatsoever in this system. So, anyway, she comes back up and she says, I want to get the charge nurse, the charge nurse will come um and come get you, and she's gonna get this strong. Well, God is so good because while I was sitting there praying, the charge nurse is actually from my town and she's precious. And she comes and gets me, and she's apologizing too, and she's like, I'm not sure why the lab couldn't do this. I am so sorry that you're having to go through all this, what's going on? And I tell her, she goes, Yeah, I heard that. It was on in the news, and this is crazy. I'm sorry you're having to go through all this. And so she takes me back to her room, um, and a lady draws my labs, and she's apologetic too, and she's really sweet. And so my tider gets drawn on day 14. So that's where we're at, and then we have to wait for that to come back to see if I have enough immunity built up in my system. Um, it gets sent off to a lab out of state that specializes in ray bees immunity, and then it's supposed to come back to me in two to three weeks after I get that done. So day 14 looked crazier than anything as well with the stuff that happened then. I mean, I um I'm very upset, I was very upset about it. Um, it was I had I I was like, this is crazy, and I shouldn't have to be going through all this. I should have gone through just the shots and then and I would have had to get it tighter anyway because of lupus, but the lupus and the misplacement of the vaccine and the globalin was what set my immune system back. And mind you, I'm having allergic reactions from the shot this whole time, and I'm feeling horrible. I'm breaking out in hives. Um I'm sick as a dog. I can't, you know, it's I've gotten bad, bad headaches, migraines, I'm having muscle fatigue. Um, that's the other thing that started on day 14. So I was getting um my left calf muscles started um getting weak, which is also really weird because then I was like, great, because is that a reaction to the rabies, or is that a reaction to the shot that I'm allergic to because it's in that left leg? So my calf muscle was getting really weak in that. I was having heart palpitations. Um, I was my system was overdrive and stressed, my nervous system was worn completely out, and then this stressed me out more, and I shouldn't have to be going through this. I should have been just getting the shots and doing the series and relaxing and and trusting that my healthcare professionals knew what they were doing, but that was not the system at all that I experienced either way, and now I'm gonna have to navigate navigate the medical bureaucracy, then and I felt completely abandoned. Um, so this I'm gonna be entirely honest, this was crushing and overwhelming, and it took a huge emotional toll on my mentality. Um, because I'm in healthcare and had been in health care, it's this is not how I would have ever done anything. And I've been nurse management before too, and I'm telling you, those two lab people would have been in uh Kim wouldn't have her license anymore, she would not be allowed to work in my hospital, and those two lab people would have been in HR really quick. Um, but I'm not stopping here. Um, I'm still, it is now June the 29th, and let me just say, I am still going through this. Um, this nightmare is not over. I am still having to go through things and do things for this because of how bad this was mishandled, and it is horrible, and I'm so ready for this be behind me and done, but I'm not. And um, we're gonna talk about day 21 um next, because I was supposed to have a shot day 21, and they were supposed to let me know that on day 14, but they were like, oh no, you're fine, you're good. Um, anybody that has an immune compromise system with lupus, cancer, HIV, any immune disorder, you're going to have to have an extra series of shot that day 14 does not cut that. Um, you have to have that extra shot in you to have day 14. So um day 14 does not cut it. 20 day 21 is what you're supposed to get. Instead of those shots, you're supposed to get one more extra shot if you have an immune compromised system like me. But this ER was sitting there saying that no, I did not need it. However, the state did not agree with that, and the title was going to be done, but even still, I was going to have to have another series of shots. So this is June 29th. It is we're almost into July, and I'm still going through this horrible situation. Um, I now have major PTSD about healthcare, especially ERs, not doing that. Um, but anyway, we'll talk about that um the next time. We'll talk about day 21. Um, we'll talk about how good God is and covering me with the right people and getting me to the right places and putting the right people in my life that I knew prior to all this happening. And um we'll talk about how he's navigating me to what to do to advocate for my health and um how to handle that. Um, if anybody knows me personally, they know that I'm I'm not the one to sit there and go, okay, since you told me this, I believe you. Um not not happening. I've experienced too much, I've seen too much, I've been in it, and it's just not gonna happen. And so I was not the one to do that to. However, I wish sometimes I could be like, oh, okay, they said it was fine, so it's fine, but I'm just not, and this was not fine. And if I would have done that, who knows now at this point where I'd be, um, what would happen. It's not good. So the next time we talk, I usually put these out on Monday, and um, I know that Joy's Joy last time was on here. Um, she witnessed it and experienced it herself, and God bless Joy. Um, her eyes had been opened to this too, and like she said, she would have not known this stuff goes on unless you experienced it firsthand. I hate that she had experienced that. Um, but she'll talk about I have her back on. Our mics weren't working properly the last time um we were on. We had to I had to replace a mic. So um next time Joy will be on, maybe you'll hear her a little bit better. I'm sorry that that happened. Technical difficulties last time, but she'll be back on because she's gonna talk about what she's done also after she experienced that with me and what her role was in um what she reported and done as well with her role of experience and what she witnessed as well. So she'll talk about that and um insurance stuff and stuff like that. So um the next time we do, I put these out on Monday. However, next Monday, I am not going to be talking about the Rabies series. Um, I've there's so much goes on in my life right now. Um, I own a wellness spa and I'm an herbalist and I own a beauty and honest spa. So I will be going. I'm so excited. I will be going next, this weekend, actually, the 4th of July weekend, I'm heading out to the beautiful farm of Roland Hills. Um, Michelle and her husband are taking me and my husband out there, and we are going to get elderberry and sumac and mullen, and we're gonna um get some stuff from her farm, and I'm so excited because she's got this natural, beautiful land and farm that she does, and she has these amazing, powerful herbals on them. And so next weekend we're gonna do a live there, and um, so next weekend we will not be doing um next Monday, I will not be sharing the rabies thing with you. I will pick that back up the following week because I'm excited to go and get that, um, get those elderberries and get that good stuff and share that farm with you and that amazing thing with you there. So, next um time, next episode will be at Rollin Hills. It will be on site, it will be with um people, and it will be exciting, and I'm excited to share that um podcast with you about that, what we use those for and what I'm looking for, and just to see her beautiful, beautiful Rollin Hills. So that will be the next Monday's episode. Um, and then I will pick back up with the rabies series since we're still going through it. I will do that too. But um, I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm so I've kept a journal on all this, and I've kept records on all this, and I'm doing, and and I'll talk about how I'm going further up with this, so this can be some accountability with this hospital um because they absolutely are gonna have to be held accountable for all this. I am going to make sure that hopefully to God, this doesn't happen to anybody else again, and I will share those steps with you on what to do, how to do it, where to send it, and who to contact if something like this does happen to you. So we'll follow up with those kind of broad um podcasts the next time. I'll we'll follow up with that after the next one. So next Monday, rolling heels. We'll be talking about some good stuff, not some sad stuff, because honestly, I am so over this fox thing. I am, I am so drained and ready to feel. I mean, I had lupus, so I didn't always feel good, but I am over feeling like this has made me feel because this has literally taken such a toll on my health. This the vaccine itself is it takes a huge toll on you already, and I already had complications prior to it. So I am so over, I am so ready to feel like what I felt like before I was getting these. So I'm ready for some happy, I'm ready for some fun, I'm ready um to do my thing. I'm ready to talk about herbs and and the amazing people, doctors and nurses and nutritionists that I'll have on here. I'm ready to do that. So the next time we're just gonna kind of skip over the rabies and we'll be just talking about rolling hills and the herbs and stuff. So I'm excited about that. So stay tuned if you want to hear that. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being patient with me. This is real, this is not scripted, this is not made up, this is story time, real real. Um, it happened to me. It is horrible. Um, I don't like it, and I'm hoping it does never happen to you. I mean, not just with this, but like anything that's life-threatening. I hope that you never get mishandled like this. But we've got to get a hold of our healthcare system. Um, Alabama, like I told you, is number 49 on the metric system of healthcare. That's we only have 50 states. Come on, people. Um, if these politicians want to do anything at all to make me like them or vote for them, it's gonna be you've got to get this better. I I don't I don't know. Um something's got to change. It's not like it was. Um, we've got so much going on. It it is horrible, and we've got to get a hold of it, and we've got to have some accountability to it. It can't be just like, oh, okay, take this, go home. Oh, you're fine. Oh, we don't know what to do. You have to see your specialist that you won't see for six months to a year, but you know, it's okay if you die, go to the emergency room and then they don't know what to do. Or they don't follow protocols, like in my situation, they don't follow protocols or guidelines, or they deviate from the system, then that's a problem. And that's a human problem. So we gotta we gotta get that um better. So, anyway, next Monday, stay tuned. We're gonna talk about um rolling heels and herbs, and I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend and a happy fourth, and thanks for listening, and thanks for being patient with me. It's my first podcast, and like I said, this is real and not scripted. Um, I'm I'm a pretty blunt real person and kind of tell it how it is. So there's that. I hope you guys have a great day. Um, thanks for listening. Feel well, feel beautiful.