Episode 7 -The ER Failed My Fox Attack Aftermath—Low Titers & Fighting Back.

On Episode 7 we talk about the  recovery and aftermath from a rabid fox attack, the nightmare continues—not from the wildlife, but from the healthcare system. After discovering my rabies antibody titer came back dangerously low, it became clear that the emergency room severely mishandled my initial treatment.

In this episode of Tongue Not Bitten, I am pulling back the curtain on medical neglect. I break down exactly what went wrong in the ER, the terrifying reality of a low titer score when facing a fatal virus, and why we cannot stay silent.

This isn't just my story; it is a call to action. I share how I am fighting back by advocating for accountability, and I provide a step-by-step guide on how to report medical malpractice to state boards and government offices. If you or a loved one have ever experienced medical neglect, this episode will empower you to find your voice and demand change.

#TongueNotBitten #RabiesAttack #MedicalNeglect #PatientAdvocacy #ERMishandling #HealthcareAccountability #RabiesTiter #StateBoardComplaint #PatientRights #FoxAttack Survivors

@TONGUENOTBITTENPODCAST

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hide all the messy parts, no place to run or hide. But the truth comes bubbling up. We're keeping it on it. Welcome to the show where the tongue is not bitten.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome back to Tongue Not Bitten Podcast. I'm Michelle and today we're gonna pick up on after day 14. And I went over what day 14 post-rabies exposure looked like and how I had to do a titer since the ER that I went to mishandled it completely and did not follow protocol or guidelines, and it was incorrectly administered and done, and nothing was done correctly. Um, so day 14 I had a titer, as I stated, this day requested the one to be done, and so it usually takes about three two to three weeks, sometimes four, for those to come back. Um, so I was told it would be in my patient portal when it came back just to keep looking for it. So I did and I did. It is now also July 13th, and I unfortunately, due to this mishandle, I am still having to go through this terrible, horrible, life-threatening, fatal situation. Unfortunately, something I don't want to deal with. Um, I already have lupus and my immune system's compromised, so this has just been a nightmare. I was allergic to the shots. Um, I've had a lot of health problems because of this. I'm still going through a lot of problems due to that. But anyway, so I looked out for three to four weeks for my titer to come on my patient portal and it never showed up. And so on May, I think it was the 25th, um, I called up there because I still didn't know what was going on. And she said two weeks, so I had gave them that, and then she still didn't know. So then um I called her back. She called and followed up on it, and she said it's there, it should be in your patient portal. I called the nurse that actually I knew from this town that worked there because she's the one that uh member had to take me and go get the blood drawn because the lab refused to do it up there. So I called her and she said, Let me look and see if I can find it. And she did. She looked, went on the computer and found it, and she said, Michelle, it should be on there. Um, I'm not sure why you're not seeing it on your patient portal. And I was not seeing it on my patient portal because I needed to print it out of what it was, and I also needed to know if I was protected from this fatal disease or not. This virus was is fatal and you can die from it. So um she said it should be on there, and then she read it off to me because I asked her to read it, and she said, Oh, it's 0.2, it's too low, 0.2, 0.3, it's too low, according to this, because she was reading it, and 0.5 and higher is considered acceptable response, and you are at risk. So I said, Okay, I'll request that from my medical records because apparently it's not on my patient portal yet. Um, so I was freaking out, didn't know what to do. So I called the state and I was like, Hey, my titer came back, it's 0.2, 0.3, according to the nurse. And what do I do now? And he said, You need to go right now and get another shot, a booster shot right now, like today. Okay. I was like, you know, first of all, um, you you can't just get those just anywhere. That's why you go to the ER to get them. Um, the State Department does not have a place to give them to you, even though they're the ones that are over this and know what to do with it most of the time. Um, so I was like, um, that doesn't just happen. I had also seen an infectious disease doctor prior to this, during this time, before I knew my results, because that's what I was told to do to get an infectious disease doctor, because infectious disease doctors specialize in Lyme disease, rare viruses, HIV, anything immune compromised. Okay. Well, um, paid my copay, went in. Um, he was at the Jackson Hospital in Montgomery. And as sweet as he could be, he sat there and he told me after he read my records and my reports that I brought with me, he had no idea what to do with this situation. That he does not give the rabies shots, that he doesn't know anything about this, he can't give me another titer because I was told also that even after this titer, once I start getting my other shots that I'm gonna have to have, and I was going to have to have another shot, was because um, so I had to get another shot actually after the day 14 shot because I have lupus, so I had gotten that done, but I gotten that done by a nurse practitioner friend and a pharmacist. Thank God they stepped in and handled it, and my regular care physician approved that that be done because if I would not have gone to them, which is also over 48 minutes away from where I am, and and talked to them and told them what was going on, I wouldn't have had day five shot that I was supposed to have at the ER, which they refused to give because they were like, Oh, you're fine, everything's fine. But when you have lupus or anything that's immune compromised, you are not fine. So the day four shot is not enough that the ER wanted to just do. You have to have day five. That's protocol, that's CDC guideline, that is the setup of how it goes. So I had already had day five, thanks to a nurse practitioner and a pharmacist friend that stepped in and we'd got that done because I can't order it by law myself. I can't administer it to myself, it has to be recorded. So insurance pays 100% on that, long as you can get it done. But when I went to this infectious disease doctor to let him know that I was going to need another titer, my nurse practitioner friend had already talked to him his reason why she had done this was because they don't do the shots, even though he's infectious disease. He told her he was not, he can't do the shots, he doesn't know to do the shots. So I was there telling him that I need shots and titers, and he was letting me know he has no idea what to do with that. I am thankful for his honesty, but I am like, you are an infectious disease doctor, which is what I said to him to his face. And I looked at him in the eye, and at this point, you can imagine my frustration. Not only have I been in health care and in health care, but I'm like, you got to be kidding me. Your title on your door is infectious disease doctor. So I asked him, and he had a little guy shadowing that day. God bless him, and he's probably thinking, Lord, and he was sitting there shaking his head the whole time, like, oh Lord. And I looked at him and I said, So you're an infectious disease doctor. My copay is higher because I'm seeing a specialist. I paid that, and I'm here for help because I was told by the state to go to an infectious disease doctor for help with the situation because they did not want me going back to the CR to get this done at this point. And you're telling me you can't help me. I said, Do you specialize in Lyme disease, stuff like that? I mean, um, HIV. He shook his head and he said, Actually, I'm an internist. So I'm an internal doctor. So I was like, okay, here's what we're gonna do. I need you to write me a lab form that states that I need a titer. You sign it, I'll go get it handled. So that's what he did. I left with my lab form and at this point did not know that this titer that I had just had was going to be low. But I was also told after the booster shot that I was going to have to have another titer three to four weeks out. Okay. So now I know that the titer is low after this meeting, and I did call the state again and let them know that the infectious disease doctor could not help me, and that that was a waste of my time. So he said, you need to be up under somebody that can do your titer. Here's the Kansas City State University lab. This is who's over nationally rabies, lab protocols, and titers. They'll be able to help you. You can order this yourself. So that was what we were doing. But I had called my nurse practitioner friend and the pharmacist and told them that my titer had come back low and that the state said that I have to have another shot ASAP for protection. So again, the nurse practitioner friend and the pharmacist, I called the pharmacist and she ordered the shot again. And the next day I went in and got it done. Insurance paid 100% of this shot because it is fatal. So they did, and I got it done. Again, I'm allergic. They changed up, she changed up the vaccine this time since I was allergic to the vaccine that the ER was giving me, and she was hopeful I would not be allergic to this one. However, I was and still had allergic reactions from the shot, but I still have to have the shot. What do you do? Because it's fatal. Long as I'm breathing, I'm still taking it. Still is breaking out in hives, feeling horrible, but still did it. I had a lot of muscle problems. I had major, I already have muscle spasms because of lupus, and my muscles already feel fatigued sometimes, but this fatigue was in all the legs, every muscle I have. Matter of fact, I'm still having muscle discomfort from that. My muscles still have not recovered from it. Um, and I am still waiting to take another titer. I got sick not long after I got the shot. I got a cold, and so my new my immune system would be fighting that. So I didn't get the titer then, but now I'm fixing to get the titer this week to follow up to make sure that the other two shots that now I have had since my titer came back low is protecting me. So that's what happened. Now, you may say, hey, this is gonna happen to somebody else, you know, if somebody didn't know, which is true, it can't. But I'm always telling people, please be your own advocate. Always research what is going on and doing. The state cannot help me at this point. They do not have, even though they're Department of Public Health and this is their specialty, they do not have a clinic to give you these shots. They do not have a clinic to help you. As a matter of fact, he told me on the phone, you are a 1% chance, there's nothing I can do at this point. I'll have to call a CDC. I don't even know what to do for you at this point. So, therefore, I took it upon myself to contact the people I knew. They helped me out, and I took control of this situation, including calling the Kansas City State University, and we will be getting the labs done and the titers done and following up on this because you cannot just tell me, oh, you're 1% too bad for you. Because I love myself, I love my kids, I love my husband, I love my family. I'm gonna be here till God calls me home. But it's not because I'm like, okay, oh well, there's nothing they can do. Also, I took it upon myself because on day three, when I went in to advocate for myself and let them know at that ER that they did not do things correctly, they needed to correct it, and they did not correct it on day three, and they put me in a room and told me they could not help me. They charged me again and my insurance for another ER visit. That's absolutely absurd. I was there because the state told me what I was there for a shot, but also told me to make them correct what they didn't do, and they would not correct it. So they charged me. So I had to take that into my own hands. But not only that, here's the thing when things go wrong, there is always a higher up that you need to contact and let them know that things went wrong. If you blast it on Facebook, if you blast it on this podcast, if you blast it to your friends, if you blast it everywhere and tell everybody that you had that experience, that's absolutely fine. You can do that. But that does not correct the bad behavior, it does not make people accountable for the mistakes that they have made. There is always an advocate for you. Now remember, I called the patient liaison and that didn't go very well. Okay, so now on this point, I have written certified mail letters to have the nursing board step in for the nurse that lied. Yeah, Kim, lied and swore up and down that everything that was done was done correctly. My medical records say otherwise. I called, I have wrote the risk management complaint compliance center. I wrote the Alabama Board of Doctors, I wrote the Alabama Director of Public Health, I wrote the patient safety administrator and advocate, and I have wrote the state and government. So I have written these letters, sent my sent told my medical records with it, and told what happened and what was going on and what I would like done to it. Um it needed to be looked into, it needs to be corrected, and it needed to be investigated by all of these people. Because if it's not, then these things still continue to go on, and somebody else's life is put at risk, not just mine. Okay, somebody else like you, my daughter, my husband, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, my friends are put at risk if you do not do the proper protocol and report these accidents. It's the same thing in a small town. I live in a small town and I hear people blasting stuff on Facebook all the time. There are higher ups for if you really feel like something's going on, there's negligence, there's fraud, there's something going on. You can always look to see what you need to do at a state or federal level to figure that out, just like with this hospital. So that is what I am doing to help correct this situation, and I look forward to seeing how they handle that. However, if I feel like it's not handled correctly, it can go higher, and it will because I unfortunately I am not the type to sit there and go, oh well, too bad it happened, our mistake. People are human, and everybody makes mistakes, including me, a lot. Okay. But here's what happened: I told them on day three, I gave them a set a chance. On day seven, I gave them a chance. And after that, they refused to do it. They they swore up and down I was fine and everything was gonna be fine. However, the end result was that I was not fine. My titre is low, my health is compromised. You committed neglect and malpractice, and you didn't follow even guideline or protocol. And we have chat GPT now, so they could have chat GPT that on up to figure out how to do those things if they didn't know. But also swearing up and down as a nurse that you are covered and that she knew I was covered is an absolute bad, unprofessional nurse, okay? Because she did not know my medical records say otherwise, and she could have corrected it and refused to. So there's that, and not happy about that. Also, insurance pays 100% of that shot, so I'm not sure why it wasn't done. It wasn't because of financial. I mean, and plus I had already paid my ER copay, so there was there it won't hurt me to get it done correctly, it would only help me, but that didn't happen. So that is why I did what I did, because I felt like it has to be done because accountability has to be done at this point on this hospital, unfortunately, and nobody wants to do that. Trust me, I don't want to take my time, my effort, and this battle, but you have to, or else someone like you, someone like my daughter, somebody else in the ER will suffer if they go there and this still not done right. Because I imagine this isn't the first time this has happened, maybe not with a rabies shot because you know, hello, but something else has happened there. That ER, if they're allowed to do that, something else, some neglect has happened, and and that's not good. That means somebody, something else was put at risk, somebody else was put at risk, and or something was mount just misdiagnosed and done wrong. So that's where we are. That's what happened. It is July 13th. I will be going back from my other titers soon to see what that is like, and hopefully, to God, that's correct. Because if not, then I have to call the Kansas States again and see what we have to do for protocol and what I need to do. Um, I do not want any more of those shots. Those things are horrible for my body. I have felt horrible since then. They can cause all kinds of problems. Um, the reactions that I had from them was heart palpitations. Um, my heart would race. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I had angina a lot of the times, it messed up my nervous system, it made me sick and weak. My all my muscles are fatigued, weak, or cramping. It was horrible. They don't even feel like they're back to normal yet. And I could just feel like I was had this horrible, unwell feeling the whole time. Um, so those vaccines are very, very strong and bad. And I don't do that typically, I don't even take the medicine because of the the way my body acts with it. But this was horrible. I broke out in hives, I had shingles on my back, it was it was horrible. Um, I don't want to do any more of those shots, so I'm hoping that my titer and praying that my titer comes back normal. Now, since then, it was amazing that you know, I told you I believe in spiritual warfare and doing good, but um that Sunday after my titer came back low, it was so amazing. Not long ago, we were sitting there and I heard on church that and I read the Bible um all the time. Usually in January, I'll start reading the Bible from beginning to you know end of the next year. So, but it's weird because I've always read the Bible and I've never remembered this passage, and it's in Luke, and it's Luke 13, 32. And I don't know why, but me and Casey were sitting there and listening to church, and I was like, Oh my gosh! And he was reading from Luke 1332, and he said, and this is Jesus replying, and he said, Go tell that fox, I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. And I was just like, What? What did he say? He's a fox, and I can't ever remember that being in the Bible. Now, God was talking to the Pharisees, um, and he was telling them to go tell King Herod, um, he was calling King Herod a fox, that that's what he was saying to King Herod. He was telling the Pharisees to go back and tell him that um King Herod was planning on killing Jesus, and so that's what he was telling him. And the reason why he referenced the fox was because back in that time, foxes were dismissed as insignificant, weak, and crafty rulers, and that's what he was describing King Herod as a fox. Um calling someone that was implied that they were destructive pests who lacked true power, and that um he's so he didn't compare him to a lion because back in that day, mighty animals were like lions and bears and stuff like that. So he was calling King Herod a fox, an insignificant pest and ruler, that he has no true power, and of course, we all know that Jesus had the true power, so uh, but to hear that was like wow, I have read it over and over and never remembered hearing that fox passage. So that was funny. Um, that was a little god wink, I think. Um, that made me my heart happy. Yeah, I was like, oh wow, that's great. So just like with that fox, he's not gonna stop me. It didn't stop me. Um, I thought it off. Um, it's it has slowed me down a definite lot, but it will not stop my mission or my passion if. It will not kill my spirit. Um, that is not found in things, and I will continue to continue on, and I will also continue to fight the good fight, and I will also advocate for myself and others at the most I possibly can. Um, thank you for listening. Like I said, this is my first podcast. I am not very great at this. Um, I'm trying, but I have other things to talk about besides the Fox, and I promise we're gonna get to that too. Um, last week we took a little break from the Fox and went to Beautiful Rolling Hills, which I loved going to, so that was great. Um, and we'll be going out there more to do um things out there um in the videos. I will have a YouTube channel up now. Um, I will be doing videos as well, vlogging, and you'll be able to see that. I haven't done that yet. Um, time is crazy. My time, my schedule's quite busy, but um, and this just added to it, but I will be doing that. Um, I hope thank you again for listening and bearing with me and being patient and kind. And like I said, I'm not a professional at this. I just think it's important that people know that you can do things and that there are higher ups to do um Facebook. You can sit there and put, like I said, stuff on Facebook, but that doesn't help because yeah, it does spread the word, which is a wonderful thing, but there are higher things and higher protocols that you need to do and follow up on if something like that has happened to you. Um, it's important that you do that so maybe it stops the next person from suffering. Um so, or protects somebody else's health and safety and wellness. Um, I think if more people did that, then the state would have to recognize what the failures are and look at that. Um this is the biggest gate kept state that we have out of all the 50 states. Alabama is a very gate-kept state. Um, if you're not a doctor per se, then it seems to be that there is no um independent freedom there with that, and our our health is not good here in in this area. So it that I'm looking forward to changing that, and we'll talk about that later. Um, on a hygiene perspective, on a nurse perspective, on a cosmetology perspective. We'll talk about all those things later as well. Um, and what you can do to get involved to help the state go further um and better and help maybe our health care be a little bit better than it is. Um, it's not just here, it's nationwide, but um this one seems to be the the rules are a little bit um outdated per se. So we'll talk about that next time. Um, we'll talk about other things. I will let you know. Um, the title that I'll have to do will be soon, it'll be probably next week, and then after that, I won't get those results back till three or four weeks. And I'm gonna pray that they're over 0.5 because they're at 0.3 now. So we're gonna pray for that. I do not want any more shots, and I am absolutely looking forward to talking about so many other things. We are building out the spa still, and and when transition with that as well, and I'm gonna show that I'm gonna share that journey as well. Um, I will be talking about that whole situation with the spa and what has been going on with that, and sharing that too. And I'm excited about that getting up and going. Um, we'll have to wait on the state to come in and and get that up, but I'm excited about that as well, and the move on that, and what we went through from beginning and in on that. We'll be also sharing on this channel. So, thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for bearing with me and being kind and giving me your grace, and and and thank you for listening to this. And I hope you stay well and I hope you feel beautiful. Stay tuned to next Monday for more tongue not bitten.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Hide all the messy parts, no place to run or hide. But the truth comes bubbling up, we're keeping it on written. Welcome to the show where the tongue is not bitten. Oh, we're speaking up and letting it out.