Woke Up at 4am w/ a Bat on My Face - Reflections on Vaccines, Health and Love
I open my eyes, heart suddenly beating fast. "What! The! Fuck!" were the first words out of my mouth - loud. My beloved wakes up, gives me his phone flashlight. I look down across the small wooden floor beside our beds (read massive floor bed kotch space occupying 1/4 of the downstairs of our 16x20 ft abode. We had to move the bed downstairs when we realized that it posed a significant health risk to be sleeping and generally living in a space that:
- reeked of bat & squirrel gnarl that has been staining the ceiling for the last 30 years or so..who knows how long?
2)the wasps were pushing bat poop out of the cracks in the pine ceiling into our living space. The floor where my daughter crawled around putting every tiny object she could into her mouth, naturally. After some research I learned that you cannot disturb bat habitat at this time of year because they are nesting, its maternity season, folks.
OK, so I get it. You need to raise your babies safely, I need to raise mine safely. You live upstairs and we will live downstairs. That was my unspoken pact with them. A truce, if you will. Then, in September, when I will not be prosecuted under federal law for violating the Endangered Species Act, I will evict you. My hope is that you all shall live and find wonderful habitat elsewhere. Please keep pollinating the world and generally doing all the things you do in pursuit of your Batty Noms.
So we obviously had to move out of the upstairs. We had slept peacefully down there for about a month.
Then, I woke up at 4am and felt the tiny little claws, which I remember feeling had the sensation of stickyness, *pat pat pat" across my face. I remember when I woke up I noticed that it came from the direction of my 11 month old daughter, Eve, who co-sleeps with me. I remember trembling in my beloved's arms and crying after he had trapped the bat and lovingly placed it by a tree outside. We all hoped the bat would find their mother/babes, and we all washed ourselves and went back to bed, shaken. I have since learned that bats are famous snugglers of the wild world, so I imagined that the bat was simply trying to crawl into bed with me. I had been scared, but I was not thinking of the wider implications of our exposure. I had not been thinking about rabies.
My PC Doc had never told me that if I had bat exposure I should immediately collect and send the bat in for rabies testing. If you did not do this, then you must undergo a long series of shots. An immunoglobulin on the 1st visit + Rabies Vaccine. Then 3 follow up visits for rabies vaccine repeat doses. We went to the emergency room 6 days after exposure because 1) we were not paranoid about it until we got super psyched out by a veterenarian who visited us at Pie Fest, told us stories and reminded us that it has 100% Fatality. That is not a stat you want to risk. We were in the emergency room for 3 hours, Eve got 2 shots and I got 5 that first day, including tetanus which hurts like a bitch.
All this has gotten me thinking about vaccines again. We decided to vaccinate Eve following the CDC recommendations, because we could not find convincing documentation that we should do elsewise. I recently saw the John Oliver Piece about vaccines, and that is pretty much how my man and I feel. At the same time. When we were in Ecuador when Eve was 5 months old we had bats poop and pee on our mosquito nets. On my fucking face a bat once pissed. I woke up with the Ire of 1000 Suns!
We live a pretty rustic lifestyle, no doubt. But the serious bat karma I seem to have at this juncture in life coupled with my sensible mommy tiger protector instincts have driven me to now move out of my home, back in with my Pappy Carlos. Because the other day I walked in to get a pair of shoes and grabbed a bat. I collected it, put it in a tupperware. Drove around with it, was told I didn't need to test it. It died.
Today Eve and I went into the Infusion Center to get our 3rd shots in the rabies vaccination series. What a weird turn of phrase - The Infusion Center. Makes me think of tea. While we were there a man in a sports jersey started singing, "I Got a Woman, Way Over Town! She's Good To Me! Ohhhhh Yeaaaaahhhhhh!!!" I had listened to classical music and news on NPR on the way wile Eve napped, like a good little priviliged white girl, and had heard the fucking shit show that is the assault on the Affordable Care Act. I am not going to weigh in too heavey on that right now, except to say that I am on Medicaid. It's as close to Socialized Free Healthcare as I can get and I take what I can get. And the millions of people like be who are going to lose their coverage if the bill passes gives me as much ire - nay, RAGE!!! - as waking up at 4 am with a bat on my fucking face.
The new, did you wake up in the wrong side of the bed is "dude, I woke up with a fucking bat on my face this morning, Do. Not. Speak. To Me.
We will get our 4th and final shot on the 6th of July in Costa Rica somewhere. For right now, I am a mommy who is grateful for vaccines. For Peace of Mind that we shall go on living this wonder-filled life we live. I love my daughter more than anything in the world, all you parents know, and everyone has it deep in their bones to love their spawn fiercely.
Every parent will lie to their children. "I will never let anything happen to you." Bullshit. You know you can't live up to that. You will program your children based on whatever your particular brand of neuroses is. It's your choice. Its your responsibility, Divine Duty. Your Burden of Joy to carry. It's your outlet for creatively re-connecting to your childhood dreams and re-member what made it magical. Above all it's your choice. And it is our responsibility to respect other people's choices, and to curate meaningful dialogue on polarized issues. They are polarized because they are important. And when everyone just acts like assholes to each other, even when your viewpoints might be kind of similar, then all communication potential breaks down. These are energy drains, and I avoid them. That being said, I want to hear from people on all sides of the vaccine issue. What am I not seeing.
Open My Eyes.
Well, I'm going to get back to it now. I have several hundred Oak trees to heal into the dirt before I depart for Costa Rica! So Little to do, So much time!
Love,
Lily
First I want to say I hold absolutely no judgment of your decisions. Naturally as a mom you want to do whatever you think is best for the safety of your precious child that you love beyond anything. I know, because I feel the same. Though for me, protecting them against vaccinations rather than with them is a choice I've made.
You asked what you are not seeing. I believe the answer to that is fear. They use fear to gain compliance, it's the way it has always been. Take 9/11 for instance. They wanted to go to war with Iraq for control of oil. So they took a tragic situation and dosed it with huge amounts of fear, in fact terror is exactly the word for huge amounts of fear. They did it so expertly no one thought about how even if bin laden had truly been the orchestrator, he was from Pakistan. Not Iraq. Which is akin to Mexico launching an assault on Canada and they go to war with America.
It's always fear. Terror. They drill into us that if we don't get vaccinations we are putting our children at risk for life threatening diseases. My parents and their friends, and their friends friends, all had measles, mumps, and rubella when they were young. What my mom remembers most about it is the vacations from school. Much like I remember the same about chicken pox. If it was truly so dangerous, is that really what she would remember? As an example.
I'm not writing this to convince you of anything. In fact, I don't think it's wise to talk someone into making a decision they're not comfortable with. I'm just answering the question of what you might be missing. I hope you do read @canadian-coconut's articles, she has the research for you.
I wasn't aware of the dangers of vaccines when my daughter was born, so she did have the first rounds of everything. My son, now almost fourteen, has not been given shots and he is by far and wide the healthiest person I have ever known. He is never, and I do mean never, sick. The rest of us come down with something, he is the nursemaid. He's also five foot ten and stocky with a brain that works so fast, I can't keep up half the time. That's my personal experience which is really the best I can offer.
And this story. I stepped on a rusty nail. Everyone knows you should get a tetanus shot. Of course I had at this point stopped believing in such things, and in fact the more I read on the subject, the more I found out that you have a better chance of winning the lottery than contracting tetanus. And a far better chance of getting sick from the shot. Anyway, I did contract something. Salmonella poisoning. The reason being we lived next to a farm, and apparently manure carries salmonella and it's particles are all over everything within breeze distance. I diagnosed myself, I was so sick I could barely move, but I got online and found every symptom I had lined up with this. And several sites advised me to rush out for antibiotics. I didn't and a few days later, and a whole lot of water, I was perfectly fine. I've found that each and every time I've beaten something, my body has become immeasurably stronger, my immune system is totally fucking beast at this point, lol. That's another large problem with shots, antibiotics, etc. they undermine your immune system's ability to fight anything off making you susceptible to EVERYTHING.
But why the fear, why do they want us to be dosed up? Sorry, but it's always money. Big pharma is the most lucrative, and private by the way, business in the world. And they are in the business of pushing drugs.
Anyway, trust me when I say that despite my own feelings I completely understand where you're coming from. You have to make the decisions that feel right to you. I would just encourage you to decide whether those decisions are truly your own or being pushed on you by fear by those who stand to gain from it.
And wow to the bats, that's crazy!! I've had exactly one encounter with a bat, loose in a friends' house, swooping and all of us screaming like the girls we were until my friends' dad shooed it out the door with a broom. A bat on my face...I can't even imagine, haha, I hope you can evict them soon :)
Yes, yes, yes. I completely hear where you are coming from on this issue. Fear motivates so much of our irrational behavior. I was not afraid, until that vet instilled fear in me that my daughter could die. Talk about triggering the beast in my belly, my fear and anxiety shot through the roof. How could I have let this go so long? Am I the worst mother ever? No, I am not. I'm a fucking awesome mom. I'd done my research, 6% of tested bats have rabies. That's at once not huge and not small. I'd looked into histoplasmosis as well, and deemed it not really a big risk for us.
I also completely agree on big pharma. When I asked the docs if I could get my last shot in Costa Rica, they said yes, but werent sure if their prescription would be valid there. "I don't need a prescription. I am getting the rabies vaccine. If I need it, they give it to me there. I dont need insurance, or anything. But they charge me $250 per shot, even there." My friend @Encanta got bit by a dog in Pucallpa, Peru and she got the treatment from the hospital there for free. @ItchyKitten had something to do with convincing her, I believe. Because You just plain and simple don;t want to die. Don't want to play with your life. It's not like getting whooping cough, or mumps. It's 100% fatal.
And yeah, those bats. I've got something I need to work out with them on an energetic level. We've got some kind of cosmic connection that I am clearly not honoring. One hospital worker who heard my story int he ER asked me "And your heart is still beating?"
hmmmm curious, bats. i'll have to marinate on that for bit. And yeah!!! the 100% fatal is pretty horrifying compared to giardia, or measles, or salmonella, or anything really
Such a reality...that fear though! I'm even afraid of MY OWN WILDEST DESIRES AND DREAMS!!!! How's that for funny :P
I am assuming you did a thorough inspection
of you and your daughter before proceeding with the vaccination process.
You say you used netting in the past I hope you are able to use them again according to this they are effective.
https://www.odh.ohio.gov/-/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/bid/zdp/Animals/Bats/batsatcamps.pdf?la=en
Here are some suggestions on how to encourage them to safely and legally relocate. https://www.oldhouseonline.com/articles/bat-exclusion
Yes I did. My daughter woke up with exactly one spot of blood smack dab int he middle of the back of her head. She is also COVEREd in fly, ant and other summer insect bites, naturally, and so this could have been a scratched bugbite. At least, that is what I would like to believe. But who can be sure? Many say that bat bites can look just like a scratch...
hey ladylunasi! god I don't envy you having to make these decisions ...I can't imagine. I am so freaked out both ways about vaccines!!! Some folks have really salient stories about how it harms their kids, and other people have really convincing stories about how important they are for a whole population. I'm hoping maybe @canadian-coconut will have something to say on the matter. I appreciate the way she approaches it.
hahaha, imagining you saying this makes make crack up hard...I can't help it!
dude, I also woke up in the biggest grump immaginable. Mega grump. I dressed all in black, put on a black and white scarf, and scowled at everyone until I had had my coffee. Then I noticed I was dressed like a bat, and change into some fucking color and a healthy attitude.
Hi Lady Lunasi!
I have written many, many, articles about vaccination on my Steemit Page.
This is something that I have been researching constantly for about 13 years.
Please feel free to scroll through to all of my older articles and read them and comment with questions or thoughts that you have.
I am the mother of 3 completely unvaccinated children.
All the best,
thanks @canadian-coconut! I look forward to tuning in, I've followed you. Got anything written on rabies, or an opinion you would like to share?
I have not written about rabies and don't know much about it. Sorry.
It is not too common a problem up here in Canada.
I have written about Tetanus though. The hospitals like to pass out Tetanus shots like candy whenever someone goes to the hospital for any type of cut, even cuts where there is really no way in hell that someone could have gotten tetanus. And they will give you that same shot again in a couple of months if you cut yourself again because they say that you can't count on your old vaccine, you need a new one.
Basically they are saying that the shot doesn't work well enough to rely on it.
I write about that one here:
https://steemit.com/vaccines/@canadian-coconut/truth-about-tetanus-infection-and-the-vaccine
I can easily imagine that they give out the rabies shot way too often as well, if you can go by how they treat tetanus. I can't give you advice since I haven't researched it, and there could be some instances where it is really needed.
The risk of bad side-affects of the rabies shot may be very high (I seem to recall but would have to research more) ... therefore, one would not want unnecessary shots.
Ok ... I just did a quick Google search and it seems that there is a Rabies Immunoglobulin serum that is given when they really suspect Rabies. This looks similar to the Tetanus Immunoglobulin talked about in my article.
Did the hospital give you the immunoglobulin serum?
If not, they did not actually believe that you or your baby were at risk for rabies.
In the case of tetanus, if you have been infected with it already (through a cut or nail) it is too late for the vaccine to have any affect. A vaccine is for BEFORE exposure. If you have actually been recently infected you will need the tetanus immunoglobulin serum treatment.
The same would appear to hold true for rabies ...
... but like I said I would need to do much more research to offer you better advice.
Yes, as I mention above, they did give us both the immunoglobulin, calculating for our weight.
Thanks for your information, I look forward to digging into your very informative posts in the future.
oh okay then.
At least they believed there to be a real risk before they adminstered the vaccines.
It seems to me though that the vaccinations themselves may have been unnecessary, at least right now.
As the point of the vaccinations are for FUTURE exposures, and if you deal with your bat problem maybe there would be no future exposures.
And maybe the immunoglobulin works well enough by itself without the real need for vaccinations, as long as you have hospitals nearby that can administer the immunoglobulin.
Have you or your daughter noticed any new health concerns since the series of rabies shots? Don't ignore the symptoms if you have them. Very often a doctor will ignore vaccine side-affects. But if you and especially your daughter are reacting badly to the shots that you have had so far, you may not want to get the final shot in the series.
Pretty much every vaccine package insert will say inside of it that for a series of shots, if you have had any of the listed side-affects to not continue on with the series.
And since the immunoglobulin is the part that is dealing with this possible exposure to rabies, the vaccine seems to me not needed.
Please keep in mind, that there must be a reason the rabies vaccine is not routinely given to all the people in your area, when rabies is more common there than some places of the world.
The reason is probably either that the shots are simply too expensive,
or more likely the reason is that the shots are known to have a very high rate of side-effects and the benefit of giving them to everybody is not greater than the risk.
Enjoy reading my old posts!
If you get hurt and you never have been vaccinated tetanus you receive both active and passive immunisation. If you have been vaccinated before and just need a boost again then passive immunisation is enough.
I know this since i worked in a emergency department and did this dozens of times. And do you know how many serious (low fever is not serious!) vaccine side-effects I encountered (I only can tell about the first week after injury) - 0!
Interested in seeing that John Oliver piece on vaccines. Was it recent?
hmmm, I don't know who John Oliver is.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2017/06/27/surprise-john-olivers-vaccine-segment-has-given-antivaxers-a-sad/
because....>......SCIENCE!
Thanks for this! Watching now :)
From a scientific point of view vaccines are a real powerful tool and even hepled to completely removed some dangerous sicknesses. But of course there are also downsides. But luckily severe side-effects are rare.
But this still creates an complex emotional situation for all parents. See this post on what I mean by that: https://steemit.com/health/@theaustrianguy/the-big-psychological-dilemma-about-the-side-effects-of-vaccines
If you have any questions just post them here, I will answer as far as I can. Please also think about following my channel for some health advices and medical news. Greets
P.S.:!
thanks for sharing Australian! It looks so simple with that picture. LEFT side = DANGEROUS... Right side...SAFE. I wonder what folks who have had serious implications with their children and loved ones would say about it? You are super right, it's such a complex situation.
Yes, I agree with @itchykitten, I really appreciate your presence in this conversation as someone to ask specific health questions to, so needed! I am not a doctor, though I am well informed about my own body and health. And the graphic is definitely clear, and evokes a feeling of fear in me. Which @dreemit speaks of above.
You mean fake science indoctrination? ;) I mean this as a kind wake-up call, if you have studied science, they'd made sure you would not know because they didn't or couldn't believe it either. Why? Because the truth is too ugly.
I can't see the reference for this meme?? Can I please have it?? :) <3