I am NOT OP. Original post by u/Subject_Fan_751 in r/AskDocs

mood spoilers: likely not the scariest outcome, whew

Original post - July 6, 2023

Age: 26 Gender: Female Weight: 163 Height: 5’5 Medical history: no history of disease/smoking/illness.

About two months ago I got bit by a raccoon on my front porch. This was a very unusual and frustrating occurrence because I shoo raccoons off my porch all the time where I live and they usually scatter the first time they see me. The one that bit straight up attacked me aggressively when I tried to shoo him and bit me on the leg.

I took the necessary precautions and washed the bite with soap and water to disinfect and put a bandage on it and tried to move on.

About two months later the bite still itches and burns and I’ve been starting to feel tired and sick. Symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, and light sensitivity.

I hate going to the doctor because they always charge too much but I’m wondering if my symptoms are a coincidence?

It’s possible the fever and Illness are separate from the bite or am I just paranoid/crazy?

I’ve been bitten by animals before and it’s never caused me this much trouble.

I just don’t want to shell out a fortune for a checkup and meds unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Any suggestions?

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Comment - 3 hours after original post

Have arrived at the hospital. Thanks to everyone for your advice. I feel like the biggest idiot for not taking care of this sooner. Will provide updates when I can.

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Update - July 7, 2023 (1 day later)

UPDATE: thanks everyone so much for your support and advice. You guys have been amazing. I didn’t expect to get this many replies and I don’t know why this thread was locked but I’ll share what updates I have here.

The doctors don’t think it’s rabies. They won’t know for 100% sure until they do more extensive tests but they’re optimistic, especially since I’m starting to feel better after almost 24 hours of treatment. After the sheer number of different tests I’ve had, I’m hoping I’ll have a more conclusive answer in the next few days but for right now, things look good.

To the people calling me stupid, you’re absolutely right and I deserve it. When I was bitten, the people closest to me in my life told me not to worry about it and that I’d be fine. I decided to listen to them instead of my better judgement.

Have I heard of rabies before? Yes. I’ve heard of a number different diseases before. Did I know rabies was THIS serious? No I did not. Did I know that I might potentially be carrying the most deadly disease in human history in my body? Absolutely not, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken an insane gamble like this.

The doctors informed me that rabies is astronomically rare, and although they’re going to continue running every test under the sun on me, right now, my condition fits better with a more standard and less serious infection.

They also informed me that what I did was incredibly reckless and dangerous, and that any time I’m scratched or bit by an animal in the future, I should seek medical assistance immediately.

The irony of the situation is that I avoided the doctor to save money, but my stay here is going to end up costing me way more than if I had just gone in for a simple shot after getting bit.

Some lessons in life need to be learned the hard way, but I’d much rather have a massive bill on my hand then end up in a coffin.

The amount of positive and uplifting dms I’ve been receiving has been nothing short of amazing. You guys are absolutely some of the nicest most thoughtful people I’ve ever met, and I never expected that from strangers who don’t know me personally.

I’ll try and share more updates in the coming days but for now I’m just going to keep resting.

Thanks guys again, your support means the world to me. And thanks for helping me realize what an idiot I’ve been. I definitely needed a wake up call.

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(editing to add final update for completion's sake, though it was just made today. Sorry Mods if this is not allowed, I can remove!)

Final update - July 14, 2023

SECOND UPDATE: I have almost made a complete and total recovery. I'm back home and I have resumed my normal life. So what happened exactly?

The Doctors believe that it was my constant picking, rubbing, and scratching at my wound as it was trying to heal that caused the infection to get in, NOT from the animal bite itself, which would explain why it took so long for me to actually get sick from it.

Looking back on this whole situation, I cant believe how much all of this could have been avoided with a simple doctor checkup. This is by far the dumbest thing I have ever done in my life, and I wanted to thank you all for helping to realize what a fool I've been for putting it off as long as I did.

With my life going back to normally slowly, I don't think I'll be updating this post anymore, but I appreciate all the support and the much needed criticism I've received. I'll be taking it all to heart to hopefully make better decisions with my health in the future. Thanks everyone again and I hope you all have long healthy happy lives!

Reminder - I am not the original poster.