sorry if i’m being a party pooper but because rabies is apparently the new joke on here ??? please remember that rabies has an almost 100% fatality rate after symptoms develop so if you’re bitten or scratched by an animal that you aren’t 100% sure is vaccinated then GO TO A DOCTOR. it’s not a joke. really.
You’re being kind when you say “almost 100% fatality”. What people need to hear is: if you get to develop rabies symptoms, you’re dead. If you get heavytreatment after developping symptoms, you still need a miracle. Like, a real miracle, you should enter some religion if you escape that.
ALSO, I don’t want people feeling confident about petting stray/wild animals because there’s a vaccine available, either. I’ll explain why from my own experience (I’m not a doctor).
I got bitten by a wild tamarin once, on the pulp of my index finger. It drew blood, there are many wild animals in the area (tamarins, possums, bats, foxes) and it isn’t that uncommon to hear about 1 or 2 rabies cases every now and again (a puppy we gave to a friend got it, for instance), so I went to an ambulatory immediately.
Because I was bitten in an ultrasensitive area, I needed fast treatment. But it was also a small area, so the usual thing they do - inject the vaccine in the place - wasn’t a choice. They told me they’d divide the shot in 5 small ones, and inject me all over my body, so the antidote would get to my entire system fast.
Please stop for a moment and think that the disease is so worrysomethat they’d rather needle me all over than to give me one shot and wait until it spread through my system.
Then they said that, okay, but there was a catch first. I needed to take an antiallergic shot. “Why?” “Because the virus is devastating, and as the vaccine is made from it, but weakened (like almost every vaccine) it will still create a reaction, and it’s a strong one, and it’s veru common for people to have strong allergic reactions to it.” YOU HAVE TO TAKE AN ANTIALLERGIC SHOT IN ORDER TO TAKE THE VACCINE COZ THE VACCINE COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE YOU REALLY SICK
ALSO IT WASN’T JUST “A LITTLE ANTIALLERGIC SHOT”
IT WAS ONE OF THESE FUCKERS HERE.
It was OBVIOUSLY dripped in my body and not injected because HAHAHAHA. Truth be told I was an adult already and I’m tall so I have a lot of mass but STILL.
So after I had taken the antiallegic and was starting to feel drowsy (as a side effect of it) the doctor came with the 5 shots.
- One in each buttock
- One in each thigh
- One in my left arm
They all stung like a bitch and I usually don’t care about shots.
“Okay so can I go home now?”
“No, we have to keep you under observation for 2h so we’re SURE the vaccine won’t give you any reaction.”
BINCH I WAS GIVEN A BUTTLOAD OF MEDICINE BUT THERE WAS STILL A RISK.
I slept through the two hours and then was liberated to go home. My legs, butt, and left arm hurt all over, like I had been punched there, for a few days. I also had a fever (not feverish, a fever)
BUT DID YOU THINK IT WAS OVER?
WRONG!!!
I had to take fourreinforcement shots in the next month, one a week, so I could be positively be considered immunized.Every time I took a shot, my arm would swell and hurt like it’d been hit, and when night came I’d have a fever. Because that’s how fucking strong the vaccine is, BECAUSE THAT’S HOW VICIOUS THE VIRUS IS.
So yeah. DO NOT PUT YOURSELF IN RISK, GODDAMNIT. Rabies is a rare condition all over, THANK GOD, and 1 confirmed case can be already considered a surge and a reason for mass campaigning, AND FOR A REASON.
If you like messing with stray/wild animals, don’t go picking them up and be extra careful. Or just, like, DON’T- call a vet or an authority that can handle them safely.
I must add that I live in a country with universal healthcare, so I didn’t pay a single penny for my treatment. Is this your reality? If not, ONE MORE REASON TO NOT FUCKING PLAY WITH THIS SHIT.
Rabies is 100% lethal. Period. If you are scratched or bitten by an animal you’re not positive is vaccinated, you need to find treatment NOW. And probably go through all that shit I’ve been through (also if you are immunosupressed? I DON’T KNOW WHAT’D HAPPEN)
Stay safe and don’t be stupid ffs
Guys, I know this isn’t art nor anything like that, but I’ve been hearing about this rabies thing and ???? Look I trust none of you would risk yourselves like this, but maybe you can educate someone through my experience and stuff.
Also rabies does not necessarily cause frothing-at-the-mouth aggression in animals. Docility is also a very common symptom so any wild animal that is ‘friendly’ or ‘likes to be pet’ is suspect. Literally any wild animal is a vector.
Finally, you don’t need to be bitten. All you need is to come into contact with an infected animal’s bodily fluids through a cut that maybe you didn’t notice when you were handling it when it drooled on you.
Never touch a wild animal.
Infection with the rabies virus progresses through three distinct stages.
Prodromal: Stage One. Marked by altered behavioral patterns. “Docility” and “likes to be pet” are very common in the prodromal stage. Usually lasts 1-3 days. An animal in this stage carries virus bodies in its saliva and is infectious.
Excitative: Stage Two. Also called “furious” rabies. This is what everyone thinks rabies is–hyperreacting to stimuli and biting everything. Excessive salivation occurs. Animals in this stage also exhibit hydrophobia or the fear of water; they cannot drink (swallowing causes painful spasms of the throat muscles), and will panic if shown water. Usually lasts 3-4 days before rapidly progressing into the next stage.
Paralytic: Stage Three. Also called “dumb” rabies. As the infection runs its course, the virus starts degrading the nervous system. Limbs begin to fail; animals in this stage will often limp or drag their haunches behind them. If the animal has survived all this way, death will usually come through respiratory arrest: Their diaphragm becomes paralyzed and they stop breathing.
And to add onto the above, saliva isn’t the only infectious fluid. Brain matter is, too. If, somehow, you find yourself in possession of a firearm and faced with a rabid animal, do not go for a head shot. If you do, you will aerosolize the brain matter and effectively create a cloud of infectious material. Breathe it in, and you’ll give yourself an infection.
When I worked in wildlife rehabilitation, I actually did see a rabid animal in person, and it remains one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, because I was literally looking death in the eyes.
A pair of well-intentioned women brought us a raccoon that they thought had been hit by a car. They had found it on the side of the road, dragging its hind legs. They managed–somehow–to get it into a cat carrier and brought it to us.
As they brought it in, I remember how eerily silent it was. Normal raccoons chatter almost constantly. They fidget. They bump around. They purr and mumble and make little grabby-hands at everything. Even when they’re in pain, and especially when they’re stressed. But this one wasn’t moving around inside the carrier, and it wasn’t making a sound.
The clinic director also noticed this, and he asked in a calm but urgent voice for the women to hand the carrier to him. He took it to the exam room and set it on the table while they filled out some forms in the next room. I took a step towards the carrier, to look at our new patient, and without turning around, he told me, “Go to the other side of the room, and stay there.”
He took a small penlight out of the drawer and shone it briefly into the carrier, then sighed. “Bear, if you want to come look at this, you can put on a mask,” he said. “It’s really pretty neat, but I know you’re not vaccinated and I don’t want to take any chances.”
And at that point, I knew exactly what we were dealing with, and I knew that this would be the closest I had ever been to certain death. So I grabbed a respirator from the table and put it on, and held my breath for good measure as I approached the table. The clinic director pointed where I should stand, well back from the carrier door. He shone the light inside again, and I saw two brilliant flashes of emerald green–the most vivid, unnatural eyeshine I had ever seen.
“I don’t know why it does it,” the director murmured, “but it turns their eyes green.”
“What does?” one of the women asked, with uncanny, unintentionally dramatic timing, as she poked her head around the corner.
“Rabies,” the director said. “The raccoon is rabid. Did it bite either of you, or even lick you?” They told us no, said they had even used leather garden gloves when they herded it into the carrier. He told them to throw away the gloves as soon as possible, and steam-clean the upholstery in their car. They asked how they should clean the cat carrier; they wanted it back and couldn’t be convinced otherwise, so he told them to soak it in just barely diluted bleach.
But before we could give them the carrier back, we had to remove the raccoon. The rabid raccoon.
The clinic director readied a syringe with tranquilizers and attached it to the end of a short pole. I don’t remember how it was rigged exactly–whether he had a way to push down the plunger or if the needle would inject with pressure–but all he would have to do was stick the animal to inject it. And so, after sending me and the women back to the other side of the room, he made his fist jab.
He missed the raccoon.
The sound that that animal made on being brushed by the pole can only be described as a roar. It was throaty and ragged and ungodly loud. It was not a sound that a raccoon should ever make. I’m convinced it was a sound that a raccoon physically could not make.
It thrashed inside the carrier, sending it tipping from side to side. Its claws clattered against the walls. It bellowed that throaty, rasping sound again. It was absolutely frenzied, and I was genuinely scared that it would break loose from inside those plastic walls.
Somehow, the clinic director kept his calm, and as the raccoon jolted around inside the cat carrier, he moved in with the syringe again, and this time, he hit it. He emptied the syringe into its body and withdrew the pole.
And then we waited.
We waited for those awful screams, that horrible thrashing, to die down. As we did, the director loaded up another syringe with even more tranquilizer, and as the raccoon dropped off into unconsciousness, he stuck it a second time with the heavier dose. Even then, it growled at him and flailed a paw against the wall.
More waiting, this time to make sure the animal was truly down for the count.
Then, while wearing welder’s gloves, the director opened the door of the carrier and removed the raccoon. She was limp, bedraggled, and utterly emaciated, but she was still alive. We bagged up the cat carrier and gave it to the women again, advising them that now was a good time to leave. They heeded our warning.
I asked if I could come closer to see, and the clinic director pointed where I could stand. I pushed the mask up against my face and tried to breathe as little as possible.
He and his co-director–who I think he was grooming to be his successor, but the clinic actually went under later that year–examined the raccoon together. Donning a pair of nitrile gloves, he reached down and pulled up a handful, a literal fistful, of the raccoon’s skin and released it. It stayed pulled up.
Severe dehydration causes a phenomenon called “skin tenting”. The skin loses its elasticity somewhat, and will be slow to return to its “normal” shape when manipulated. The clinic director estimated that it had been at least four or five days since the raccoon had had anything to eat or drink.
She was already on death’s doorstep, but her rabies infection had driven her exhausted body to scream and lunge and bite.
Because, the scariest thing about rabies (if you ask me) is the way that it alters the behavior of those it infects to increase chances of spreading.
The prodromal stage? Nocturnal animals become diurnal–allowing them to potentially infect most hosts than if they remained nocturnal.
The excitative stage? The infected animal bites at the slightest provocation. Swallowing causes painful spasms, so they drool, coating their bodies in infectious matter. A drink could wash away the virus-charged saliva from their mouth and bodies, so the virus drives them to panic at the sight of water.
(The paralytic stage? By that point, the animal has probably spread its infection to new hosts, so the virus has no need for it any longer.)
Rabies is deadly. Rabies is dangerous. In all of recorded history, one person survived an infection after she became symptomatic, and so far we haven’t been able to replicate that success. The Milwaukee Protocol hasn’t saved anyone else. Just one person. And even then, she still had to struggle to gain back control of her body after all that nerve damage.
Please, please, take rabies seriously.
This has been a warning from your old pal Bear.
I knew how bad it was, but I had never read anything like the raccoon story.
I am not exaggerating when I say that is literally terrifying.
Y'all please read this. That is absolutely hideous. That’s literally like something from a horror movie.
Do not fuck around with wildlife. Or weird strays.
TFW Rabies education comes across your dash because some fuck up calls themselves Rabiosexual.
Rebloggin’ for that raccoon. o.o The original post I can pretty much guarantee is a troll, but it’s useful to know just why rabies is such serious shit.
Education right here
Extra reminder: If you see any animal other than a dog who’s been attacked by a porcupine? It’s rabid.
Dogs are dumb, friendly fucks who will investigate anything; everything else in the animal kingdom knows better than to mess with a porcupine, unless their brain is being ravaged by something beyond their control.
If you see a non-dog animal that has porcupine quills sticking out of it? Don’t try to help it yourself. Call animal control.
@talesfromtreatment@is-the-cat-video-cute tagging you to spread the word? Apparently people have forgotten that rabies is a brain disease, terrifying, is fatal if not treated immediately, the treatment is horrid, and the treatment is very expensive
Also I heard that in the USA, human rabies pre-exposure vaccines are not widely available and cost something like $900
Get your pets rabies vaccine every year, folks. Aside from everything else - and that’s a lot of everything - the test for rabies involves the brain, so the animal will be killed first.
And that is a kind end. The videos of rabies seizures are nightmarish
This is also why you’re not supposed to sleep outside without cover (ie a CLOSED tent) if there are swooping bats in your area. Apparently it can be very hard to realize you’ve been bitten by a bat (vs a bug, I guess it’s very small). Some students from my university were on a trip where they came into contact with bats, taking lots of selfies holding them etc, in the area they were supposed to be sleeping and the professor lost it when they saw some of the pictures. The students were housed elsewhere and the university had everyone vaccinated at the school’s expense- the pre-exposure vax may be expensive, but the number of shots you get post-exposure can vary (as demonstrated above) and it was ASTRONOMICAL.
When I looking for places to move to when I can finally leave the states, I looking to laws and procedures to bring my cat with. Any place that had eradicated rabies, intense policies and quarantines for any animal entering the country, unless you were coming from a different place that had also eradicated it. Some of would put your animal down if they were symptomatic at all. I remember thinking “what can’t rabies just treated?” No it can’t be, putting your pet down is the humane option if there symptomatic.
[image: a sixty-milliliter syringe, with human hand for scale. the syringe barrel is likely around five inches long and likely has an inside diameter of an inch or more.]
Plain text: Sorry if i’m being a party pooper but because rabies is apparently the new joke on here ??? (Bold) Please remember that rabies has an almost 100% fatality rate after symptoms develop so if you’re bitten or scratched by an animal that you aren’t 100% sure is vaccinated then (caps) go to a doctor (end caps and bold). It’s not a joke. Really.
You’re being kind when you say “almost 100% fatality”. What people need to hear is: (bold; if you get to develop rabies symptoms, you’re dead (end bold). If you get (bold, italics) heavy (end bold and italics) treatment after developping symptoms, (bold) you still need a miracle (end bold and italics). Like, a real miracle, you should enter some religion if you escape that.
(Caps, bold) Also (end caps and bold), I don’t want people feeling confident about petting stray/wild animals because there’s a vaccine available, either. I’ll explain why from my own experience (I’m not a doctor).
Then they said that, okay, but there was a catch first. I needed to take an antiallergic shot. “Why?” “Because the virus is devastating, and as the vaccine is made from it, but weakened (like almost every vaccine) it will still create a reaction, and it’s a strong one, and it’s veru common for people to have strong allergic reactions to it.” (Caps, bold) You have to take an antiallergic shot in order to take the vaccine coz the vaccine could potentially make you really sick (end bold).
Also it wasn’t just “a little antiallergic shot” (end caps). End plain text.
[image: a sixty-milliliter syringe, with human hand for scale. the syringe barrel is likely around five inches long and likely has an inside diameter of an inch or more. End]
Plain text: (Bold, caps) It was one of these fuckers here (end bold and caps).
It was (caps) obviously (end caps) dripped in my body and not injected because (caps) hahahaha (end caps). Truth be told I was an adult already and I’m tall so I have a lot of mass but (caps) still (end caps).
So after I had taken the antiallegic and was starting to feel drowsy (as a side effect of it) the doctor came with the 5 shots.
- one in each buttock
- one in each thigh
- one in my left arm
(Italics) They all stung like a bitch (end italics) and I usually don’t care about shots.
“Okay so can I go home now?”
“No, we have to keep you under observation for 2h so we’re sure the vaccine won’t give you any reaction.”
(Caps, bold) Binch I was given a buttload of medicine but there was still a risk (end caps and bold).
I slept through the two hours and then was liberated to go home. My legs, butt, and left arm hurt all over, like I had been punched there, for a few days. I also had a fever (not feverish, a (italics) fever (end italics))
(Caps) But did you think it was over?
(Medium text, bold) Wrong!!! (End caps, medium text, and bold)
I had to take (bold) four (end bold) reinforcement shots in the next month, one a week, so I could be positively be considered immunized. Every time I took a shot, my arm would swell and hurt like it’d been hit, and when night came I’d have a fever. (Bold) Because that’s how fucking strong the vaccine is, (caps) because that’s how vicious the virus is (end caps and bold).
So yeah. (Caps, bold) Do not put yourself in risk, goddamnit (end caps and bold). Rabies is a rare condition all over, (caps) thank god (end caps), and 1 confirmed case can be already considered a surge and a reason for mass campaigning, (caps, bold) and for a reason (end caps and bold).
If you like messing with stray/wild animals, (bold) don’t go picking them up and be extra careful (end bold). Or just, like, (caps, bold) don’t (end caps and bold) - call a vet or an authority that can handle them safely.
I must add that I live in a country with universal healthcare, so I didn’t pay a single penny for my treatment. Is this your reality? If not, (caps) one more reason to not fucking play with this shit (end caps).
(Bold) Rabies is 100% lethal (end bold). Period. If you are scratched or bitten by an animal you’re not positive is vaccinated, you need to find treatment (caps, bold) now (end caps and bold). And probably go through all that shit I’ve been through (also if you are immunosupressed? (Caps) I don’t know what’d happen (end caps)).
Stay safe and don’t be stupid FFS. Infection with the rabies virus progresses through three distinct stages.
(Bold) Prodromal (end bold): Stage One. Marked by altered behavioral patterns. “Docility” and “likes to be pet” are very common in the prodromal stage. Usually lasts 1-3 days. (Italics) An animal in this stage carries virus bodies in its saliva and is infectious (end italics).
(Bold) Excitative (end bold): Stage Two. Also called “furious” rabies. This is what everyone thinks rabies is–hyperreacting to stimuli and biting everything. Excessive salivation occurs. Animals in this stage also exhibit (italics) hydrophobia (end italics) or the fear of water; they cannot drink (swallowing causes painful spasms of the throat muscles), and will panic if shown water. Usually lasts 3-4 days before rapidly progressing into the next stage.
(Bold) Paralytic (end bold): Stage Three. Also called “dumb” rabies. As the infection runs its course, the virus starts degrading the nervous system. Limbs begin to fail; animals in this stage will often limp or drag their haunches behind them. If the animal has survived all this way, death will usually come through respiratory arrest: Their diaphragm becomes paralyzed and they stop breathing.
And to add onto the above, saliva isn’t the only infectious fluid. Brain matter is, too. If, somehow, you find yourself in possession of a firearm and faced with a rabid animal, (bold) do not go for a head shot (end bold). If you do, you will aerosolize the brain matter and effectively create a cloud of infectious material. Breathe it in, and you’ll give yourself an infection. But before we could give them the carrier back, we had to remove the raccoon. The (italics) rabid (end italics) raccoon.
The sound that that animal made on being brushed by the pole can only be described as a roar. It was throaty and ragged and ungodly loud. It was not a sound that a raccoon should ever make. I’m convinced it was a sound that a raccoon (italics) physically could not make (end italics).
It thrashed inside the carrier, sending it tipping from side to side. Its claws clattered against the walls. It bellowed that throaty, rasping sound again. It was absolutely frenzied, and I was (italics) genuinely (end italics) scared that it would break loose from inside those plastic walls.
(Bold) Because, the scariest thing about rabies (if you ask me) is the way that it alters the behavior of those it infects to increase chances of spreading (end bold).
Rabies is deadly. Rabies is dangerous. (Bold) In all of recorded history, one person survived an infection after she became symptomatic, (end bold) and so far we haven’t been able to replicate that success. The Milwaukee Protocol hasn’t saved anyone else. Just one person. And even then, she still had to struggle to gain back control of her body after all that nerve damage.
Dogs are dumb, friendly fucks who will investigate anything; everything else in the animal kingdom knows better than to mess with a porcupine, (bold) unless their brain is being ravaged by something beyond their control (end bold).
This is also why you’re not supposed to sleep outside without cover (I.E. a (caps) closed (end caps) tent) if there are swooping bats in your area. Apparently it can be very hard to realize you’ve been bitten by a bat (vs a bug, I guess it’s very small). Some students from my university were on a trip where they came into contact with bats, taking lots of selfies holding them etc, in the area they were supposed to be sleeping and the professor lost it when they saw some of the pictures. The students were housed elsewhere and the university had everyone vaccinated at the school’s expense- the pre-exposure vax may be expensive, but the number of shots you get post-exposure can vary (as demonstrated above) and it was (caps) astronomical (end caps). End plain text.
This is one of the best pieces of information on the COVID-19 vaccines presented in easy to understand language and addressing common concerns that I’ve seen yet.
I don’t have the spoons to transcribe all of this but if anyone does, tag me and I’ll boost that version as well.
[ID: Eight images comprising an infographic about the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
[1] The first image shows a needle inserted into a vial. The title is, “Pfizer vs. Moderna Covid-19 vaccine / What’s the difference?” and is credited to Amanda Howell, MPH. The rest of the images read as follows:
[2] Both are mRNA Vaccines Covid-19 mRNA vaccines provide instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19.
Covid-19 mRNA vaccines are given in the upper arm muscle. Once the instructions (mRNA) are inside the muscle cells, the cells follow the instructions and make the protein piece. After the protein piece is made, the cell breaks down the instructions and gets rid of them.
Next, the cell displays the protein piece on its surface (showing off its work). Our immune system recognizes that the protein doesn’t belong there and begins making antibodies.
Afterdeveloping antibodies, our immune system has learned how to protect against future infection.
The benefit of mRNA vaccines, like all vaccines, is those vaccinated gain this protection without ever having to risk the serious consequences of getting sick with Covid-19.
Facts about Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines: They cannot give someone Covid-19. mRNA vaccines do not use the live virus that causes Covid-19.
They do not affect or interact with our DNA in any way. mRNA never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA (genetic material) is kept. The cell breaks down and gets rid of the mRNA soon after it is finished using the instructions.
[There is a Bitmoji of a light-skinned person pointing up at the sky. A DNA strand, a water molecule, an atom, a magnet, and an Erlenmeyer flask are floating around them. Above them is green text that says, “Science!”]
[3] MRNA Technology mRNA technology was discovered over 30 years ago and has been studied for vaccine purposes for nearly two decades.
In fact, scientists have been working on a coronavirus vaccine since the SARS and MERS outbreaks but funding dried up. No funding, no scientific advancements. (Look at what we can accomplish when we fund science!)
Early-stage clinical trials using mRNA vaccines have been carried out for influenza, Zika, rabies, and cytomegalovirus (CMV).
Recent technological advancements in RNA biology and chemistry, as well as delivery systems, have mitigated these challenges and improved their stability, safety, and effectiveness.
[The same Bitmoji from before is shown at a chemistry table with several bubbling vials and flasks.]
[4] Pfizer vs. Moderna Vaccine
Pfizer is 95% effective, Moderna is 94.5% effective
Pfizer is 30 [microgramme] mcg doses given 21 days apart, Moderna is 100 mcg dones given 28 days apart
Pfizer has 5 dose vials, Moderna has 10 dose vials
Pfizer must be diluted with 0.9% sodium chloride, Moderna requires no dilution
Pfizer must be stored at -112 to -76 degrees Fahrenheit [-80 to -60 degrees Celsius], Moderna at -13 to -5 Fahrenheit [-25 to about -20.56 Celsuis]
Pfizer’s trial had 36,621 participants, Moderna’s had 30,350
Pfizer is approved for use in people over the age of 16, Moderna for people over the age of 18.
Pfizer published safety and final efficacy results from Phas 3 on December 10th, 2020. Moderna announced primary efficacy analysis in Phas 3 on November 30, 2020
[5] Ingredients in the Vaccine There has been complete transparency around ingredients. You can find the fact sheet posted online and in the reference section of this post.
MRNA
Lipids (including ((4-hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2-hexyldecanoate), 2[(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide, 1,2-Distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, and cholesterol)
Potassium chloride
Monobasic potassium phosphate
Sodium chloride
Dibasic sodium phosphate dehydrate
Sucrose
Good news for those that may have concerns or are vaccine-hesitant. There is no aluminum, mercury, or food allergens.
[6] Side Effects/Immune Response
Most commonly reported side effects:
Injection side reaction
Fatigue
Headache
Muscle pain
Chills
Joint paint
Fever
This is called an “immune response.” This is response without infection and it’s a good thing!
These short term, easily managed side effects are significantly less risky than taking your chances with Covid-19 infection.
[The Bitmoji from before is shown surrounded by germs. They have their arms up and look alarmed, and text under them says, “i think i’m getting sick”.]
[7] 99% Survival Rate A commonly asked question is “why should I get vaccinated if the Covid-19 infection has a 99% survival rate?”
Surviving and thriving are incredibly different.
Covid-19 symptoms can persist for months. The virus can damage the lungs, heart, and brain, which increases the risk of long-term health problems. Even young, otherwise healthy people can feel unwell for weeks to months after infection.
How organs may be affected by Covid-19:
Heart: Imaging tests taken months after recovery from Covid-19 have shown lasting damage to the heart muscle, even in people who experienced only mild Covid-19 symptoms. This may increase the risk of heart failure or other heart complications in the future.
Lungs: The type of pneumonia often associated with Covid-19 can cause long-standing damage to the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs. The resulting scar tissue can lead to long-term breathing problems.
Brain:Even in young people, Covid-19 can cause strokes, seizures and Guillain-Barre syndrome—a condition that causes temporary paralysis. Covid-19 may also increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Short-term side effects and 95% vaccine efficacy > long term health damages from Covid-19 infection
[8] Please get vaccinated The vaccine benefits outweigh the known risks of contracting Covid-19.
When the vaccine reaches your group, please get the vaccine. The sooner we vaccinate and establish herd immunity the sooner we can remove our masks and hug our friends again.
[The Bitmoji is shown at a water cooler. They are smiling and holding a paper cone.]
“Three, two, one.” Maven slides the needle into Myra’s arm.
“No, no, no!” Myra calls out.
“It’s a little late for that,” Maven replies as she tapes the catheter against Myra’s skin. “You ready to head upstairs?”
Myra shakes her head. “No,” she replies weakly. “Do we have to do this?”
Maven unbrakes Myra’s wheelchair and starts pushing it toward the elevators at the end of the hallway. “Dr. Buhle will take great care of you,” she says.
“Where are we going?”
“To see a friend.”
————————
“Dr. Howell, this is Myra Handler. She’s Dr. Byrne’s patient — the one with the abnormal imaging.”
Dr. Howell extends her arm to give Myra a firm handshake. “Hi, Myra, I’m Dr. Howell. I work with Dr. Byrne. I understand that he referred you for a diagnostic procedure. Is that right?”
Myra nods. “Do I have to?” she asks.
“Legally speaking, I cannot make you,” Dr. Howell replies, “but this procedure is the best shot at figuring out where your pain is coming from and making sure that it is nothing life-threatening. I highly recommend that you have it done. Why are you hesitant?”
“I’m scared,” Myra admits.
Dr. Howell nods. “It’s okay to be afraid. But you are in the best of hands. Dr. Buhle is one of the best doctors I know. And Maven will be with you the entire time.”
time for lake to talk about top surgery yet again (sorry for so many nipple close ups in this one lmao)
also - the single line across like I have technically *is* double incision, just joined in the middle. some people also have to go in for surgical revisions for their results, not just injection treatments. I didn’t know much about this stuff going in - it wouldn’t change my want/need for surgery but I had the outlook that I’d heal perfectly because my surgeon was one of the best. then my genetics were like “nah lol”, so the more you know, the better prepared you can be for your own surgery!
p.s. I know I Overshare In Art too much but I just want to put it out there that I am not open to talking further individually with strangers about any details of my transition. I get a lot of invasive questions from strangers and I’d like my boundaries to remain where I draw them (ba dum tss)
Prompt: No. 10 ‘Oops, I Did It Again’ - hospital, flare-up, ice chips
Trigger Warnings: needles
Word Count: 1453
It always started the same way: an extra vial during the weekly blood tests, a clear fluid making its way into her veins, and a heavy drowsiness that always ended the same way: an operating table.
Dr. Schreyer had explained it to her once, on the condition that she never have to explain it again. It was common knowledge that the Project was different, but in what ways, nobody was quite sure - that was what the tests were for. Weekly blood, saliva, and urine samples, bi-monthly psychological examinations and respiratory and cardiovascular check-ups, an in-depth physical exam every few months, and the occasional operation. And no matter how much she hated being poked, prodded, and put under, the Project dutifully kept quiet and did not try to resist the research being done.
She could usually guess when an operation was coming up as Dr. Schreyer would give her strict instructions to avoid eating the night before - abstinence from food usually meant either surgery or another one of Dr. Lee’s tests to see how long she could go without (the answer was at least two weeks, and she could have gone longer if Dr. Schreyer hadn’t put a stop to it). The only other indicator would come only a few moments before she was powerless to stop it: the needle in her arm and the sedative in her veins.
Dr. Schreyer admitted to her once that even she was not the largest fan of the sedative usually administered to the Project - it was actually carfentanil, an anaesthetic so strong that it was commonly used for extremely large animals and definitely not human-sized creatures but it was one of the few things that was capable knocking Stormkrigeren out. Her lightning-fast metabolism meant that she had an abnormally high tolerance to nearly everything she ingested - tests had been run to prove this and ultimately discovered that not only did coffee, a variety of medications, and much of the food she ate rarely impact the Subject’s body in a detectable way, but even most poisons seemed to have little-to-no effect on her. Of course it would take an elephant tranquilizer to put her under.
Waking up from the sedative was nearly the same as being put under: a tingling, creeping, throbbing sensation slowly taking over her entire body at a frighteningly pace that she had no chance of resisting, followed by either oblivion or dim awareness. Said dim awareness usually took a minute to reach full consciousness but it was enough for her to take note of her surroundings and confirm that yes, she was back in her Rooms laying on the mattress with no knowledge of what had happened to her in the lost time.
Except she wasn’t on her mattress.
And she wasn’t in her Rooms either. She could tell because her Rooms were a certain type of loud with its own sounds and silences, and wherever she was now… was almostquiet.
Mister Wilson had reminded her of the dangers of kidnapping, drugging, blinding, and other sorts of debilitating situations on multiple occasions, so the Project was well familiar with what to do when suddenly waking up in an unknown location with no idea how she got there: listen. Listening was the first thing one was supposed to do when they woke up - well, at least the first thing besides keeping up the appearance that one was still asleep while they assessed their surroundings for any possible dangers. And when she listened, she immediately noted that it was almost quiet.
Keep your eyes closed, breathe slowly, don’t move. There was a pulse monitor beeping quietly off to her left, and a breathing tube uncomfortably lodged in her throat. Breathe slower, don’t move. If she focused, she could catch the slight buzz of overhead fluorescent lights, and something else that might have been another person breathing nearby, softly but heavily, accompanied by the click of metal on metal. She did her best to match her breathing pattern to theirs, keeping up the appearance that she was still unconscious while she cracked open one eyelid the tiniest amount to get a look around.
She was on her stomach, which made it a little hard to look around but she could still recognize a few things, such as bright lights, concrete, and the distinct scent of saline solution and bleach. She was in an operating room, that much was clear, and based on past experience and the slow return of feeling followed by pain to her body, she had a pretty good guess as to what had happened - the tranquilizer had worn off earlier than expected.
Way earlier than expected, gauging by the sudden, sharp pain in her lower back that signalled that she was more than likely only half-way through whatever operation her caretakers had decided to subject her to this time.
Deep breaths. Slow breaths. Don’t let them know you’re awake. Stay calm.
The Project hadn’t been trained for this, she had no idea what to do in this sort of situation - what was someone supposed to do when they woke up mid-operation, announce it to the surgeon? Hope that someone readministered the sedative without her telling them? Simply pretend to be unconscious and wait for it to be all over? Or get up and try to run away?
The last option was tempting, to be sure, and certainly viable. There were only three people in the room - she knew because she could hear them breathing, and one of them saying something about flow pressure and stem cells through the haze of the quickly-fading anaesthetic. Trying to escape a trio of medical technicians while drugged and only semi-conscious would be a task in and of itself but that was not to say that it was impossible. At worst, she would likely be put under again and dragged back to her Rooms to await punishment, and at best… she admittedly wasn’t coherent enough to think of all the possibilities but the outlook was bright.
Besides the surgeons just out of sight poking painfully at her backside, there was still the issue of the number of tubes and needles the Project could feel pricking her. Deep breath, count slowly, start at the top - there was the breathing tube, of course, along with what felt like an electrode on the side of her throat, two needles in her left arm, what was more than likely a pulse oximeter on her right hand, and one- no, two more needles in her lower backside that seemed to be penetrating bone. Those would be the biggest concern yet she knew it would be a waste of time worrying about them when she had to take action before the anesthesiologist realized that she was awake.
Deep breath, breathe in, and a sharp, unexpected kick out to her right that sent the medical technician standing there stumbling to the floor. The Project heard one of the other surgeons shout in surprise but she ignored them, instead focusing on sitting up enough to pull the breathing tube out of her throat and choke back a yelp at the stab of pain shooting up her spine. Gritting her teeth, she somehow managed to yank out one of the needles she felt there and probably snapped the other in her haste but it was enough to get her free of most of the medical equipment and able to clamber off of the operation table in a drugged panic.
It was the IV that reminded her of the futility of escape, the pair of tubes still embedded in her forearm yanking her to a halt with an agonizing stab caused by the two needles very nearly being ripped out of her. She had just turned to untangle herself from the mess of IV lines and wires when her progress was halted by another pain, cutting through her thoughts as it slipped beneath her skin, and dread washed over the Project as she realized what was in the syringe now poking out of her bicep.
The stuff was fast-acting, and she was on her knees before she had time to fully acknowledge what had happened. The needle in her arm was sharp and painful and draining all the energy from her body like water through a sieve, and despite her best efforts, the Project found herself struggling to do much as keep herself upright when one of the surgeons forced her to the floor. She was dimly aware of hoarsely screaming for the man to get off of her, let her up, let her go, but all he did was put another needle in her before the bright, concrete world of the operating room went dark and soft.
