Rabies?

I think if I hadn't seen a bat in the sky I wouldn't have started worrying. Bit of false memory playing into it by wondering if what I felt was really a flutter or if it could've been a painless bite.

I've learned that with OCD it really is about not caring anymore (in a lighthearted, free kinda way). Yeah, your brain may still be bringing up the bat scenario, but do you really think that's worth caring about? I told my spouse that if I die of rabies, I get to say the fattest 'I told you so' and then my headstone/obituary better be the coolest in history. Also I will come back to haunt him 🤣. That was my way of shrugging it off and recentering to what really matters, right here and now. Because honestly, if I did get bit, and that bat did have rabies, and my body didn't fight it off, and I did get sick, and I did die... there's nothing really anyone can do to stop it at this point. But you see.. all of those steps would have to occur for it to even be real and true.

@Gretchen wieners Yes, and once you get the test results you’ll be able to have referential proof as to why you have nothing to worry about!

@jpatouhas511 Even if there was a test for ante-mortem infection (there isn't), a negative result wouldn't necessarily disprove rabies presence in the body that may just not have progressed enough.

Sorry, just seeing your comment now. Still alive and now 8 weeks pregnant. The rabies fear from that incident still pops up every now and again probably since my brain is like "Well it hasn't been a year yet so you aren't in the clear". I honestly think that if I was bitten, I would have felt a bat land on my leg first because I know they can't physically bite mid-flight. Similarly, you feel when a leaf falls from a tree on your head and that weighs even less than a bat.

Was it a wild baby monkey? I don't think they're known to carry rabies and if it did I think you'd know something is off. The rabies shots cannot give you rabies.

@raenasadski No, he was a pet monkey that wore a t-shirt and shorts! Thank you, I’ve come to my senses but the random wave of panic still hits me.

No, I did not get the shots. I'm not even sure it was a bat that brushed past my leg. It could have been any number of bugs. I know bats can't bite you midflight; they'd have to land first and you'd likely feel that since you can feel when something even lighter touches you (an ant, mosquito, a leaf, etc). Congrats on your pregnancy! I'm currently 20 weeks, so not far behind ya.

Thank you! I have technically until September for a year to have passed, but I'm not letting it bug me.

@raenasadski Oh no I wouldn’t let that bother you at all. The infectious control person at the hospital told me within 3 months and after that isn’t considered.