Flower Pockets & Bats Don’t Mix

Back in August I complained to my husband that we were in a boring routine. We pretty much were always working, recovering from work, or preparing for our first 5k. We had started Couch to 5k in April, and we had been very devoted to our running schedule. I will admit the yard suffered from neglect during this time since I was loathe to pull muscles in my legs from weeding in the garden. Word to the wise: never, ever complain that you are in a boring routine!

On the Sunday prior to our first 5K (A Midsummer Night’s Run), we returned home around 10 p.m. to hear someone rustling around in the flower pocket next to the front door. My husband turned and said, “We have a visitor!” as he fiddled with the keys. Of course, I immediately realized that a bat must be in the flower pocket. For a second, I thought it was cute. As I walked up the steps, I had a gut feeling that maybe I should have run for the back door, but it was too late.

I heard our little bat friend scratching up the inside of the pocket, and I ducked. Either my movements were too slow or the bat’s radar was totally off as the bat smacked into my head. The bat hit hard on the crown of my head and flew away. We didn’t have a lot of contact, but it was enough to send my heart racing.

I ran into the house and started feeling around on my scalp. The area burned, but it could have been from the impact. My husband checked my scalp and could not see anything. I jumped into the shower and soaped and scrubbed my head.

After my shower, I wondered if I had been exposed to rabies. I know it sounds paranoid. I kept thinking I was crazy for having this nagging feeling. As all worriers do, I popped on the Internet. I immediately went to the Center for Disease Control website. The CDC recommends rabies prophylaxis for anyone exposed to a bat whether or not visible bite marks can be seen since bite marks can be invisible to the naked eye and might not bleed. Rabies is a fatal disease and can take up to six years to show symptoms. Once symptoms appear, it is too late. I did not want to take my chances. My heart sank, and tears rolled down my face. Everything I read online said that I had a window of time to start the shots, so I waited until morning.

I spent that entire night worrying, crying, and talking to my husband, who probably wanted to sleep. My husband investigated the scene while I was in the shower and reported that the flower pocket was full of June bugs. That poor little bat had hit the jackpot for dinner, and we ruined it for him. My husband offered to put the flower pocket back up in case the bat returns and then we could have him tested (killed and tested, that is). Though I was hysterical, I was logical enough to say that we cannot guarantee that it would be the same bat and that I didn’t feel like the little bat deserved to die just because I’m afraid of a bunch of shots.

The next day I spent a lot of time on the phone while trying to work. Both my primary care physician and our local university division of Infectious Disease confirmed that I needed the rabies prophylaxis. After some runaround with my health insurance provider, I was put in touch with our local health department (the county where I work, not where I live). The health department explained the protocol to me and also explained that I would have to wait a day due to the shortage of vaccination.

The following morning, less than 48 hours after the incident, I walked into the health department, completed my paperwork, and waited. When I went into the examination room, the nurse walked me through more paperwork. I couldn’t believe the amount of paperwork, but I’m glad to know that everything was well-documented. I’m a documentation fiend myself, so I appreciate that the government collects everything it can regarding possible rabies exposure.

When I was little, I remembered hearing horrible tales of 21 shots in the stomach and immense pain, but I am happy to report that those days are over. The rabies prophylaxis begins with HRIG (human rabies immune globulin) shots that are administered according to weight, the rabies vaccination shot, and in my case, a tetanus shot (I was overdue). The HRIG provides passive immunity like mother’s milk for infants and takes effect immediately. The rabies vaccination provides active immunity but takes a few weeks and additional vaccinations to provide protection.

The nurses were hoping my weight would calculate for only three HRIG shots, but I was just over the border, so I had to have four. I really wished I had lost more weight during the summer! I had one shot in the top of each gluteus maximus where they could reach actual muscle and not just fat and one shot in each quadricep (I had some good muscles from running). The HRIG is made from human plasma that has been exposed to rabies. It is very thick, and it takes a while to inject, but fun conversation with the nurses kept the focus off the injections.

Here’s a fascinating fact: the rabies vaccine is hot pink! The rabies vaccine looked more like a gag gift than an actual vaccine. It could have passed for a Jello shot. The rabies shot went in my right arm, and the tetanus shot (with pertussis…might as well get that too) went in my left arm. I did ask if I could get a rabies tag, and I later bragged to friends that I had more in common with my cats than they did with their cats.

After the first appointment was over, I was given a rigid schedule for the remaining three rabies shots. I would take the second one on on the third day, the third one on the seventh day, and the fourth one on the fourteenth day. I could not miss a dose, and I went ahead and blocked out my schedule for the coming appointments.

Believe it or not, I went into work that first day after my appointment. I arrived around noon and began preparations for attending two out-of-town meetings over the next two days. I would have to be at the office at 7 a.m. each of those two mornings. Honestly, I wanted to stay home and take it easy as I had no idea how the shots would affect me, but I did not have any backup to cover me, so I had to forge ahead.

Later that afternoon, I hobbled around the office, barely able to walk. The handicap rails in our office bathroom seemed like a gift from the gods. Everything felt more difficult. I couldn’t sit comfortably. Thank heavens for ibuprofen! I felt dizzy and light-headed, but I made it through our meeting preparation discussions. When I went home, I hit the bed hard and slept well regardless of the swollen lumps on my backside and thighs.

Fortunately, my body hurt less the next day, and I made it through both out-of-town meetings with some ibuprofen. I received my second rabies shot on that Friday. The paperwork for the second appointment paled in comparison to the first appointment, and the side effects of the vaccine were minimal.

Through this whole ordeal, I wondered if I could run in the 5k that Saturday. We had spent all summer preparing for it. I did not want to give up, so I decided to run regardless of how I felt. My husband and I ran on Thursday afternoon (two days after the first appointment), and my body ached the whole time. Still, I figured I would feel better by Saturday, and I did. I finished my first 5k in 39 minutes 14 seconds. I did have to walk more than I liked, but I finished, and that’s what counts.

Following the second shot and my first 5k, I experienced some bizarre side effects on that Sunday night/Monday morning. I woke up in the middle of the night freezing to death. I took my temperature, and it was low. I wrapped up in my bathrobe, threw on extra blankets, and even laid on a heating pad, and it took hours for me to warm up. By morning I woke up sweating. I sweat so badly that I waited to get dressed for work until the last minute. Sweat poured off my body, and I had to wear my hair in a pony tail. I could have been Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton. Of course, I had another out-of-town meeting that morning, and I dreaded looking like a swamp monster all day. By noon, the sweating passed, and I felt relatively normal. Shots three and four caused only minor nerve twinges in each arm and numbness and aching in my fingers.

The side effects I experienced were minor, and I would go through it all again and more to know that I was protected from rabies. I will never know if that bat carried rabies, but I do know that if I feel ill in the coming months and years that rabies won’t be on the table as a possible cause. If a bat smacks me in the head again (furry bat, not baseball bat!), I would have to get rabies booster shots, but I will never have to get the whole protocol again.

The lesson of this story is beware where you place flower pockets or anything that could double as a bat house or bug storage unit. I do recommend placing bat houses on your property in high areas away from your patio or porch. Bats are wonderful creatures that help control the mosquito population. They play an important role in our gardens, and they deserve respect… however, if you hear a bat near your front door, run! Also, never complain that you are in a boring routine. That can change in a heartbeat!