Pets— cute, fluffy, and tamed as they may be— they’re still animals. Further proves that, even if you love someone so much, still they can hurt you. #hugot
Last Thursday, Pixie, my 3 year-old American Bully, accidentally hit my lower lip with her canine tooth. To be fair, it was not her fault. I positioned my head too close to hers that when she suddenly jumped, her tooth caught my lip. My youngest cousin, saw how I instinctively pulled my head away from my dog but I quickly hid my lips between my hands so as not to cause a commotion. I then ran to the bathroom, locked the door and inspected the wound. And although she didn’t bite, the impact was strong enough to puncture my lower lip.
This was not the first time I’ve dealt with bite wounds, so I knew what should be done. I immediately washed the bite wound with soap and running water for a good fifteen minutes and applied Povidone Iodine.
The first thought that came into my mind was the inconvenience that’s ahead. I’ve been through that when my dog bit my neighbor’s kids last August and December 2016 (yup, twice!), and I refused to go through all those inconveniences again. Add to that was the massive cost of post-bite prophylaxis that loomed over me. But hell, I had no choice lest I wanna take my chances with Rabies.
***
Ideally, if you have been bitten in dangerous areas, that is from the neck above (or if the animal that bit you is a stray and therefore cannot be observed), YOU SHOULD SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION. Rabies is a potentially life-threatening virus and should NOT be taken lightly.
BUT, I got bitten around 4PM on March 30th, and Animal Bite Centers are usually closed na. Fart.
In the spirit of fairness, public hospitals, particularly San Lazaro Hospital, will still accommodate you— if you have five thousand— that is according to the nurse on duty, as the usual cost of Rabies post-bite prophylaxis (not government subsidized) will more or less be around five thousand. Eye-opener #1, you can’t be bitten during wee hours if you are poor and don’t have five thousand. Que horror!
I do not have freaking five thousand with me and I still have to do my sister’s makeup for her graduation ball that day. So I took comfort at the thought that my dog just had her Rabisin shot last Feb. 26, 2017, never socialized with other dogs (in fact, she never went anywhere close to other animals other than my lola’s Shitzu; vacc also updated), ate only what I fed her and left everything into His hands.
I finished my ulirang ate duties around 9PM that night and planned to go to Quezon City Hall Animal Bite Center the next day to get my free shots. Unfortunately, I woke up pretty late the next day (March 31st) and was told that they only accommodate around 100-150 patients/day. The only option left for me was to head to a private clinic/hospital to get my shots but are too expensive. For instance, when we suspected that our youngest got bitten by a rodent, we had to pay Php ~1300 for her anti-Tetanus shot at a private hospital.
I couldn’t afford it because (1) I never told anyone so I had to shoulder the entire expenses myself (I am so not eating this month); (2) I refused to bother my parents for another bills to pay; (3) they may never allow my best friend to get out her cage again.
So instead of entertaining the thoughts that I may possibly die of Rabies (again, Rabies shouldn’t be taken lightly), I opted to attend my cousin’s humble birthday party and ate to my heart’s content.
Fortunately on April 1st, I finally had my shots. Yey. But that should be tomorrow’s blog post.
DOKTORA UNDONE 