First, I want to thank everyone who posted to this thread
Your kind words of support are priceless to me. Thank goodness for the great, caring people on this board
Yesterday:
11:40 am got home with five bags of various soft and sps frags from one of my old neighbours. He had lots of frags on his sandbed that had fallen off the mother colonies. Set up a 2.5g in the kitchen to keep them heated and aerated while I had lunch and did a couple of errands. Before going into the 2.5g, inspected each frag and broke off damaged, dead or otherwise problematic portions of each coral. As I was in the kitchen, I could wash my hands between corals. Ate lunch, did errands, did not feel sick in any way.
2:30 - 3:30 pm moved 2.5g tank to dining room table where I had towels and hand cloths to clean hands between mounting different species of corals. As I think back, may not have washed hands in tapwater very often, but did wipe them on the towels. During that time, went outside for a smoke break at least once.
3:30 - 4:15 pm frags all mounted and continued to work in 37g to get rocks back in right place. Dang, they never go back in the way they were just an hour earlier
4:15 pm Chris comes home and I'm beginning to feel numbness in lips. A bit later get slight headache, tongue feels numb, feel a bit dizzy. Just before supper, post that I might have poisoned myself.
5:00 pm eat supper while watching Desparate Housewives (love that nutty show
) taped from night before. Symptoms get worse. Can't type very easily, head hurts more, am dizzier, am slow at thinking, want to go to sleep.
6:15 pm get pm from person who was going to pick up livestock saying she can't come. No problem, post I'm going to ER, then leave.
6:30 pm get to ER. The place is packed
At least an hour wait. Get dizzier, get sleepier, jaws and face numb, less able to think clearly, have a little trouble walking outside for another smoke (really gotta stop this smoking cr*p
). Harder to keep awake. Am thinking I might slip into a coma if I do. Might also become paralysed
8:30 pm am still in ER waiting room. Lots more people cram the place. Thinking hospital may not be the best place to go when sick
Realize I am feeling better. Lips, tongue, face, jaws not numb anymore. Can move around more easily, am thinking more clearly. Still have headache, but know the worst is likely over
Feel kind of silly being in ER now that I am feeling better, but still want to talk to doctor.
9:00 pm finally get into a patient room and have to put on dumb gown
Doctor comes in 20 minutes later. Asks me a few questions, has me do large and small motor skills tests, says he is looking for signs of stroke
Dr says he has not ever heard of anyone dying from corals, and said several years ago he worked in South Asia among people who regularly came into contact with corals in their daily work.
10:00 pm get home, write quick note on thread, start kalk drips in tanks, go to bed.
Today:
Still have a bit of a headache. Motor skills are pretty good, but am a little weak. A little numbness in lips, but no numbness anywhere else. Am a little slow thinking (ah, what else is new
). But otherwise I am fine.
Things I have learned from this experience:
1. If working with frags, which I rarely do, either wear gloves or WASH HANDS VERY WELL after touching frags.
2. Even though ER was a VERY long wait and I got better while I was there, I'm glad I went. I could very well have developed more serious symptoms and would have already been in the right place for Drs to help me.
3. I have very good friends here on Canreef
Thank you all for your support