Rodent Nests and Hand Washing

2510Paul

Well-known Member
Looking at the pictures below made me just want to scream Wash Your Hands and Everything Else.

Sept. 25, 2018 my wife called the ambulance because I couldn't put two syllables together. That night in the hospital my temperature went to 105F and I went None-Responsive. They called some kinda code, packed me in ice, pumped me full of anti virals and anti biotics, and literally ran me to CT Scan. That is when they found I had two Pituitary Tumors Walnut size, but that is another story, they weren't the issue.

Anyway one of the anti biotics worked, thank God. But the medical center in La Crosse, Mayo in Rochester, and University of Wisconsin Medical Center could not figure what caused the temperature. The Anti-biotic that worked is used to treat "Outdoor Type Infections". I had Liver and Kidney damage, fortunately they all came back.

They tested for everything several times. On my discharge paper it said Encephalitis but we know that was a guess, nothing tested positive. Two weeks later a series of follow-up tests showed, not positive, but "marginal" Leptospirosis which is found in animal urine, including mice. Flood waters have been shown to have Leptospirosis in them do to urine in runoff. And I found out later pop cans, and bottles, can have interesting virials and bacteria's on them from rodents crawling around on them if not in their proper packages.

So, no one knows why I got sick. I claim it was so that serendipitously (God did it.) the Pituitary Tumors could be found before my eyesight was permanently damaged. My Optic Nerves were obviously pinched, the surgeons all said it was a miracle I did not already have permanent eyesight damage.

The moral of this story is wash your hands, anything suspect your hands come in contact with, and anything that touches your lips that wasn't properly packaged.

Paul

P.S. Nov. 14 I had surgery for one of the Tumors and am recovering nicely.
 
A number of years ago when I was still railroading there was a Haunta Virus problem.

The solution was to spray any area where there might be mouse poop with a bleach
mixture. Especially along their "runways". They guys just used those spray bottles
from wally world. Apparently it works as no one got sick.
 
That type of thing is why I will not drink canned pop. Your lips are right on the can everyone touches it. Really bad on the old six pack cans on open flats.
 
I?m not putting you down but I wonder how I ever survived my childhood all the junk equipment that me and my cousin played in and never giving thought about mice crap or nests . And ya now days I wash my hands more in a day that I probably did In a week growing up
 
(quoted from post at 23:19:34 02/17/19) I?m not putting you down but I wonder how I ever survived my childhood all the junk equipment that me and my cousin played in and never giving thought about mice crap or nests . And ya now days I wash my hands more in a day that I probably did In a week growing up
The problem is that not every mouse/rodent carries the hanta virus. Its kind of a gamble that most of the time you win but occasionally you lose and are exposed to hanta virus. Some people don't survive it.
 
I know someone that had a similar thing. Working on his house and a nest fell on his head, later was rushed to the hospital with his abdomen severely swollen. Whatever it was attacked fatty tissue. Was told he was lucky he got there quickly and to never be too far from a hospital as it could reoccur even without reexposure.
 
If you're exposed in small doses to things your immune system builds up an immunity to whatever it is,people that live in mostly sterile environments have little or no immunity to anything
and get hit the hardest when exposed.I've read articles claiming that things like routinely using anti bacterial soap causes more health problems than they solve.
 

That type of thing is why I will not drink canned pop. Your lips are right on the can everyone touches it. Really bad on the old six pack cans on open flats.
I agree with you JD as I don't either.
 
SVcummins, I agree. We build immunity from exposure.

I got into raising chickens as a hobby when I was young. Along with the chickens came the rodents. I remember cleaning out the chicken house many times, the dust flying, no mask, just get in there and do it!

I've been exposed to more rat droppings than I care to remember, then and now. Cleaned out way too many clogged toilets, clogged drains, septic tanks, the list goes on...

Was it just luck that I never got sick? I don't know, but I do believe exposure is what builds immunity.

I very rarely went to the Dr as a kid, only for the required shots and occasional injury.

I firmly believe today's parents are way too quick to haul their kids to the Dr every time one sneezes. They get loaded up with antibiotics on a regular basis, so why should their body bother with an immune system when it comes form a drug store? Most antibiotics are very selective and have no effect on viruses. Without an effective natural immune system, we don't stand a chance!
 
I hear ya SV. It's the same story here. I was around cattle and machinery while growing up in a big way. Hand washing was not a priority. Having had that experience I wanted to pass it on, maybe someone will avoid a serious illness.

I do think there are new viruses mutating. Two weeks before I was admitted to the Hospital someone died of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in La Crosse, a first in La Crosse. So the doctors were being especially vigilant.

We are also blessed to have the La Crosse strain of viral Encephalitis here. My son had it when young and spent 2 weeks on the hospital paralyzed on one side and literally screaming from the pain. The County tested our property for years an always found the mosquitos that carry it. I suspect many of us in the area have antibodies in our bodies for it but we just didn't get so sick. It likely got passed off as the flue.

Paul
 
They were able to save the Pituitary Gland and it is working as tests have shown. Your Pituitary Gland controls many things in your body, you will be amazed but as far as I know not the eyes. Google it. Over the last year or so my wife noticed and commented I was taking more Tylenol due to headaches, my only symptom from the Tumors in hindsight.

The issue regarding the eyes was one of the Tumors was pressing on the place behind my eyes where the optic nerves cross. It has some special name I forget. One of the first expected issues would be Field of Vision issues followed by blurry vision. These were tested pre and post Op and were good.

Last week I saw my Optometrist and she was amazed the Tumors were found before there was damage to the eyes. She wanted to know the story. She said normally these issues are normally found on a annual exam and by that time it is too late to reverse the damage.

Have a great day.

Paul
 
Traditional Farmer, I've heard bad things about the anti bacterial soap too.

Regular soap releases the bacteria, it goes down the drain, happily lives on something else somewhere else.

Anti bacterial soap tries to kill bacteria. It sees it as a threat to survival, mutates to counter the effect, and turns itself into a super bug that is resistant to about anything it encounters.

That's where the MRSA and C.Diff and other flesh eating bacteria horror stories come from that are found in hospitals and nursing homes.

Bad stuff!
 
a good friend's BIL was cleaning out a set of old farm building he inherited from his parents when he became very ill sick. Doctors could not figure out what was causing the trouble was Haunta Virus after he passed away.
 
I wore latex gloves to clean nests off my tractor. But, I also load hay out of my barn. Breathing the dust in is sure to carry whatever dust from rodents in the bales. When I sweep out the barn, I avoid the dust, too.
 
Steve to this day I?ll still eat my dinner with hands blacker than night or even maybe a little green to em and it doesn?t bother me one bit . But if I know I?ve been around mice I?m almost obsessive compulsive about washing my hands before I do anything
 
I’m the same way. When I had livestock I would half heartedly wash or wipe the poo off my hands before I ate a sandwich. Once in awhile flying hog slop would land in my mouth and I’d spit it out but I never got sick. But if I have to handle a mouse nest or I’m scrubbing up good and clean afterward.

2510 I hope you can completely heal and get back to a normal life and I’m so glad you will keep your eyesight intact.
 

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