**** this, I'm out.

Went in my kayaking survival trip. I was miserable. Sure the weather was terrible and I never got any food. But that's no why it was terrible. I built my shelter out of leaf litter. Got lots of little pokes and slivers as normal. Tossed and turned all night feeling bugs biting me. Woke up this morning to find the culprit. A ****ing used dirty bent needle. Does it count as surviving if you contract aids and die?

Needles to say (haha, get it, needles? **** you) I packed it up early and left with desire to do this **** anymore. A supposed removed beach not touched very much. I want to puke. I feel disgusting. Sourdough gave me aids. He demanded more boots in the field now I probably have a deadly virus. Thanks. I'm done.

Wash the sites with soap and water. Go to your doctor's.

Which site, I don't even know what's what I rolled around all over it. Trying to get into the va but by the time they see me ill probably be in the final stages of death.

More than likely even if there was anything on the needle the air probably already killed it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SLRBK

the air probably already killed it

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Not true at all!!!!

Randy - Follow 1sttimestar's advice. If you are reasonably certain that a needle stuck you then it is nothing to play around with. Aside from AIDS you can contract Hepatitis B or C, gonorrhea, typhus, herpes, syphilis or tuberculosis from any blood that might have been in it or a host of bacterial infections including tetanus from the outside of the needle. This is not something to ignore. When was the last time you received a tetanus booster? See a health care professional please.

That's why they call it survival.....
You really need to impart that kind of info to all the RATLTW want-a-bees, that think it all cool and piece of cake to go on a trip, with nothing but a knife and big balls.
I would go to a DR and get some advice....but I would think the danger is minimal, other than a possible infection.

I'm up to date on immunization to work on the ambulance. Va called back and said they still can't give me an apt but I can go o the ER where they will do nothing. I believe hep c is the biggest concern being able to live 2 week outside the body I hope this needle was old but didn't look like it...

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Originally Posted by hunter63

That's why they call it survival.....
You really need to impart that kind of info to all the RATLTW want-a-bees, that think it all cool and piece of cake to go on a trip, with nothing but a knife and big balls.
I would go to a DR and get some advice....but I would think the danger is minimal, other than a possible infection.

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YES YES YES.

Even if you have mad skills and can get sufficient food and water anything can happen. I would have never expected a needle there. Now imagine being farther out where even if it wasn't herpes filled, I get a bacterial infection. SCREWED. I will slap the **** out of the next person I see say they're going to just go like "live in the wild"....

Hopefully, it was someone's insulin needle and that's what it was used for. Still not a good situation but a better thought than a druggie that had shared or reused the needle. On the flip side they probably thought, "No one will ever come out here to test their survival skills. That would be crazy." ....as they tossed the needle over their shoulder.

Already though of it being an insulin needle but I just can't see sweet old grandma relaxing on this beach sucking on an orange and injecting her insulin. I hate drug addicts. If I caught something I'm cleaning this town out. How can someone not even recap the damn thing before they toss it...

I am sorry to hear this happened. For what its worth, I looked up some info I have on Personal protection , the longest living virus ( outside the body) is HEP A , can live up to 4 months , hep B is up to a week, hep c up to 4 days, HIV/AIDS is at best 7 days in dried blood in the right conditions.

I'm so sorry this happened to you!! What about checking with your local public health office? Hope you are able to get checked out soon!

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Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

Already though of it being an insulin needle but I just can't see sweet old grandma relaxing on this beach sucking on an orange and injecting her insulin. I hate drug addicts. If I caught something I'm cleaning this town out. How can someone not even recap the damn thing before they toss it...

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Randy,I will be saying extra prayers for you,that sucks big time.Definitely follow up like Rick said,too many what-if's and unknowns to let it slide, I think an ER would at least do testing and give you an antibiotic,"just in case" then recommend that you follow up with your doc....yea I know whenever they can fit you in. But at least you could have SOME peace of mind of stopping some random infection, and possibly more ( I know there are somethings that antibiotics can't touch) but getting a head start until you can get into the VA is better than waiting and letting something get a leg hold on you.

Randy, that sure blows big time, I can only imagine how you feel.
FWIW, please consider getting tested ASAP even if you have to pay out of your own pocket. Screw money, your health is more important and this may not be something that's worth putting off til you can get to VA.
Best of luck, prayers that it's nothing!

Did you bring the needle back for testing? Rather then wait to see what you might catch, they probably could test any traces on the needle. Best of luck to you!

Funny thread.

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Originally Posted by Winter

Funny thread.

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Me getting aids is funny? Thanks


I brought the needle. At the va now. She's checking to see I they can test it now. But it didn't sound like it.

No Randy, your reaction to all this.

Being that you said you were on a beach, my guess would be the needle washed up on shore.

How did you get into the VA so quick?

Just thinking here. Not to take anything away from Randy; what he's going through is a very real concern. However what can we learn from all of this? DON'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED! Before sleeping on anything in the outdoors check the ground, leaves, etc. over thoroughly! Randy, I'm pulling for you bud!...:cool2:

Thank you sarge.

It's been hours since this happened. The va actually returned my call, but a I suspected wouldn't give me an apt and told me to just go to the ER so here I am. They cannot test the needle. Doctor is going I talk to me about starting the cocktail. I've heard horror stories about the cocktail throughout t medic school. Not happy.

Winter. All I can do is listen to team Americas everyone has aids and family guys you have aids until I find out....

Man I hope this comes out for the best for you! Sad state of affairs.

Veterans should always come first.

We had a guy here who was in the Navy. No combat.

He was putting off going to the doctor for something and a Vietnam vet told him to go to the VA. He thought he had to be a war vet.

He got in every time like the next day. I always heard people say they had to wait for the VA. I guess you just have to go in and demand what you have definitely earned! If we need more doctors at the VA take them from public assistance.

You know, RR, next time don't listen to SD, follow Ollie's example.
The only thing that turns up in his lumpy chair is probably some change and a Cheeto or two.

Hey RR, I am so sorry this happened. I too will pray that you are safe and contracted nothing. Keep us posted because there ar plenty of us who care.

I would say you should probably go to the doctors and get tested for any disease possibly spread by needles...Considering most of which are very life altering (or so i would presume.)

Hey now, IF that needle was used by someone with HIV, and the needle still somehow had viable virus on it, the cocktail CAN prevent transmission. Yes, the stuff is toxic and nasty but it can prevent transmission if started promptly. Hoping for the best for you!! Glad you were able to get in to see a doc right away.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

Thank you sarge.

It's been hours since this happened. The va actually returned my call, but a I suspected wouldn't give me an apt and told me to just go to the ER so here I am. They cannot test the needle. Doctor is going I talk to me about starting the cocktail. I've heard horror stories about the cocktail throughout t medic school. Not happy.

Winter. All I can do is listen to team Americas everyone has aids and family guys you have aids until I find out....

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Things I would have rather woke up to find in my bed-

A rattlesnake
A scorpion
A black widow
My ex mother in law
A wasp
George Takei
A raccoon


The damned VA strikes again.

4 hours for a nurse that must have gotten his license online. I can't stand when I go in somewhere and they try to explain to me wrong information. Information that could be dangerous. When I question them they try to explain it for a retard, yet they sound like one.

Nurse asks to take blood to test for HIV. I question why, it hasn't had enough incubation time to show up on a test, so why are we doing it. I ask if I am getting the cocktail. He says not until the results get back, which will take a week. I explain that the cocktail must be administered promptly within 72 hours to be effective. He sounds like a moron stumbling around with his words. Whatever. I give him the damned blood. The doctor never even comes in so I can ask my questions and find out when to come in for a VIABLE test, as there is a window of opportunity for the test to work. I end up asking the nurse who tells me the blood they just took is all, and if it's negative I don't have HIV. Where does the VA find these people, even a good portion of people with no medical background know this stuff...

So according to them 15 hours after exposure they take my blood, no antibodies and i'm completely HIV free.
Imagine this happening to some poor dude with a family, and in a week gets a negative results, and listening to the VA thinks he's safe and has sex with his wife and infects her. I hate the VA.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. As with any medical issue it looks like I have to do the legwork and figure it out on my own, rather than listen to the VA.

You missed the one question that would have changed everything. "What happens when YOU have an accidental needle stick?"

It's your life Randy and your medical treatment. You have the right to DEMAND how that is handled. If that's the response you received get on the phone to the administrator of that VA Hospital and don't stop until you have received appropriate and correct care. I certainly would not accept that.

Rick several messages have been left for the PR guy. No calls back. That's definitely not the worst thing I've witnessed there. No one ever seems to be reachable to take responsibility. No wonder vets flip and kill ppl. They pretend to be there. Bu they aren't. At least not here at the Martinez one...

Randy - Here are some telephone numbers for you. I think you more than qualify for any of them. Complain, Complain, Complain. Through a fit, stomp, hold your breath, do whatever you need to do to make someone listen. If that fails contact you Mayor's office, Senator's office and/or Representative's office. I'm quite certain if the VA received a call from the Martinez Mayor's office or a Senator's office they would find space and time for you in a heartbeat.

• Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 (Press 1)
• 24 Hour Nurse: 1-800-382-VETS (8387)
• National Veterans Helpline: 1-800-507-4571

If you are pushing the treatment window then hit the ER. A private hospital ER has a legal responsibility and they are more sensitive to legal recourse than the VA. It will be more expensive but you may be weighing your future health again the cost.

The next step would be the mayor or senator. I've done all of the hold your breath scream crap. All it did is get me raging and no where with them. It all sounds easy to you, yeah sure there's the numbers, it must be so easy. Maybe it's just this local VA. I don't know, but I do know i've wasted more countless of my hours with them getting nowhere than to make it worth it. Of course I could go to a private ED, but i'm not putting myself in debt for life over it.

The one time I did I got almost a thousand dollar bill for UCD to clean my burn wounds, using nothing more than I could have done at home. But the ED doc strongly encouraged I go there. That was a waste.

If I thought it was easy I wouldn't have provided the numbers or suggested the elected officials. On the contrary, I recognized you were having problems getting the medical care you needed and I was just trying to help.

So catching a disease, maybe one you can't get rid of, or getting a serious infection is better than a doc or hospital bill?
Doesn't make sense to me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rick

If I thought it was easy I wouldn't have provided the numbers or suggested the elected officials. On the contrary, I recognized you were having problems getting the medical care you needed and I was just trying to help.

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Sorry, I know you're trying to help, I hope I didn't come off as an A hole.

It just gets frustrating, I swear it's a ruse. They seem to advertise how to get help everywhere, billboards, magnets, on the automated phone, then they suck at it.

Last year I witnessed a freak out from a vet that just wanted psychiatric help, he was screaming just help me, someone I want to kill myself, why wont anyone help me. His counselor had security kick him out and didn't watch him. I really hope he got the help he needed.

Just a few months ago I watched a nurse come out and call a patient by their disease. "The person with congestive heart failure" A feeble 90 year old starts hobbling to the door on a walker. She urges him to hurry up they're busy. Not only did she yell out protected health information, call a patient a disease not a human, but then she tells him to hurry up?! I was in such a state of shock all I could do is sit their in awe with my mouth open...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beo

So catching a disease, maybe one you can't get rid of, or getting a serious infection is better than a doc or hospital bill?
Doesn't make sense to me.

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No sir, what are you referring to? The burn incident? They used nothing different than sterile saline gauze and elbow grease.

This incident? No blood test will show it for a week, besides going to a private ED and demanding the cocktail, what do you suggest this will accomplish? The chances I contracted something now have been shown to be very low, and I don't even know if I would take the cocktail now. A month of something similar to chemo for a very slight chance i'd probably pass.

Oh my bad RR, I just read a couple posts. Hope everything is squared away though.
Need all the Screaming Eagles round here we can get.
Didn't know about the burn incident, got a few scars from that kinda sh!t myself, silvadine is great for burns though.

That's some bad luck on several levels. I hope things get better.

This sux, but thank you for posting. Sadly, this is a caution, warning that needs to be circulated more widely. I know that just reading the comments have made me more aware and hopefully more careful when outdoors. A terrible testament to yet another societal ill of our times. I truly hope that you suffer no ill affects from your experience and again, thanks for putting this out there.
'rum

That truly sucks you slept on a needle. And what sucks more is that it most likely is a druggie needle; most diabetics are pretty good at disposing their needles. I'm even more surprised that the nurses and doctors treated you like that. First thing a half minded doctor would do is give you the cocktail after explaining the situation. I would want to wake up next to any of the things you described than being stuck with a dirty, unknown needle. I hope the best for you!

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Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

Last year I witnessed a freak out from a vet that just wanted psychiatric help, he was screaming just help me, someone I want to kill myself, why wont anyone help me. His counselor had security kick him out and didn't watch him. I really hope he got the help he needed.

Just a few months ago I watched a nurse come out and call a patient by their disease. "The person with congestive heart failure" A feeble 90 year old starts hobbling to the door on a walker. She urges him to hurry up they're busy. Not only did she yell out protected health information, call a patient a disease not a human, but then she tells him to hurry up?! I was in such a state of shock all I could do is sit their in awe with my mouth open...

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That's effed up on so many levels! Sorry.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sarge47

Just thinking here. Not to take anything away from Randy; what he's going through is a very real concern. However what can we learn from all of this? DON'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED! Before sleeping on anything in the outdoors check the ground, leaves, etc. over thoroughly! Randy, I'm pulling for you bud!...:cool2:

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I strongly agree with Sarge ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS thoroughly check the area before sleeping on the ground. I have never found a used needle but I can't tell you how many tines I have found broken glass! I use the trowel I use for digging my latrine to scrape and poke my sleeping area to see what I turn up. Even when I use my pocket hammock I still check the the ground below in case I fall out of the hammock.