Fears of latency in rodent-transmitted infections - This is not a question based on specific symptoms. Rather, I am keen to understand the answer to a broader question relating to infections (bacterial and viral) transmitted via rats or other rodents etc through contaminated food or drink. I fear that recently my 10-year old son and/or I could have consumed food which a rat may have already nibbled on. Now I DO have a wonderful senior family physician close at hand who I would consult if either of us were to be faced any unusual symptoms, so my problem is not one of not having a doctor accessible. In this context, my question therefore is: If we have been exposed to food or drink that may have been contaminated by a rat, is there any disease we could contract that would present no noticeable or significant symptoms (and therefore cause me to not visit my doctor) but which could then lie latent/dormant for more than 6 months before blowing up? In other words, in the absence of any symptoms (that would cause me to visit my doctor) for more than a few months would it be safe to assume that we have not contracted any rodent-borne disease? FYI - I live in India. Thank you.Post reticulum surgery- pain in calf and foot - Two and a half weeks ago I had surgery to repair a damaged reticulum in my ankle. I have been in a splint ever since. About six days ago i started to experience what kind of feels like menstrual cramps in my calf and foot. It begins to hurt the minute I stand up to get on my crutches, and does not stop until I lie back down and elevate my foot. I asked my doc about it when I saw him a few days ago and he just said call him if there is swelling or discoloration in my calf. There is no swelling or discoloration in my calf, but there is swelling on top and on the pad of my foot. When it does ache, my calf hurts more if i press on it. I don't want to keep bothering my doctor if this is just normal post surgical aches and pains, but I'm concerned that it might in fact be a blood clot. Am I being paranoid? Thank you for your help!-LynneFather having issues with Neuropathy and Gastroperesis - My father is a diabetes patient who lives in South Asia. He is looked after by my brother who is a physician (pathologist) there. My father is currently having some issues with Neuropathy. Since I live in Canada, my brother asked me to consult with a physician from North America as he thinks there may be advanced medicines to help my father. My brother sent me the case history of my father and he also sent two questions. Please read them and any answer would be appreciated. Best regards. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patient details:- Age: 66 yrs Sex: male Weight: 59 kg, height: 1.74 meter. --------------------------------------------------- Chief complaints:- 1. Severe weakness and parasthesia for 6 months. 2. Severe Gastric irritation for 6 month. 3. Burning sensation of whole body all day long during gastric exacerbation. --------------------------------------------------- History of present illness:- 1. DM for 20years. RBS is within normal limit with medication of soluble insulin. 2. Neuropathy and Gastroperesis due to long time DM. --------------------------------------------------- History of past illness:- 1. Steven-Johnson syndrome 30 yrs back. --------------------------------------------------- Drug (medication) history:- 1. Sulpher sensitive patient 2. Now patient is taking the following drugs: a. Insulin. Mixtard 30 (22+0+6unit) b. Tab. Neuro B( Vit B1+B6+B12) c. Tab. Mecobalamin. d. Cap. Rabeprazole. e. Tab. Flupenticzole+ Melitracin --------------------------------------------------- Question:- 1. If there any supplement preparation that can reduce the symptom of Neuropathy and gastroperesis? 2. If there any enzyme preparation that can help in digestion of a patient of gastroperesis and reduce the symptom of gastric irritation? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Unresolved Undiagnosed Random Shoulder AC Joint Pain - Hello, I'm a 26 year old female and I get these random sharp pains seemingly in the right part of my AC joint in my left shoulder, that come on all of a sudden when I'm not moving, so either when I'm sitting or laying down, doesn't seem to be reproducable but it ranges from 2-8 on the pain scale and only lasts a few seconds in each instance. It started back in college about in 2007 but only would happen once or twice a year. Then within the past few years it started happening more frequenly, each month, then each week, and then starting at the end of August in 2012, after carrying a heavy load of books about 1/4 of a mile to my car from my grad class, woke me up in the middle of the night at a level 10 and was happening every few seconds, the pain was so bad i wanted to throw up and it just wouldn't stop for more than a few seconds, felt super sharp like someone was over and over again stabbing me with a knife through the top of my left shoulder. My husband took me to the ER as I was screaming and crying and they put me on pain meds, which didn't seem to help and they ordered an MRI with contrast a few days later. I couldn't go to work or anything, just stayed at home crying in pain until the MRI with contrast was done which showed a type 1 ac joint separation, a torn labrum, adhesions, an edema and bursitis. The Orthopaedist decided he would do shoulder arthroscopy surgery to fix the torn labrum. I had no restriction to motion, i could move everything just fine and still the pain would come on regardless of motion. Anyways, the pain seemed to become less frequent over the course of the week or two before the surgery, to just maybe 5 times per day. Also, during the course of the surgery, he found when he went inside that there actually was no torn labrum, just some fraying and bursitis which he said he cleared with the stryker wand. After the surgery, maybe it was reduced to a few times a day and not at a level 10, at a level 6 at most. Proceeded to attend 3 months of physical therapy. I told the Dr that I was still having pain THE pain that I was having before surgery but just not at a level 10, but he didn't care and said there was nothing else he could do for me. I tried to disregard the pain but it is still interrupting my daily activities and the top of my shoulder feels so raw that ever instance several times a day makes me want to just crawl up in a corner and cry since it seems to never end. I did some research and went to a second orthopaedist who was super nice and caring and sweet and seemed like he really wanted to help, he immediately took x-rays, but they didn't show anything, he then did a cortisone shot into my AC joint, and that seemed to completely take away the pain for about 3-4 days, but I also had a very bad allergic reaction, which was hives (uticaria) all over my body. Also, after a few days, the pain woke me up at night and came back with a vengence, was worse than it had been for a few weeks, back to a level 8. The Dr. wasn't sure what to do, he examined x-rays of both my shoulder and neck but there was nothing he could see that was wrong and referred me to a different orthopaedist who specializes in the shoulder. He did say after doing an evaluation though that he didn't understand why the first Dr. did surgery on my labrum and ignored my AC joint despite the MRI with contrast findings which showed inflammation and a type 1 ac separation. I proceeded to see the next Dr. This next Dr. ordered another MRI which showed absolutely NOTHING in the AC joint, however it did show subscapularis tendinosis, but the Dr. said that that condition was completely unrelated since I was having pain seemingly in my AC joint and the subscapularis is deeper down in the shoulder, so he disregarded that. He basically said he'd like to do another cortisone shot but I dont think that makes sense since it only lasted a few days the first time and I had a terrible allergic reaction. So now he's referring me to neck Doctors in the case that maybe I have an issue in my neck that is referring pain to my shoulder. I also do get random sharp neck pains on the right-hand-side of my neck, maybe a couple times a week, but I'm not concerned about this, I just want the shoulder/ac joint random pain to stop, it feels like chinese water torture. But who knows, maybe the two are related? Regardless I've been going to a chiropractor 2-3 times a week and have stopped doing the physical therapy exercises from the first surgery which I had been doing every day to see if that would have any impact or decrease the frequency of pain episodes. At this point, I just don't know what to do and would appreciate hearing from anyone at all who can relate or has any insight/advice. Some background in case it is relevant is that in middle and high-school I was very active and did gymnastics for about 8 years, basketball for about 7 years along with swimming and figure skating. I kept up with gymnastics infrequently and just whenever i found a spare trampoline or field throughout college and up until the pain became super frequent and bad that day at the end of August in 2012. Since then I have not dared to try any gymnastics again. I also have curly hair and up until now would use my left arm to hold the hair dryer to blow dry my hair straight once or twice a week. I'm not sure if any of this has any connection with my pain but I throw it out there just in case. How can it be possible that I'm still experiencing random strong unprovoked pain yet the MRI basically showed nothing? Is it because they didn't use contrast this time? PLEASE HELP!!Risk of Contracting Rabies from Dog Lick on Lips - Last Sunday morning at 9am I found my dog in our backyard investigating the remnants of spilled trash an animal had gotten into overnight, presumably a raccoon (we've had them in the past). There was just one bag of pretzels on the ground, split down the middle, with a 1/4 of the pretzels remaining in the bag and at least 1 pretzel outside the bag in the yard. So the animal overnight did not finish them (when we threw them away initially, there were not many pretzels in there to start with anyways). By the time I got to my dog, she had eaten at least one pretzel... though she was outside for a while before I caught her, so it could have been more. Within 1-2 minutes of her eating the pretzel/checking out the bag, she licked my chin and came in contact with my lips a few times. I am hoping this is a stretch, but am I at risk of contracting anything from the animal overnight, specifically rabies? I have read that in rare cases, it can be passed from saliva to to mucous membrane like mouth/eyes. I don't think she got inside my mouth, but I can't be 100% positive since her tongue did touch my lips and it was a week ago, so I don't specifically remember. Other facts -- First, my dog is 2 and is up to date on her rabies vaccine. One week later, she is also acting fine. I am less worried about my dog, and more about her transferring the virus/bacteria from the animal to my lips/mouth, since came in contact with me within only 1 minute of eating the pretzel and checking out the bag. Second, I don't know exactly what kind of animal got into the trash initially - and don't know if that animal was rabid. Third, I don't know when the animal got into the trash, but suspect it could have been after 7am, since my dog most likely did not notice the pretzels when she was first let out that morning (otherwise, I think the pretzels would have been gone). However, I cannot be sure of that, so it could have been earlier in the night. I brushed it off initially, but rabies is not something you mess around with - have read that once symptoms appear, there is no cure, so now is the time to take action. In this instance, would a doctor even suggest a rabies vaccine?