Mr S Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 So after talking with several members they convinced me to post what happened. 2 weeks ago Thursday I was fragging some zoos without gloves on. Usually I wear them but I was only doing one frag so I thought no biggey. Well I must have had a cut under my thumb nail because zoo juice went under my thumbnail and within 5 minutes my thumbnail turned black. By Friday my thumb was so swollen I thought it would explode. The whole thumbnail was completely black. I had to work on my Moms farm on Friday evening til Sunday. Sunday nite my wife persuaded me to go to urgent care clinic on Monday (labor day). I felt like a pansy while I was sitting in the waiting room. The doctor saw me, I described what happened and he said I will be back in 15 minutes. He called the poison control center and the med school. He came back and gave me 2 horse tablet size antibiotics to take twice a day for 21 days. He also told me to go see an infectious disease doctor. Long story short, gloves from now on. ps. I have run two marathons so I have an incredible pain threshold. I was ready to cut my thumb off it hurt that bad. So all the warnings people say about zoo juice has now made me a firm believer. Handler beware. ps. NO THUMB JOKES!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 thanks for the heads up. I'm lucky that my wife is in the medical field working at an urgent care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USCG CWO Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 [/img] Thumb's up Roger!!! That's great advice...(laugh) Hope you feel better ole man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Scary Roger.(scary) Sounds like you got Augmentin. Be sure to take it all and you might want to take some probiotics like lactobacillus with it because it can do some not so nice things to you system. I'm glad your okay and thanks for the reminder. Another reminder make sure you wear proper eye wear and mask. Think what that would have done to your eyes Roger!:eek: This is seriously not worth risking your health. I'm glad you are okay.(clap)(clap)(clap)(clap) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topher Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 thanks for the info. we tend to think we're bullet proof at times and need to be brought back to reallity. I hope your healing up!! frendlly reminder for eye protection to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyK Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I give this post two thumbs up....... Sorry it was just there and had to be said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrcrain Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Thanks for the info, gloves are on my shopping list.(scary) Its a good thing you got that taken care of. A science teacher losing a thumb to a zoanthid has got about as much street/school cred as a three fingered shop teacher. (laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr S Posted September 14, 2010 Author Share Posted September 14, 2010 My wife is a nurse. They have me on sulfameth/trimethoprim and also doxycycline hyclate. Doctor warned me about G.I. issues and recommended lots of yogurt. I have a cast iron gut and have had no side effects. I am eating lots of yogurt however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr S Posted September 14, 2010 Author Share Posted September 14, 2010 My bigger concern is that I was worried they would make me get rid of my school tanks. No worries. I have an awesome principal who does alot of scuba diving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I have seen some really nasty pictures on the internet of toxic poisioning from corals. Yes take care to do fragging safely!! Go to hear you got it taken care of Rog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackaninny Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Like Emerald said - Goggles should be in everyone's toolkits. Both items are available through Amazon if you are scratching your head figuring out where to get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Ok, I am not fragging any zoas I have in my tanks from the GO's-I need, or we need a a guinea pig, I mean a volunteer-It should not be that bad, I think overall its only like 260 frags. Glad you are ok Roger-I have never worn gloves and this would make me lean towards wearing them if I had to frag any zoas, but I'm not (laugh) Man people go to all lengths to avoid posting Grow Out Comp pics-that is better than the dog ate it like Franklin came up with. Glad you are OK J/K- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Yes, always gloves! May 2009 me and Jamie went to Costa Rica. We went for a long kayak trip into the mangroves and I got a skin bacterial infection. One finger and my left leg. After days of terrible pain I went to a local doctor (specialist on"Worm Bites"!). (I'm not posting pics of "the thing" because it is really nasty) He cut my finger in half and put a big needle in my leg, to let that infection drain out. The most painful thing I ever tried (and I had 4 surgery in my life, including bullet removal). After one hour he was done. No anesthetics because if was too expensive he said: $10 (????!!!!!!???). Back in Portland the first doctor who saw my finger almost passed out and had to call another doctor. They collected a sample and it was sent to some tropical disease facility. 30 days of antibiotics and spraying it with epsom salt and I was done. Almost... because it went back later on and I had to redo the treatment. The doctor was happy because I still had my finger. And I was happy too ) I've learned that what is living in water can be really dangerous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddcarpenter Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 With those antibiotics, they are worried more about MRSA than zoa juice. You wouldn't use that with a typical zoanthid juice (Palytoxin) injection. You would use a steroid and antihistamine. Palytoxin effects the sodium potassium pump in your cells that believe it or not can lead to paralysis, respiratory depression and even death. It's crazy, but true. Thanks for reporting the story. Sorry it had to happen to you. Hopefully we can all learn from it. Sheesh. I always tell my students that learning hurts lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackaninny Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 The most painful thing I ever tried (and I had 4 surgery in my life, including bullet removal). I demand a separate thread for the bullet story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Thanks for the reminder and hope you heel up without any more issues. As was mentioned here some Zoas do release a toxic poison when fragged that can have a very bad effect on us. Squirting it into your eyes is also very bad (and not uncommon). Additionally everyone should keep in mind that zoas are not the only source of poisoning from our reefs either. There are cases where people got nasty infections just from having an open wound in the water (Lionfish, eels, anemones, spiny urchins, frogspawn/torches and many others can also sting and/or cause nasty infections). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I demand a separate thread for the bullet story. I will tell you that in person and show the scar I'm proud of (whistle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Where's Frank, he has a zoa story!!! I don't think he learned his lesson either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisriverfisherman Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Ok, I am not fragging any zoas I have in my tanks from the GO's-I need, or we need a a guinea pig, I mean a volunteer-It should not be that bad, I think overall its only like 260 frags. Glad you are ok Roger-I have never worn gloves and this would make me lean towards wearing them if I had to frag any zoas, but I'm not (laugh) Man people go to all lengths to avoid posting Grow Out Comp pics-that is better than the dog ate it like Franklin came up with. Glad you are OK J/K- geesh I'll do it, but only for a price maybe an extra frag or something.(whistle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Where's Frank' date=' he has a zoa story!!! I don't think he learned his lesson either...[/quote'] Yeah I heard about that one. Purple deaths living up to their name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikep503 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Wow, I have never even heard of the possibilities. Thanks for sharing the story so I didn't have to learn the lesson the hard way. (nutty) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I don't know how many times Roger and I have talked about how we "never wear gloves" while fragging zoas and how many times we have said that it is "no big deal" and "I am solid" and "it wont happen to me" I have fragged literally thousands of zoas and have personally never had this scare or issue. Roger has pretty much said the same thing every time we have chatted about it. Well, Roger, thanks for destroying our record! Also thanks for convincing me that I do indeed need to wear my gloves and goggles when fragging. I don't want a black thumbnail, a giant thumb, or extreme pain. Thanks teach! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefboy Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 not only zoa/paly's but look out for leather corals I had a tiny cut and I mean tiny almost superficial and handled a toad stool and it burned so I washed right away but next day finger was swollen and had a red line going up my hand so gloves for me as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Dang Roger! Glad you are ok. I've tried to make it habit to wear goggles everytime i frag. I'd say i wear gloves about half the time though. Guess i'll be more conscious of it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Scary. thanks for the post roger. Glad you are feeling ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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