palytoxins

[containerman1]

Well I made a big mistake last night and I have learned a valuable lesson and I am currently sitting in Kennestone Hospital. I knew my zoanthids and palys are toxic and I have always worked with them with caution . I have over the last several mths switched my attention to sps so I needed to clean my frag tank and a lot of my frag plugs had algae on them so I had the great idea of taking 65-75 frag plugs and washing off with a little peroxide and tank water and in the process I broke one of the legs on my rack that all the plugs sit on. In a hurry I just grabbed all the plugs and put them in a plastic pail with the peroxide and they started bubbling and the plays swole up and they all slimed up a little. I did not put my gloves on or eye protection due to being rushed. That was a big mistake. I fixed the rack and took a toothbrush and scrubbed the plugs and use my hands to swish around the plugs. I didn't notice I had a cut on my hand and that helped the toxins to get started. I also think the bubbling of the peroxide could have made some airborne. I cleaned tank and set everything back up looking good and watched a little TV. I felt very tired so I went to bed. I woke up shaking and having a hard time breathing. I was thinking I had been feeling great so I wasn't sure why the sudden change. I thought of the polytoxin and the zoas. I went to the ER
and I had high fever ,chest tightness,shortness of breath, a major headache and shaking like crazy. They said they are holding me to watch for 24 hrs but I feel a lot better. They had to call a specialist from CDC to help them with information. Now they are monitoring my respiratory system to make sure I am ok

I just wanted to share this because I know a lot of people love zoas and fragging them please wear gloves and be very careful.

 

[ruadh]

Wow! Hope you feel better soon!

 

[miami dolfan]

I can't believe that such a small animal can cause that.

 

[containerman1]

Ruadh;805134 wrote: Wow! Hope you feel better soon!

Thank you. I do feel much better now.

Edit:

Miami Dolfan;805142 wrote: I can't believe that such a small animal can cause that.

I am in great shape and workout 5 days a week and it had me feeling like I was going to die.
I will make some big signs and hang in my frag room saying caution zoas and plays can bite

 

[ripped tide]

Shane, I really hope that you make a swift recovery. Thanks for sharing this story so that we can all be more aware.

 

[containerman1]

Ripped Tide;805146 wrote: Shane, I really hope that you make a swift recovery. Thanks for sharing this story so that we can all be more aware.

Thank you.

 

[KrisDeitz]

Hope you pull threw bro!

 

[rdnelson]

Wow! Get better soon. I know someone else who had a simalar thing happen. They thought it was a heart attach.

 

[miami dolfan]

MAN! I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you. Thanks for the info because I too am always messing around with my zoas bare handed. Here's wishing you a fast recovery to feeling better.

 

[containerman1]

Thank you all I really appreciate it. I have only been in the club for 9-10 mths but it is truly a great group of people. I had a pretty big plastic pail of some real witches brew. I think a big part of the problem was the volume and amt of frags and zoas I had in the pail. I had scraped a few off and re glued and had them all in the pail.
I am just glad it's getting better. They have pulled all kinds of blood and pumped a lot of fluids in and I feel like I have sweated out a few gallons of fluids and my body was shaking for awhile. I bet I looked like I was doing the wooble

Edit:

rdnelson99;805151 wrote: Wow! Get better soon. I know someone else who had a simalar thing happen. They thought it was a heart attach.

Yep when my chest was tight and I was sweating and difficult to breath I knew it was time to head to the ER

 

[ripped tide]

Just out of curiosity, was there any kind of treatment that was able to remedy the symptoms? Or was it just a "wait it out" type deal?

 

[containerman1]

Ripped Tide;805164 wrote: Just out of curiosity, was there any kind of treatment that was able to remedy the symptoms? Or was it just a "wait it out" type deal?

They said there's not much they know here at Kennestone hospital but they contacted the CDC which just happens to be putting together a study and writing a study just on this.
They keep your vitals monitored and fluids and keep a eye on respiratory. They said they have had to put people on a ventilator til the toxins wear off. He said no antidote yet.
It has a lot to do with how its ingested. He said through skin is a little easier on you then airborne is next step and he said if you happen to swallow that you would more than likely not recover. It would close windpipe and eat at your muscle from the inside out.

 

[the-bubonic-one]

Sorry to hear bro. Hope you bounce back fast. You could just give me all your zoa/paly so this never happens again:fing02:

 

[containerman1]

The-Bubonic-One;805170 wrote: Sorry to hear bro. Hope you bounce back fast. You could just give me all your zoa/paly so this never happens again:fing02:

Thank you. I have thought about just getting rid of all of them but it was my stupid fault
But I will keep ya in mind. Actually all the ones I bought from you have grown like crazy.
I do love zoas but I have gotten attached to nice acro milles

 

[eagle9252]

I think it was jaycenb that had the same thing happen to him a while back?

 

[ecreel1]

Glad you r ok.... Good to know, had no idea about that!!!

 

[gregoryleonard]

Shane,
Just read your post. Hope you get to go home soon and all is well. Crappy experience, but a good lesson for everyone abount handling Palys with an open cut, or for what's it's worth, even putting your hands in a tank with an open cut, let alone fragging or handling Palys/Zoas without protection.
Get well soon!!

 

[containerman1]

gregoryleonard;805224 wrote: Shane,
Just read your post. Hope you get to go home soon and all is well. Crappy experience, but a good lesson for everyone abount handling Palys with an open cut, or for what's it's worth, even putting your hands in a tank with an open cut, let alone fragging or handling Palys/Zoas without protection.
Get well soon!!

Thank you. Feeling much better but I am ready to get out
Your exactly right, we get comfortable doing a few times but it only takes 1 bad time to put you in the hospital or even worse kill you.
I think a lot of people just think it won't happen to me but it really can quick.

 

[coral_hog]

I don't think that peope really know just how dangerous these zoas are. About 5 years ago I had a similiar experience, but with me, I was hospitalized for 4 days and was put on assisted breathing until the toxin made it's way out of my bloood stream. In fact the poision control center out of Washington DC contacted me requesting the coral because the stran of the toxin was one that they did not have record of. Anyway, since that experience, I immediately rid my tank of all zoas.. and over the years, totally switchd gears and started keeping fish only. Like you mentioned earlier in one of the above posts, it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[jef4y]

Shane, thanks for sharing your story and I hope this reply finds you well. ALL of our tanks are absolutely no joke and need to be treated with respect at all times. There are posts every few months on various reef forums that are either the same as this, or someone who breaks skin on a rock and ends up with an infection that goes septic on them. It gets nasty.

Very scary and sobering reminder to keep our hands OUT of the tanks without gloves. At one point my wife was going to buy a venomous fish to force me to wear gloves. I got the point and have been wearing them since lol.

Speedy recovery!