Mom’s foot, a couple of days after the bite. She is allergic to opiods. The white patch is a lidocaine patch, the brainchild of Jake, one of the ICU nurses.
The bad news started with a phone call.
“Just a quick call to let you know that I’m in the emergency room at St. Anthony’s being treated for a rattlesnake bite.”
It was Mom. The earth could split open around Mom and she’d call: “Just wanted to let you know there’s a pothole in the driveway.” Mom is a Minnesotan eventually transplanted to the foothills of Golden, Colorado. “No, really, it’s no trouble at all,” is the Minnesotan motto.
The snake, a young one, the worst kind of bite, got her as she walked home from a neighborhood BBQ. She figured a short trip to the emergency room, a shot of anti-venom, and BAM! She’d be back home that evening.
After three-and-half-days in intensive care, Mom did get to go home. Visits from home nurses, physical and occupational therapists now fill her day. She can feel her tongue and arms again. She uses a walker and hopes to get in 15 laps around her house today, a week-and-a-half later. The pain, swelling and nausea come and go.
The neighbors called ahead that they had a rattlesnake bite victim on the way …
I bring this up for those of us who always thought a rattlesnake bite, while awful, wasn’t that big a of a deal.
In Mom’s case, the neighbors knew better, and when she yelled to them that she had been bitten, they hustled her into a car, blew through stop signs and speed limits to get her to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Lakewood, CO. The neighbors called ahead that they had a rattlesnake-bite victim on the way, which allowed the hospital to start preparing the anti-venom. You can’t just pull the magic tonic off a shelf. It requires preparation. We were also told that not all hospitals keep a supply of anti-venom in stock.
I don’t know what it is about rattlesnakes and my family. A rattlesnake almost killed my father when I was young. My dad was a geologist and his field partner pulled a pistol on a coiled, rattling rattlesnake and the bullet ricocheted off a rock and whizzed by my dad’s head. I wouldn’t recommend pistols as good rattlesnake defense.
Apparently, they make something called a snake gaiter for hiking. My dad always made us wear our tall riding boots and our heavy jeans when we went with him in the field. Many horseback riders forge into rocky snake areas without thinking about the danger to humans, let alone horses. If your horse is bitten in the muzzle by a rattlesnake, its breathing passages can close.
So think about it. Dress appropriately during rattlesnake season. Avoid the beasties and their territory in warm weather.
We’re told anti-venom runs about $2,500 a vial. Mom required 24 vials. Thanks to quick-thinking neighbors, “Super Pharmacist” Ben, her wonderful ICU nurses and the ace trauma crew at St. Anthony’s, Mom made it to 83 today. She continues to improve and the outlook is good. Happy Birthday, Mom!
P.S. If Mom’s story doesn’t inspire you to be careful, check out this 1881 newspaper clipping I found while researching our Iowa branch of the family, “Food for Rattlesnakes”.
Found on Newspaperarchive.com