After killing a dozen or so rattlesnakes in my yard or garage since moving to California in 1998, one of the little SOB's finally got me back! It happened Sunday night after a great Father's Day BBQ at my house. We had 2 other families over and they were leaving at about 9:30 pm. I was hauling our 75 gallon trash can up the driveway and stepped on or near the snake in the middle of the driveway. It was dark out and I certainly wasn't looking for snakes in the middle of my driveway. At first I thought I stepped on a piece of glass but our friends son spotted the small rattlesnake in the driveway. My buddy was able to kill it and within a couple minutes my wife was speeding me off to the ER. The venom began to work almost immediately. My foot and ankle swelled and the strangest part was the numbness in my face, scalp, and hands. It felt like there was electricity running through hands and face. It also affected my speech and ability to swallow. The good news is there is no waiting at the ER when you have a rattlesnake bite. They put me on anti-venom within 30 minutes but it didn't start to relieve the symptoms for a couple hours. I spent two days in the Intensive Care Unit but after a second dose of anti-venom on Monday morning I was feeling a lot better.
A few things I learned about snake bites:
*Trying to stay calm is pretty difficult because your body is feeling sensations it has never felt before
*Small snakes usually deliver more venom because they lack control of their venom and often bite multiple times
*Snake venom and anti-venom really messes with your blood and liver - they draw blood and test it every three hours for the first two days and I have to go in for more blood work today and next week.
*You need to get anti-venom within the first 4 hours otherwise you are in for a long stay in the hospital
*Blood thinner shots next to your belly button are painful
*There is only 1 company that has an FDA approved anti-venom and it is difficult and expensive to manufacture. The normal dose is about $12,000 and 2 or more doses are often required. I'm guessing my 2 day stay in the ICU is going to cost my insurance company about $50,000
*Full recovery often takes a week or two
*Most rattlesnake bites at the ER near my house are from people trying to kill a snake or after they have killed a snake. Snakes can, and often do bite after they have been chopped in half and people think they are dead.
My main take away is rattlesnake bites are much more serious than I thought. Amazing how a little 1 foot snake can inflict so much damage. I wouldn't want to be out in the middle of the wilderness and get bit!
A few things I learned about snake bites:
*Trying to stay calm is pretty difficult because your body is feeling sensations it has never felt before
*Small snakes usually deliver more venom because they lack control of their venom and often bite multiple times
*Snake venom and anti-venom really messes with your blood and liver - they draw blood and test it every three hours for the first two days and I have to go in for more blood work today and next week.
*You need to get anti-venom within the first 4 hours otherwise you are in for a long stay in the hospital
*Blood thinner shots next to your belly button are painful
*There is only 1 company that has an FDA approved anti-venom and it is difficult and expensive to manufacture. The normal dose is about $12,000 and 2 or more doses are often required. I'm guessing my 2 day stay in the ICU is going to cost my insurance company about $50,000
*Full recovery often takes a week or two
*Most rattlesnake bites at the ER near my house are from people trying to kill a snake or after they have killed a snake. Snakes can, and often do bite after they have been chopped in half and people think they are dead.
My main take away is rattlesnake bites are much more serious than I thought. Amazing how a little 1 foot snake can inflict so much damage. I wouldn't want to be out in the middle of the wilderness and get bit!
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