And so it begins🐍

This is my first blog, I thought I’d try the free blog first and see where it goes. I will say there will be graphic pictures posted and everything I post is straight from the ❤ and sometimes just to vent feel free to join in the venting I’m a good listener. This is not a typical snake bite so stay tuned in.  Well let’s get started on why I started this blog. I’m 38 years old have 3 kids and a husband. I’m a sober sister so my journey involves my fight with not only snake venom but the venom of alcohol. On July 13 the 2015, 1 day after celebrating my daughters sweet 16 I was on my way out the door to get to a meeting (AA)and forgot my cigarettes on the back patio so I opened the door stepped out and was bitten by an over 6 foot long cottonmouth (water moccasin) she was as fat as a large coffee mug. I had to shake my foot to get her off of my large toe, I had to shake her so hard she was still latched on  when I raised my foot to the point my kids could see her attached to my toe. I slammed the door and she coiled up and opened her mouth and was twisting her head to strike again. ~i call it a she because only a female could be so evil~ call me crazy but I swear when I looked that snake in her eyes I saw pure evil. After my husband and children witnessed the bite the house went into pure chaos screaming crying etc etc use your imagination it was like a damn movie I promise you that. Anyway…we tied my foot off and went to the ER IMMEDIATELY which is only 2 blocks away in the mean time my husband went out back and fought the snake killed it and brought it to the ER which likely saved my life. It felt as if someone took a hammer and 2 nails and jammed it through my entire foot my toe felt as if I had been in a fire. The drs rushed me to the back immediately and the venom spread quickly. The fire department/venom control was called and the anti venom got to the hospital within 35-40 minutes. They had never seen a bite by a snake this big , which is crazy cause I do live in FL. In the beginning all was typical except the size of the snake. They expected to admit me overnight and “monitor it”. Well it was not that simple. The venom wild life guy that brought the venom said typically thebbite would heal with a few doses of antivenom and I’d be fine I kept asking if it would travel up my leg and to my heart I was told no…in the beginning… I was told he’d never seen anyone get  compartment syndrome from a snake bite ( condition where increased pressure in a muscle compartment can cause permanent nerve and muscle damage) and that the swelling would likely not move past the mid foot. Wellllll I ended up in the ICU with compartment syndrome and the maximum dose of anti venom ….and it was still traveling it got as high as my hip. I started with 2 debredments to clean the wound as the venom was eating away at my toe. After those two surgeries they found that my toe and bone was nacrotic(dying) so after being moved out of ICU to the med surg floor I had a partial amputation of my toe, got staph and was in horrific pain. All the time I had my sober sisters and brothers at my side along with my husband and children. My friends you ask???? Well some could not handle my “rollercoaster” of life in general as I was also going through sobriety and difficulties in my marriage and another health issue at the time and I guess it was too much for them to handle. Some stuck around but the ones I thought were closest were the furthest away, even was told they needed a break from the friendship WTH who does that while you’re laying in a hospital bed fighting for life but anyway that’s all said and done soooooo Back to the bite …I  was on antibiotics for 3 weeks and after 13 days in the hospital I was released with a picc line ( a line that goes into your arm and laced to your chest) for ongoing antibiotics. I’m going to stop there for tonight .

**I edited the size of the sanke cause my husband told me it was 6+ feet long**

 

Here are some pics of what it was like up to that point. But here’s a clue it is now December and the journey continues…