A Life-changing Bite
by Ardella Hawks
After an encounter with a rattlesnake last week. I felt compelled to send what I wrote 8 years ago, because every year my thoughts go back to this experience. I love this community, and my hope is everyone will have a better awareness for rattlesnakes.
A little over a week after Calvins homebirth, I was holding Calvin in my left arm, while Jordan and I were walking outside. Jordan (2 ½) wanted to fill the birdfeeder, which is along our driveway. Jordan ran up to it and was pointing at the feeder. I came along side him and just as I was reaching up for the feeder I felt the bite above my left ankle. Looked down and saw that it was a huge rattlesnake! (Dr. Cribari said the snake was at least 5’ long, because the fang marks were 1 ¼” apart) My first reaction was total shock seeing my first ‘free’ rattlesnake and realizing that I got bit by a deadly snake!
When I first saw it, his front end of his body (head) was up and the tail was up and shaking. It was so huge and so scary. I didn’t hear the rattle because of my severe hearing loss. We thank God every day that I was bitten instead of 
Jordan because he was actually closer to the snake! (After learning about Rattlesnakes I found that snakes don’t have good eyesight and go by shapes and smell, which is probably why I was bitten and not Jordan. Jordan was frozen and did not move. He was standing between the feeder and the edge of the large, deep ditch, so I immediately took his arm and carried him away and had to go down it and up the other side while holding Calvin. Then ran to the house with Calvin, laid him on the porch. I ran back to get Jordan and carried him into the house then went and got Calvin off the porch and layed him on the couch.
By then my lips and my face was tingling and feeling numb. On the way to the phone I picked up a trash bag and tied a tourniquet above the bite. My fingers weren't functioning, they were also tingling and numb and i was shaking so bad, so i had to use my knuckles to dial 911. I called our neighbors the Benjamins on the other line to help with our babies. Then called Kirk who was in Berthoud at the time. While on phone with 911, I was throwing up all over the living room. My legs were rubbery, my whole body was tingly and my breathing was labored. Calvin was screaming on the couch. Jordan was curled up and looked so scared in the corner of the living room.
My whole body felt numb and I couldn’t catch my breath. I thought that “oh no my tourniquet must not be working” because of the way my legs felt , I picked up the laundry bag and tied it above the trash bag. (which I later learned to not do a tourniquet for snakebites) Throughout all this I was throwing up all over the living room. Dispatch kept telling me to be calm, so I sat on the edge of the couch by the door so I could see help coming. What felt like forever, the Benjamins came. I was able to relax a little more knowing my boys were taken care of. I tried so hard to talk but I couldn't because it felt like my mouth, tongue and throat was stuffed. My tongue was so swollen it filled my mouth. I couldn't get enough air. When I was trying to talk to Mark and Alleyana B., my eyesight then became cloudy then they became a silhouette-like but still cloudy-like. I then couldn't move my arms or legs. I was so freaked out not being able to move. It was a horrible experience being lifeless and watching my boys fade away. I couldn't believe this was it. Over and over, I prayed for my boys and family.
The RCVFD arrived which I felt and thought was an hour or more later, but Kirk found out they arrived 18 minutes after I called 911. I felt my body being shuffled for a long time then I lost consciousness.
I was told when the paramedics arrived, they put IV’s on me in the ambulance waited for the “flight for life” helicopter. In the helicopter they immediately started to give me antivenom My first helicopter ride and I didn't’t know it! J
In the ICU I had IV’s in both arms, central line (to heart), nasal gastric tube and a catheter. My family said I was extremely pale and swollen and looked so sick. When I came to I still couldn’t talk. I couldn’t believe I was alive. The next several days in the hospital they put a total of 9 vials of anti-venom ($5,000 each!) I was released after 4 days. Trying to use the crutches at home I had a bad fall, we found that I bruised too easy, even leaning on something, ,or pinching my skin I bruised. Went back to the hospital and found my platelet level was 0. My left leg turned black. The nurses drew lines on the edge of it to show how it was moving up my leg. My leg was half the size than my right leg because venom eats muscle tissue. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks. I was heavily drugged because the pain was excruciating! Even after three home births it was the worst pain I ever felt in my life. Any slight movement of my leg even on pain medicine was so painful. I couldn’t nurse my week old baby, Calvin,because of the venom in me. It was a lot of commotion and big deal in the hospital because I was the first lactating snakebite victim ever on record. Once home and after many trips and blood tests, it took over 2 months before the venom was clear. I had to pump and dump everyday, several times a day since the bite. I stuck with it because I was so determined to nurse again. When I was so disappointed that I was ‘dry’ for several weeks, my midwife said that I need to have as much skin to skin contact with my baby. I held Calvin with only his diaper on under my shirt everyday. One night, Calvin was laying with me in bed 2 weeks later he started nursing again! Oh I was filled with incredible joy!
I spent my whole life having no fear and loving to walk freely all over the mountains. Never had fear of where I walked through, or of animals. Now in the summer I only go where its mowed or where there's a wide path. I love to be outside and work in the garden or landscaping. its the worst feeling to this day to have my legs shake and my breathing labored when I approach thick , taller areas and rocks. I’m very careful now and cautious. I am thankful that this experience has helped me to be extremely watchful for my boys outside.
We are forever grateful, to the incredible RCVFD responders, our neighbors the Benjamins, Vicki Cambell, Marlys Hansen and our parents for responding so quickly to help.
Helpful Changes we made:
-No bird feeders out in summer
-Got a large dog and cats
-Dug out every bush and rocks in our main yard. Which makes it easy to mow with a tractor often.
-Cement Rock walls (so they cant pass through, but watch for on top of the wall as they like to sun on it!)
-When picking up rocks, I lift far end towards me so rock blocks me in case of snake under it. I encourage my kids to not look under rocks in the summer.
-Wear Snake guards when working in yard
-Always have my kids in sight. Teach them now what to do when they see a rattlesnake.
-Make noise!: The kids and I have gotten in the habit of yelling, clapping, or stomping close to tall or bushy areas. I use a long stick or hoe to shake the bushes or tall grass first.
-Have a a few shovels in different places the yard handy, or loaded gun (locked away from kids)
“Rattlesnakes don't have eyesight that is great, but they can see and detect movement. They can certainly feel the vibrations of your movements through the ground and taste you on the air with their tongue. In addition, they can sense you via infrared (heat) detecting organs located in pits in front of their eyes. (The rattlesnake is a pit viper, and it gets that name from the "pits" which are the openings to the heat sensing organs.) (wiki.answers.com)
Most rattlesnakes are not generally sitting about in the open — if they are in the open, they are moving through it much of the time. Rattlesnakes want to avoid contact with predators who can easily spot them in the open, including humans and large animals. As such, you will most likely encounter rattlesnakes around rocks, shrub and brush, or wherever there are nooks for them to hide among. However, on sunny days, you might find rattlesnakes warming themselves on warm rocks or asphalt.” http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-a-Rattlesnake-Attack
Now, here's what you SHOULD do if a snake strikes:
1. Keep the snakebite victim calm. Restrict movement, and keep the affected area below the heart level to reduce the flow of venom.
2. If you have a pump suction device, follow the manufacturer's directions.
3. Remove any rings or constricting items from the affected area in case it swells. Create a loose splint to help restrict movement of the area.
4. If the bite area begins to swell and change color, the snake was probably venomous.
5. Monitor the person's vital signs. If there are signs of shock, lay the person flat, raise the feet about a foot, and cover the person with a blanket.
6. Get medical help right away.
7. Bring the dead snake to the hospital only if it's safe to do so. Don't waste time hunting for the snake, and don't risk another bite if it's not easy to kill the snake. Be careful -- due to reflex, a snake can actually bite for up to an hour after it's dead.