It bit me!

My swollen hand neck and face! Pretty hugh!

This is what my normal hand looked like.

And this is what it looked like about an hour after a baby rattlesnake bit me!

This is the next day after spending the night in the hospital. No fun. Here's the story...I have three little dogs...2 Chihuahua's and a baby Pug. The neighborhood kids all come over to play with them everyday. This day they came knocking at my door, not to return the puppies, but to tell be there was a little snake under the tire of my Suburban. I told them not to worry and that I would get it out and sent it home. So I went to look and sure enough it was tucked in, hiding under my back tire. So I trying to woosh it out with my fingernails so I could grab it. As I did that, I scared it and it struck me! I wasn't worried about it because I'd been bit by Garter snakes before so it was no big deal. So I thought...til I whipped my hand back and it felt like the little guy used razors or something! It really hurt! But I payed no attention to it and went and got my gloves, grabbed it out from under the tire and took a look at the little guy. It was a baby Rattler! No wonder my finger hurt so bad. Knowing that I couldn't just send it on it's way...I had to contain it. Meanwhile my oldest daughter Jessica had called he husband (who is a hunter and great outdoors men) to find out what she should do. By this time my finger had swollen up to mu knuckle and was hurting really bad! She immediately told me to get in the car and that she was taking me to the ER and that rattlesnake bite can kill you. I knew they were dangerous but I didn't realize that they were life threatening! So she demanded I get in the car right away and she was taking me to the ER. By this point 10 minutes latter my entire finger had swollen up like a balloon, and it was very painful! So I agreed. Apparently if you don't get the anti venom soon enough the snake venom can travel to your heart and kill you. After an hour and a half of waiting in the ER they finally gave me a small dose of the anti venom and said that they needed to watch me to be sure that the swelling stopped progressing and that they would give me move as needed. They finally gave me something for the pain and admitted me. Latter that night they had to give me more anti venom and more meds for the pain(thankyou thankyou thankyou). I was surprised at the amount of swelling! Through the night the swelling had moved up my arm to my shoulder and neck. Apparently if it get really bad the doctors have to take you into surgery and cute long slices along your body to relieve the pressure from the swelling. Thank goodness I got into the ER so quickly...I only had to stay over night and in bed for a couple days after that! The swelling went down slowly and so did the pain.