Snakebitten

This is a little bit of a person story, but has some great information as well as some professional tie-ins. I usually run in the evenings after we do bedtime with the boys. The weather has been nice after things have cooled down from the extreme daytime heat we're having right now. And with the late sunset, I can usually get 3 miles in before it gets dark. Last Monday, I set out for a run and all seemed normal. For some reason, I decided to run my route backwards. That might have been my first mistake.

About a mile into my run I noticed my left shoe was untied. I live in a rural neighborhood and this particular section of the road has no houses and the grass is quite tall right up to the edge of the road. I stopped and quickly bent down to tie my shoe. I felt a jab on my left middle finger and thought it curious that I perhaps got so close to the grass that I mistakenly hit some blackberry jaggers. Then it all immediately hit me and I quickly took a step back and identified the true culprit, an adult copperhead snake.

I was immediately mad at myself for missing it when I stopped, for running the route differently than usual, for stopping so close to the edge of the road, and on and on. Next, I knew I had to asses the situation and get rapid treatment. Here's the education part for anyone who might ever find themselves in a similar situation.

1. Do your best to stay calm. Panic will fog the mind and cause mistakes.

2. Remove all jewelry and anything that could constrict swelling near the affected area.

3. Elevate the area that was bitten to heart level.

4. DO NOT apply ice. DO NOT apply pressure. DO NOT try to extract the venom.

5. If you can't positively identify the snake, take a picture. Knowing the snake is important to severity and treatment plan.?

6. Get yourself to the ER as quickly as possible.

Knowing my wife was home with the boys and they were in bed, I called my neighbor and asked if he could get me to the ER. He dropped everything and was there picking me up in less than 5 minutes. Within 20 minutes of the bite I was in the ER and they were preparing the antivenom.

Here's where some other learning and staying calm came into action again. Depending on the local ER you go to and resources available there, it is highly possible you will be transferred to a higher level care facility. In my case, I needed one with toxicology as well hand and vascular expertise. It is entirely possible that a snake bite may require delicate emergency surgery to reduce swelling and decrease the chance of permanent damage. You should also be prepared that said transfer may involve a helicopter ride.

Severe swelling will happen and in my case it was a feeling I had never experienced before. I had a difficult time finding the words to describe it. After a few hours I landed on explaining it like a feeling that someone had pumped very hot soup into my fingers, hand, arm, and later down my entire left side of my chest. As I learned, you actually want the swelling to dissipate up your arm and down into your chest. That is the body processing and breaking down the venom.

Here's the professional tie-in. I was blown away at the professionalism and customer service (after all, I was a customer in this case) at my local ER UPMC Western Maryland, the ER at UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC , STAT MedEvac , and my local Allegany County Sheriff's Office Fire Police . I couldn't have asked for better care along the way. And I believe that the rapid handling, transport, and treatment led to extremely limited damage to my hand and an overall great outcome.

Since finding out about the incident, many people have asked me how it felt and how bad it hurt. The pain was quite minimal the entire time. That part even surprised me. The worst I rated the pain was a 4 (on the 10 scale) and that was after hours of holding my arm in the air and no sleep. I really only took Tylenol to deal with the pain and I even stopped that after day 3. I wouldn't wish a snakebite on anyone, but I'd take it over other options!

Now that we are just over a week since the incident, people are also asking about the lasting effects. It seems that it is very person-by-person specific. My side, arm, and most of my hand are completely back to normal now. I have some reduced grip strength, but that seems to be mostly due to the swelling and pain still present in my middle finger (the site of the bite). Based on it's current condition, I would say that losing part of the tip of my finger is highly likely, but it's very localized and small. Only time will tell. That is presently the only part that hasn't come completely back to normal or regained full feeling and mobility. Overall, I feel really lucky.

The last question I get is did I kill the snake. No, I didn't. For one, I was already dealing with treatment prep and I was less worried about the snake. And two, the snake didn't do anything wrong. Certainly it could have just slithered off in the other direction, but it was only defending itself from what it felt was a direct threat. I hold no ill-will towards the snake and it won't change my appreciation or love of them. In fact, I removed and relocated a large black snake from my yard just days after (my wife said I was crazy). They are good for the environment and great to have around controlling the pest population. And in my state, Maryland, all 27 species of snakes are protected and it is illegal to kill them.

I share all of this to help others who may someday be impacted by a snakebite. I also want to praise the high-level of care I received at every step along the way. I wish I could call each and every person out, but I do remember Kristina, Dee, and Dr. Robbins from #UPMCWesternMaryland, Hollee, Lyndsey, and John from #StatMedEvac, Rod from #UPMCPresby, and Tyler from #AlleganyCountySheriffsOffice. You all are true professionals and I thank you for it.

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