MysticalMom
Witchy Woman
Long story as short as possible (HA!).... My 12 year old was at a friend's house in St. Mary's City on Sunday and was bitten by a baby copperhead on the side of her left index finger. So young it still has the green tip on it's tail. (I know because she has the dead snake in a sealed bag and wants to keep it. *ick*) It was hidden in some leaves in the garden where she'd run to pet their cat. She placed the hand that wasn't petting the cat on the ground and BAM. It bit her. Real good.
We've been in Georgetown's PICU ever since being transferred there from St. Mary's Sunday and they released her TODAY. She had 5 IV bags of Crofab Antivenin on Sunday. The finger is UGLY. There's a big black ugly boil like blister at the bite site (they poked a hole in this with a small needle and drained it but it filled back up and they left it) The hand is swollen huge (the swelling went down some but very little) and there's mild swelling all the way up the entire arm to the arm pit. It was very painful and they had her on morphine until they suddenly stepped her down to codeine this morning... (which is working ok and I'm way more comfortable with than the morphine.) The finger is wrapped and the hand is immobilized on an arm board thing.
I wasn't sure they should release her today. But they insisted it was ok. And they didn't just release her, they told her she can go to school tomorrow and even to her field trip to the zoo at the end of the week.
They assured me that she was going to be fine. They want her to move the finger a lot. Keep it elevated when she sleeps and rests. They say the swelling will go down slowly. And just to watch that it doesn't get worse. She's been a freakin' SUPERSTAR through this whole ordeal. (some of you know her and know nothing gets this child down) She never shut up, never got sick and was the star of the PICU. Even through the pain she was awesome. And she WANTS to go to school etc. Tells me to listen to the doctors because they're the doctors. I don't know anything about venomous snake bites, and maybe this short hospital stay is normal, if it is tell me, but I think it's still really bad and swollen and ugly and has GOT to be painful. The fact that there's swelling to the arm pit freaks me out a little too. She says she feels fine except for a little pain and she can handle it.
I'm following up with our family doctor before we do ANYTHING else. Just to make ME feel better. And I guess I'll get an answer at that appointment, but it's driving me nuts NOW.... So my question for y'all is this: Would you take their word for it and let her go to school etc.? Has anyone here ever had a child that's been bitten by a copperhead, or have you been bitten yourself? Is it really ok that she's not in the hospital still? And Geezus.. should I let her go to the zoo if she wants to? Remember... she was only bitten Sunday.
I attached a pic or 2 of the bite. It doesn't do the hand justice...you really cant see the amount of swelling. And the snake too.. looks bigger in the pic but remember its in a ziplock bag.
We've been in Georgetown's PICU ever since being transferred there from St. Mary's Sunday and they released her TODAY. She had 5 IV bags of Crofab Antivenin on Sunday. The finger is UGLY. There's a big black ugly boil like blister at the bite site (they poked a hole in this with a small needle and drained it but it filled back up and they left it) The hand is swollen huge (the swelling went down some but very little) and there's mild swelling all the way up the entire arm to the arm pit. It was very painful and they had her on morphine until they suddenly stepped her down to codeine this morning... (which is working ok and I'm way more comfortable with than the morphine.) The finger is wrapped and the hand is immobilized on an arm board thing.
I wasn't sure they should release her today. But they insisted it was ok. And they didn't just release her, they told her she can go to school tomorrow and even to her field trip to the zoo at the end of the week.
They assured me that she was going to be fine. They want her to move the finger a lot. Keep it elevated when she sleeps and rests. They say the swelling will go down slowly. And just to watch that it doesn't get worse. She's been a freakin' SUPERSTAR through this whole ordeal. (some of you know her and know nothing gets this child down) She never shut up, never got sick and was the star of the PICU. Even through the pain she was awesome. And she WANTS to go to school etc. Tells me to listen to the doctors because they're the doctors. I don't know anything about venomous snake bites, and maybe this short hospital stay is normal, if it is tell me, but I think it's still really bad and swollen and ugly and has GOT to be painful. The fact that there's swelling to the arm pit freaks me out a little too. She says she feels fine except for a little pain and she can handle it.I'm following up with our family doctor before we do ANYTHING else. Just to make ME feel better. And I guess I'll get an answer at that appointment, but it's driving me nuts NOW.... So my question for y'all is this: Would you take their word for it and let her go to school etc.? Has anyone here ever had a child that's been bitten by a copperhead, or have you been bitten yourself? Is it really ok that she's not in the hospital still? And Geezus.. should I let her go to the zoo if she wants to? Remember... she was only bitten Sunday.
I attached a pic or 2 of the bite. It doesn't do the hand justice...you really cant see the amount of swelling. And the snake too.. looks bigger in the pic but remember its in a ziplock bag.
Wow! Wishing a speedy recovery! 