What a crazy 48 hours.

So I called poison control about 2 hours after being bitten (twice) with my hand swollen up.  I gave them some indication that I'd rather not rack up an emergency room bill if I could avoid it.  I told them my hand was completely swollen and sore but if that was as bad as it was going to get that I was content to ride it out.  I was asked about other symptoms (I had none) and was told that if the swelling hadn't progressed beyond the wrist that it was up to me whether or not to go in to the ER.

Long story short, by the next morning (16 hours after the bite) my forearm had swelled, my upper arm was beginning to swell, and some of my veins were bright red and I had some bruising.  I called poison control back and they suggested I immediately get to an ER.  They said they'd let the ER know I was coming (the anti-venom takes some time to mix.)

Brackenridge is a teaching hospital in downtown Austin.  They admitted me as soon as I arrived, remarking on my calmness.  I was impressed.  Everybody was friendly.  I was kind of the daily celebrity for a while, as snake-bites are relatively uncommon, particularly ones that had progressed for that long.

It was 2 and a half hours before I finally had anti-venom flowing into my veins.  I was pretty appalled at the delay, but I wasn't about to piss off the people assigned to bring me back to health.

After 2 more doses of anti-venom my platelets and clotting factor (2 things attacked by the venom) were back to normal.  In fact all my bloodwork was either normal or almost normal.  The swelling had stopped progressing and had come down a nominal amount in certain areas.  Unfortunately, my index finger had gradually deteriorated throughout the day.  I had noticed small dark red blisters forming that morning, and those blisters had grown larger and darker throughout the day.  Now they were black and covered an alarming area.

I wanted those poison swamps drained (since it was obvious that the blisters had a high concentration of venom in them and that since blisters have poor circulation the anti- venom just wasn't able to do the marvelous job it had done in the rest of my arm.)

I suggested the idea to every nurse, student and doctor who came to check on me, but the presiding physician, Dr. Ego, had other plans.  He wanted to just keep giving me anti-venom every 3 hours and hope that EVENTUALLY the venom in the blisters would be neutralized.  He was going to admit me into some intermediate care facility for at least 24 hours where my poison swamps would be allowed to fester and grow.  I considered his plan insane.  He said it was my own fault for waiting so long and that my platelets weren't high enough to risk opening up the blisters (which had by now morphed into one giant black blob of death, slowly growing while it turned the surrounding tissue black.)  Of course, my platelets were fine, but I knew that Dr. Ego would never be swayed by logic.

I stayed for one more anti-venom treatment (for the road, as it was already being mixed when I learned of Dr. Ego's crazy scheme.)  I informed the nurse that I'd be checking out after the current IV treatment of Crofab.  I got all kinds of hysterical warnings that I would die or lose my arm, which did nothing but harden my resolve (while unfortunately scaring the bejeesus out of my friend Joanie, who had stayed by my side throughout.)

I got home (it was after midnight,) speared the blister, and drained about 70% of the swamp.  I went to sleep and this morning, my finger's color had improved dramatically.  The swelling of my arm hadn't changed much but has slowly subsided throughout the day.  I drained 99% of the swamp this morning and have been periodically draining it (mainly to prevent infection) throughout the day.  I'm on the mend.