The Rattlesnake

This baby rattlesnake started it all. I snapped this just after McKay got bit and as I was frantically handing him off to Brett. I wanted a picture to correctly identify what kind of snake had bit him. You can see him coiled up in the upper- middle of the picture, just below the bigger rocks. 

That dang snake.

Our family was out enjoying one of our most beloved and favorite spots on the earth: THE MOUNTAINS!

I love the mountains. My whole family loves the mountains. We've been going up into the Utah mountains every summer for the last 25 years of my life: camping trips with my grandparents every single year, outings with cousins, camping with Young Women's groups, youth conference groups, roasting marshmallows and Starbursts with family and friends, hiking every week during the summer with my kids, biking with my friends and my dad, running on the trails, boating in the lakes....You name it, we've done it.

The mountains are one of God's greatest gifts to man. We take advantage of going there every chance we can because there is something clean and refreshing about the mountains. The air. The trees. The river. It just feels good to be there. 

The mountains are pure and good and cool and beautiful. 

These pics were taken after the fact-- hence the splint on McKay's wrist.
This is the scene of the crime

That day, we were just up in the mountains for a picnic. We had hobo dinners, Starbursts, and s'more stuff. We chose out our spot carefully and of course we had to be by the river. It's the kids favorite spot. And since our kids are a little older, we don't have to worry about a toddler falling in and being swept away.  

We got settled in and Brett started the fire. McKay asked if he could go down to the river and throw in some rocks. Why not? It's what every little boy likes to do! So I said, "Sure, I'll come down with you." 

The banks of the river were just a bit steep. I helped him down and we found a nice, sturdy rock for us to stand on. 

That big gray rock is where we stood.

Beautiful, right?

McKay was happily standing on that rock throwing rocks to his heart's content. A shiny, sparkly rock in the water caught his eye. He wanted to get that rock because McKay loves rocks. So does Makenna. They love to collect and trade with each other.

So, like any good mom, I told him he couldn't just bend over a rushing river and reach for a rock, he needed to lower his center of gravity so he wouldn't fall in. With the ok from me, he got down on his tummy and reached for the rock.

I heard him yelp.

I saw the snake slither away.

I picked him up and held him and said, "It's ok. It's just a snake."

I thought he had just been startled.

Then, I saw the bites. Yes, BITES, as in two bites!!!

The red mark is where Brett had fastened Connor's belt he'd left in the car to prevent the venom from spreading.

I yelled and screamed for Brett. He came running down and I handed McKay over to him. I quickly snapped a picture of the snake so I could show the docs in the ER what we were dealing with. As the snake slithered away, I saw some very small, clear rings stacked on its tail.

I was sick to my stomach. It was a baby Rattlesnake.

We quickly walked up to the car. Brett was so calm. I was in a panic. The keys were back down by the picnic area. I ran down to grab them. Luckily, my brother Tyler and his wife Ashley were there to stay with Connor and Makenna. We told them we'd keep them posted on what was happening.

I ran up to the van, and by this time I was pretty much freaking out. My child had been bitten by a baby rattlesnake. I knew baby rattlesnakes were much more dangerous than the adults. Now that we are rattlesnake experts, we read somewhere that 50% of adult rattlesnake bites are dry bites-- no venom is released. Babies, on the other hand, are like out-of-control teenagers, and don't know how to control themselves. And McKay had been bit twice; by a baby. At this moment, I pleaded with Heavenly Father as I was running to the car. "You've spared his life before. This boy has a special mission. Please don't let him die."

As I got in the van, I was breathing fast and heavy. Brett said, "Babe, you need to calm down. You are the one driving. You need to focus."

Easier said than done.

But I tried. And I did. I calmed down. Miraculously. I prayed for the roads to be open. Sometimes you can get stuck behind a real slow person driving down a canyon. I was worried about that. And North Country Boulevard (or 1100 East) is frequented by cops, and I didn't want to have to resist a policeman trying to pull me over. I prayed for help to get there quickly.

It was like Moses and the parting of the Red Sea. I do not say that to belittle the miracle that it was for the Children of Israel to be able to cross that sea on dry ground. I say it because that is what happened as I was driving to the hospital. The roads were completely open getting down the canyon. And then once we turned onto North Country Blvd., before I even had to tail gate anyone, they were moving out of my way. Heavenly Father just gently guided them into the other lane. I am so glad that road is not a two-laner anymore-- it's now four. We got to the hospital and into the Emergency Room 12 minutes after the bite.

My poor baby in so much pain. Brett was so good with him and was so calm.

When we arrived, they rushed us right back to a room. The doc informed us that they needed to start McKay on the anti-venom medicine called CroFab. He said, "Luckily, we have some, so we can start getting it ready."

Yes, I'd say we were "lucky".

The CroFab is frozen. So they have to massage it and get it all ready to be administered intra-venously. This process takes about 40 minutes. I am not a very patient person, and was starting to get really, really nervous and antsy about it. Just then my parents arrived along with Joel and Marla. This calmed me a little.

At this point McKay was in so much pain. His little face just broke my heart and soul. I just wanted to take it away. There is nothing quite like seeing your child in that much pain, and not being able to do anything about it. And I was in my own pain-- not knowing what was happening or going to happen-- not knowing what to expect. All that I knew about Rattlesnake bites was from the pioneer days, and back in those days, people died.  I had never known anyone that was bit by a rattlesnake and didn't know what to expect. I was falling to pieces.

Just when we thought he couldn't take anymore, they started him on morphine. He has his mom's stomach when it comes to heavy medication, so he got pretty nauseated. He never threw-up, and the morphine kicked in pretty quickly. They also gave him some Zofran which helped with the nausea. He started to relax a little and that helped me a little.

Then, Brett, my dad, and Joel all gave McKay a priesthood blessing. For those of you who don't know, the Priesthood is a powerful principle of the gospel of Christ. The Priesthood is the power and authority to act in God's name here on the Earth. Worthy men, as young as 12, are ordained to offices in the priesthood, with the purpose of presiding and serving others. ANYone can ask for a blessing of comfort and healing from a priesthood holder. Priesthood blessings can be a blessing of comfort, healing, and even a miracle. The priesthood is also used to perform ordinances in the church such as baptism or the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

All three of these men in my life are worthy holders of the priesthood. I know this power is real and McKay's healing is the proof. It was nothing short of a miracle that he came away without needing serious, invasive, painful, time-consuming surgery-- and other worse things I don't even want to mention. If you have questions about the Priesthood, please ask me or any other member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-- a Mormon.

With that explanation in mind, I know that this blessing given to McKay was just as much for me as it was for him.

It was a beautiful, peaceful blessing. In it, Brett blessed McKay with the knowledge that, "Heavenly Father allowed this to happen to strengthen your faith, to strengthen the faith of others, and so He could show you His power."

He also said, "Expect miracles."

This is significant because the phrase "expect miracles" was said in a blessing I received 10 years ago when I was pregnant with McKay. We were told his bones were disintegrating and that he would die. Those words, "expect miracles" could have meant many things: that Makenna would live if McKay died or that McKay would live; or that even that his bones would be healed and that he would live. 

We all know what happened with that: He was born whole and alive and beautiful and well.

The blessing also stated, "you will be healed and able to spend the time with your cousins and family at the family reunion you've been looking forward to for so long."

After that blessing, I felt a wave of peace wash over me. Really, that's what it felt like. I knew that Heavenly Father knew McKay. He knew me. He was aware of us and would help us and all would be well. The words of the blessing also helped me not to feel so much guilt. I had a lot of what I like to call "mother's guilt." I was so upset that I didn't receive a prompting to warn me of danger. I also wondered where that mother's intuition was at a time of real need? Why couldn't I keep my baby safe? I was RIGHT THERE!!!!! But the words of the blessing stated clearly why He let this happen. Those words were a comfort to me as often as I remembered it.

After the blessing, a few fire-fighters came in and asked to see the bite. I jokingly said, "He's charging $1 for every look he gives of the bites!" They said, "Well how about this? Why don't you come down to the station after you're all better and we'll show you around and take you for a ride in a fire truck!" He thought that was pretty cool, so he agreed!

The doctor came in to start the anti-venom and then looked at me very seriously and said: "Look, if there is an adverse reaction to the bites or to the anti-venom, we do not have the team here to handle him. We need to send you to Primary Children's Hospital."

My heart dropped a little. Ok-- a lot. This was serious. Little did I know really, how serious, this was going to be.

But, I remembered the blessing, I knew he was going to be ok.

Getting ready to transfer up to Primary Children's Medical Center in an ambulance. He did think this was pretty cool.

McKay was so sweet as he was getting ready to be transferred to Primary's. He said, "Mom, I want you to come in the ambulance with me, but I want dad to come too. I think dad better come since he knows about a lot of medical stuff." I totally understood. It was hard to let them go on without me in the same vehicle, but I would be close behind. My mom was going to drive me up to Primary Children's.

There goes the ambulance, with my baby and my husband. That was a hard moment.

Upon arriving at Primary's I noticed how much McKay's hand had swollen since I'd last seen him. It was gigantic. It looked like a surgical glove that had been blown up into a balloon. 

We went straight into the ER and met the doctor that would be assessing our case.

The doctor didn't sugar coat anything, at all.

She told us that it was highly likely that McKay would "start oozing." (Her words). I asked her what she meant by "oozing." She said that rattlesnake venom "eats" your platelets. We need platelets in our blood because they help our blood to clot. Not the bad kind of clotting, but the kind of clotting that keeps us from losing blood all the time. When we first arrived at American Fork hospital, McKay's initial platelet count was 243 (thousand). When we arrived at Primary Children's (about 2 hours after the bite) it was down to 40 (thousand). That was pretty alarming and a little bit scary. Ok-- REALLY scary. She said he would likely start oozing from every orifice of his body. Yikes! 

The way to fix that is a transfusion. Yes, a blood transfusion. The doc said once they stabilized the venom coursing through his veins they would be able to give him a transfusion to give him the platelets that he needed.

Wow. And that was not all...

Snake venom contains a muscle-deteriorating enzyme. Since snakes swallow their prey whole, they need this enzyme to digest their food. This enzyme, in humans, does the same thing. 

Snake venom also causes swelling. So much swelling that it prevents blood flow to the nerves and muscles. And without blood, there is no oxygen. And with no oxygen there is muscle loss and nerve damage. This condition is called compartment syndrome. The way to treat this syndrome is called a fasciotomy. A fasciotomy is a surgical procedure where the fascia (or layer of connective tissue) is cut to relieve tension or pressure. The cut would be from wrist to elbow and require a skin graft. The doc talked about doing a skin graft like it was no big deal at all.

This talk freaked me out a bit.

I had to remember the blessing.

We were admitted to the ICU.

This poor guy was miserable

We arrived in the ICU and met our "team". Dr. Caravati was the head. He is a Toxicologist and was calling all the shots. We also had our own pharmacist, an orthopedic surgeon, a hand specialist, 2 MD's, 2 Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Erin. We felt so blessed to be in a facility with very caring and competent practitioners. 

First things first: NO FOOD AND NO DRINK. This was so upsetting to McKay. He was miserable. He was so thirsty and so hungry. A few tears were shed. His cute nurse, Erin, let him suck on a sponge-pop: a sponge on a stick soaked in water. This move by Erin sure won her a lot of points with McKay!

Second, the idea was to keep him on the anti-venom drip, and continue to administer lots and lots of fluids to flush out that nasty venom. Nurse Erin was also taking a blood draw every 2 hours to check on the levels of the  muscle-eating enzyme and to check his platelets. The toxicologist was visiting quite often and the orthopedic surgeon was coming in every couple hours to check on the status of needing surgery. 

In real life this looked like a baseball mitt or like a surgical glove blown up like a balloon

Look at that huge mitt!

Settling into the ICU was a little sobering for McKay. When he first met Dr. Caravati, he said, "Just so you know, I can't stay past Wednesday. I have a family reunion in St. George with all my cousins!" Dr. C said, "We will do our best to get you out on time, but no promises." He was a little deflated at that.

Then he met Nurse Erin.

A few reasons why Nurse Erin made McKay happy:

1)- She was a HUGE Harry Potter fan.
2)- She was super nice.
3)- She loves all the same shows McKay loves like Phineas and Ferb, Kung Fu Panda, Rio and Gnomeo and Juliet. (It's hard to meet an adult that likes these shows as much as you do.) She knew all the songs, characters and plots of all these shows! I was impressed.
4)- And, she was cute!

He was happy when Erin was around (and when his pain meds were working).

A bit after we were admitted we had a few visitors. My dad, my brother Mark, Brett's brother Steve, and Brett's cousin Brandon came to see McKay. (Which I didn't take any pictures of!) We also had a visit from a good fried in our Saratoga ward: Aaron Bentley. He brought all sorts of goodies from Trader Joe's! That was some yummy stuff!!! My dad and Mark offered hope and a few laughs. Steve came with a Jamba Juice which we devoured, and Brandon brought an unusual gift. 

He came in and said, "McKay, I was so mad about that snake biting you, I went up to the mountains, hunted him down, found him, killed him and stuffed him. And here he is!! He pulled out a giant 3 foot, stuffed animal snake!! 

I wasn't sure how to handle the gift. I wanted to laugh about it, and at the same time, I wanted to smack Brandon for bringing my boy a stuffed snake hours after he'd been bit by one-- twice. It all seemed a little too soon for the sensitive, worried mom-type like me. 

McKay, on he other hand, thought it was so cool and immediately named the snake "Dingus." Brandon went on to say, "Whenever you're upset or mad about the snake biting you, you can strangle this snake, you can whack his head against the bed or you can sit on his face. We all laughed at that. 

McKay held on to that snake for the whole time he remained in the ICU and it because quite the topic of conversation.

Thank you, Brandon, for bringing some laughter and funniness into that little ICU room.

Another view of that huge, swollen hand and arm-- with Dingus, the snake

After a few hours, and we had settled in, and the excitement had died down, we were all exhausted. Brett and I had decided to stay the night with our little man. There was no way we were leaving. I would sleep on the "couch" in the room and Brett was taking the recliner.

As we were getting ready to rest McKay said that he was worried about going to sleep because he couldn't sleep. He was so restless and hungry. My heart ached for him. I wanted to take it all away, as any mother would. 

Before laying down, I needed to use the restroom. As I got up and walked to the bathroom, with a heavy heart-- I might add-- I offered a silent prayer. I asked that Heavenly Father allow him to rest and to sleep. I asked for him to have a peaceful sleep since he had been through something so traumatic.

When I returned, this is what I found:

Oh, my mother heart swelled with joy and gratitude for the many tender mercies of the Lord.

Brett and I didn't really sleep that well. In fact, I don't think Brett slept at all. The docs were in and out all night: Erin was taking blood samples every 2 hours; the Orthopedic surgeon and NP's were checking the swelling and feeling in the hand every 2 hours. We were on the border of going into the OR to have a fasciotomy all night. All the signs of compartment syndrome were there: 

• constant pain (being managed by morphine)
• the feeling of pins and needles in the hand
• the hand and arm were very firm and taut
• swollen and shiny skin

Alas, we made it through the night without needing the surgery. McKay was able to feel the touch of the doc's hand on his hand and arm. The nerves were still working. Surgery wasn't needed-- yet. Thank goodness! 

The next morning-- Tuesday, McKay finally got to eat. The Toxicologist and Orthopedic surgeon decided that if he was going to have a fasciotomy, it would be emergency surgery one way or the other and there was no reason to keep him from eating or drinking.

He was SO HAPPY! First meal of the day was Frosted Flakes with grapes! 

Look at that smile!!!

After breakfast on Tuesday, McKay learned that he wasn't going to be going home that day. Tears were shed. He was a little upset and worried about missing the reunion. But then we had some visitors and this really helped. 

This girl is Brett's cute cousin, Shanna, Brandon's (aka Snake stuffer's) sister. McKay has always loved "Shanna-Banana" and they've always shared a close bond. Shanna brought McKay some really fun things and some candy that cheered him up.

Then, my cousin, Thais, came to visit McKay. She has had her own recent trials in the hospital so she could relate to being stuck there. She brought McKay all sorts of goodies-- a giraffe pillow pet that he just loves, a mystery solving book, and word puzzles. She also brought Brett and I a whole bunch of fruit and veggies. It was wonderful. 

Thais and McKay

Then, a celebrity in McKay's world, Uncle Kirt (my mom's older brother) came to visit. McKay and Uncle Kirt have a special bond: they are both artists. Check out some of Kirt's work here, if you want. Last year for Christmas, my mom and I both had the idea to give McKay an art lesson with Uncle Kirt while we were in Utah. McKay was thrilled and they had a great time painting  together. The picture he produced is hanging on his wall and he brings it out any time we have people come over to visit so he can show it off. He is so proud of it.  

Another bond they have is that Uncle Kirt pays McKay to sing to him. Yes, he gives him $1 every time McKay will sing him a song. So, of course, every time we have an extended family gathering, McKay looks for Uncle Kirt so he can earn a few dollars. Can't blame him for being resourceful!

Uncle Kirt came bearing gifts as well-- two paintings! McKay was thrilled!

After all these gifts and visitors he said, "I'm  going to need a closet for all this new stuff I'm getting!"

Loves from Uncle Kirt

Later that afternoon, this doc came in with a few flat sheets of thin plastic and an electric skillet. I wondered what in the world he could be doing. He informed us he would be making a splint for McKay to help keep his arm in the correct position since his  muscle tissue was being attacked! 

The choices of the colored plastic he offered McKay were black and camouflage. McKay would have nothing to do with that either of those colors! He asked if there were other choices. The guy went back to his office and brought in this blue color. This was very fine according to McKay's taste and he gave the doc the go ahead. He said, "The cast will go good with my eyes!"

He heated up the water in the skillet and dropped the sheet of plastic in there. In no time, he had it molded to McKay's arm. A custom-made splint in no time.

It was some time during this day that McKay said, "Mom, this can either be a good experience or a bad experience. It all depends on my attitude." I had to pick my mouth up off the floor after he said that. I was continuously amazed at his positivity and faith! What an example to all of us!

Tuesday night, McKay started to feel very bad. The swelling in his arm had not gone down, the pain was increasing, and the numbers from his blood draw were not good. The docs came in to see him and they thought surgery would probably need to happen. They took him off food and drink. The nurse gave him some morphine to help with the pain, and soon he was asleep.

All through the night, the team was ready to take McKay back to the Operating Room for surgery. It was a couple of really scary hours. The thing that kept him from absolutely needing it was that he could always feel the docs touching him. They also used a little tool with blunt needles on the end of it to ask him if they were pricking him with one needle or two needles, without him looking. He could always tell! So that was encouraging. And on Tuesday night, he could also finally touch his pinky finger to his thumb! No small feat!

That night, the docs decided not to do the surgery. Hallelujah! 

Wednesday morning, things were looking up from the night before, but not good enough for us to go home. The toxicologist broke the news to McKay and he was devastated. The family reunion would start without him. Connor and Makenna would go down without him. We were being left behind. More tears were shed. He said through the tears, "At least Grandma is coming today." 

Thank goodness for Grandmas!!!! 

Before grandma came, Connor and Makenna, Greg and Cherry and all their girls came and said hello and goodbye before they would head down to St. George. This was a good thing. Especially for Makenna. It was good for her to see that McKay was ok. She got a little traumatized seeing him initially at American Fork Hospital. He was happy to see them, but sad they were leaving without him. More tears. He said, "I'm stuck in the hospital. I'm supposed to be at a reunion."

Then Grandma came. She not only took care of McKay, but she took care of me! I finally got a shower!! YEA!!! Amazing what a shower can do for a person! So grateful for grandmas!! As I had a minute to think for myself while I was in the shower, it dawned on me of how much my mother loved me. At the same time I was feeling such a fierce love for my son, she was feeling that same love and concern for me. 

Primary Children's has this awesome wing on the 3rd floor called the Ronald McDonald Family Room. It's this huge area full of little rooms for sleeping, nice bathrooms for showering, washers and dryers, kitchenettes, computers, couches to rest and relax on. It's very aesthetically pleasing, too. It's a nice break from the hospital rooms, monitors, machines, noises and doctors. I am so grateful for the services Primary Children's provided for  us and our family.

After grandma left and brightened everyone's day, we had some more visitors.

How could you not be happier to see those smiles?

The poster says: Hey hey Mr. Goodbar, we bet it was a "shocker" when that "nerdy" snake jumped out of a "mound" of bushes and bit you. We wish we could have been there so we could have bashed his "air head" to pieces!!! Too bad it wasn't a "turtle bite"! We hope you have a "fast break" at the hospital and get to "kit kat" around with all of the cute nurses. The "dots" on your arm will get better soon and you'll be playing "symphony's" again soon. 

McKay thought this candy poster was about the coolest thing ever! Kim is so creative and thoughtful, it was perfect for the moment!

Kim's little boy Wyatt (pictured above on the right) had his own stay in Primary's last year, so they knew about all the cool things you could do while you were there. We went up to the children's play room and did all sorts of fun things like making our own silly putty, painted wooden cars and played the wii. Too bad I didn't get ANY pictures! I think I left my phone in our room.

Primary's has a big grand piano in one of the foyers on the 3rd floor. Of course McKay had to stop and "tickle the ivories" with his right hand. 

I wish this picture was better. Jaxson and Wyatt were so concerned about McKay and wanted to take such good care of him. Jaxon here is pushing McKay as we travel to the Children's Play Room.

Here is another view of the boys taking care of McKay

Again, picture quality. But, this sums up McKay's attitude about the whole ordeal. Smiling, happy and positive. Notice his wood car in his hand!

Some time on this day, McKay said to me, "Mom, I can't be mad at the snake. He was just behaving the way Heavenly Father created him to behave." 

Again, jaw on the floor. I was so thankful for his perspective and that Heavenly Father was blessing him with with a greater insight and perspective than 10 year old's usually have.

Later Wednesday night, Lisa and Staci Payne came  to visit McKay. They brought a whole box of yummy, delicious cookies! It was so good to see them and catch up with them. McKay loved the dino cookies! 

Finally, Thursday morning!! Here we are walking around and feeling good!! That IV pole has McKay's last dose of anti-venom hanging on it! Hoping for the best! 

A few hours later we got the good news! 

IT WAS TIME TO GO HOME!!!

IV being removed! Yipee

So grateful for nurse Marcy!!

Being wheeled out to our car!!!!

Driving home and on our way to St. George!! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Harmon for those pillows! 

This whole ordeal was so very scary. But, it truly was a miracle. Now that we're home and I know that we are free and clear of any harm and danger, I've let myself research and learn what should have happened or what could have happened. The internet is full of stories of rattlesnake bites and the horrible things that happen to people who get bit. It truly is a miracle that he came away unscathed. The Toxicologist said, "I have never seen anything like this in 22 years." Now I know what he meant: he'd never seen anything so sever happen and have the patient walk away practically whole.  

I know this was a miracle.

McKay's faith was strengthened.

My faith was strengthened.

Countless other's faith was strengthened.

We saw God's power.

Not only did he work a miracle in our lives, but the way he worked in other people's lives through our experience is beautiful and so much more wonderful than we could have imagined. Our God is a God of healing, a God of miracles,  a God of mercy, a God of love.

Thank you to all who prayed for us. Thank you for asking your family and friends to pray for us. We felt those prayers. We felt buoyed up by your faith. Your faith is manifest in his miraculous healing.