Please send good wishes and prayers

My son is in the hospital, was bit by a copperhead. Bit on the pinky, and I think he will live but I'm of course upset.

Oh, no! I hope he recovers, with minimal side effects. Did the hospital have enough antivenin on hand?

Best wishes!

He is in the ICU. He said they have antivenin but have not given it, son said Dr. said that because the swelling has not moved past the hand they are waiting.
He lives in a rural setting and stuck his hand under the house (it is up on blocks) to get his daughter's dog. I am waiting and praying, I'm not allowed in the ICU right now.

So sorry to hear that Lucille!

Originally Posted by Lucille

He is in the ICU. He said they have antivenin but have not given it, son said Dr. said that because the swelling has not moved past the hand they are waiting.

This is SOP. If he doesn't need the antivenin the docs won't want to administer it as it can also mess you up. Antibiotics and monitor is typical.

Hopefully he'll be fine and can go home soon.

Sending hopeful thoughts your way and his.

You're able to talk to him, it sounds like. Is he in good spirits?

I have very very good news. My son was bitten yesterday and has been in the ICU and observed closely. His hand swelled horribly but as the late evening wore on in the hospital the swelling did not continue up his arm. Perhaps because it was a small bite at the end of his pinky he did not receive as much venom as he could have.

The doctor saw him again a little while ago and because there was not further swelling up the arm or continuing symptoms decided to discharge him. I thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.

Originally Posted by Socratic Monologue

Is he in good spirits?

Well, yes and no. I talked to him and listened to him and told him how much I loved him, and I know that helped him through his worries.

But I couldn't help myself, I got on him for putting his hand under the house. I told him that his daughter, my grand daughter, was old enough so she could work on training the dogs to come every time they are called. I think the plan for when he is healed and better is to block off the under house areas where the dogs can get under there.

Originally Posted by bcr229

This is SOP. If he doesn't need the antivenin the docs won't want to administer it as it can also mess you up. Antibiotics and monitor is typical.

Hopefully he'll be fine and can go home soon.

Thank you for your post. I have cared for many, many patients in my lifetime but never had even one patient with a snake bite.
The closest I even got was when a kid brought a snake to school in his backpack and they call me (the school nurse at the time) to handle the issue. I took the (small brown garden snake) across the street to a forested area and let it go.

That's wonderful that he's on his way home.

I'm assuming that the dog didn't come to any harm from hiding in the snake's area, and that's a lucky thing, too.