We Made It, but only barely

Well, here we are in NC. The closing on our house went fine last Friday. It's hard to believe it has been a week now. The only hitch was trying to drug the animals.

Since the movers packed EVERYTHING, we stayed at a hotel on the eve of the 6th. That night, the electricity went out twice, we lost power and our scheduled wake up call. Luckily, we got up. Just the lack of A/C was annoying. We went by the house to give the animals their sedatives so they would be groggy by the time we finished with the closing. Maisy would not take hers. I fought for a long time, then gave up so we wouldn't be late.

Like I said, the closing was fine, uneventful. We went back to the house to pick up the animals and Maisy got out of the cat carrier and took off down the block. Got her back in the car and left. Whew. The animals did fine through the whole car trip. We stopped twice to let Lenny out and get gas. He was pitiful. Couldn't quite open his eyes.

Hannah was just the perfect travel trooper. Keith got her a portable dvd player and she just sat contentedly and watched "Robots", talked with us, etc. It was really not a bad trip at all.

That all changed with Hannah's first steps into Charlotte. We were talking about how we were going to put the animals in the room and get them situated then go get some "real" food for dinner. It was close to 9 pm and we had eaten fast food on the road for lunch. O'Charley's was nearby! Whoo hoo! O'Charley's, then bed, then a weekend of no responsibilities. Just being together, maybe doing some shopping. I got out of the car and wrapped Maisy in a towel, since she wouldn't stay in the cat carrier. Keith got out, Lenny got out, Hannah got out... Next thing she yells, "I was just bit by a snake!!!" Keith sees a light colored snake right there in the parking lot. Throws her and Lenny back in the car, I throw Maisy back in the car and he pulls around to where the BMW was parked. He asks for directions to the hospital.

Within 5 minutes we made it there. Hannah's foot was starting to swell and discolor. We just had to watch and wait for a bit to see if it was going to be necessary to give her the anti-venom because that brought a new set of side effects and possible complications. While I sat with her in the ER, Keith went back to the hotel to get the animals situated. We left them all in the car, poor things.

By now the speculation is that the snake was a baby (18") copperhead. They explained that non-venomous snakes left a crescent shaped bite and venomous snakes left the two puncture marks from fangs designed to administer venom to the victim. Her foot was swollen and it was continuing to spread toward her heel and only slightly up her leg, but it was definitely getting worse.

They made the arrangements to administer the anti-venom and transport her to the children's trauma unit downtown. She would get to ride in an ambulance because the greatest risk was an allergic reaction that could effect her breathing or her heart, or raise her temperature causing other problems.

Keith came to the ER prior to starting the anti-venom telling us that the good news was the pets were situated in the hotel, the bad news was that when he went into the UHaul to get their stuff, he found out that it leaked miserably and everything we packed in there was drenched or ruined. That was everything that we had packed because we needed it with us. Our clothes for the next several days, important documents like birth certificates, vehicle titles, etc. Our entire file cabinet...

Hannah was hanging in there though. They gave her benadryl before the anti-venom and she just felt sleepy. The entire staff was awesome. We were taken back immediately when we walked in. No questions asked, no problems. They just began taking care of her immediately, and that's the way it continued throughout the evening. When it came time to transport her, one of the nurses from the ER rode with her in the ambulance and helped get her set up in the new hospital. Explained everything to the nursing staff that was going to take over. Everyone that came to see us at either hospital, knew what the situation was. We didn't have to answer the same kinds of questions over and over again.

Hannah did fine in the hospital overnight. She continued to get fluids by IV. The next day she was allowed to eat, etc. A physical therapist came in and showed her how to use her crutches and Hannah became a pro instantly.

From the size of her foot and the extensive bruising, I know she was in a lot of pain, but she didn't complain. She actually told the nurse at one point that she was glad she got bit and not her Papa. She wouldn't want anything to happen to her Papa.

While I stayed with her at the hospital that day, Keith did a lot of the running around to get the animals dropped off for boarding and then to deal with the UHaul nightmare. We were released around 4 and went to dinner. Life almost resumed to normal after that, but Hannah was having way too much fun on her crutches and overdid it immediately. She had to pay more attention to her activity level after that. After being in bed all day, who could have blamed her though?

We bought new furniture for the living room and dining room on Sunday. On Monday we closed on our new house. I had to follow up with the toxicologist later that day. He was the one on the phone consulting with the ER staff about Hannah the entire evening. It was nice to meet him. The hospital referred us to his wife for pediatric follow up, she happens to be just 5 minutes or so from us.

We painted Hannah's room on Monday night and the movers arrived with our stuff on Tuesday. Moving in is crazy. Boxes EVERYWHERE!

Hannah is now having a reaction to the anti-venom and is covered in hives. Had to go see the pediatrician and get steroids for her.

Sharlene is here right now. Her parents happened to be coming up for a visit, so she rode along. She's awake now, so I'm heading off.