What a Rattlesnake bite looks like after 35 years....

[Ol Smoke]

I was bit by a good sized Diamondback Rattlesnake in Cedarville, California in 1973, while walking through a field of clover hunting ground squirrels with a friend.

 

The first picture is kinda blurry but it shows where the fangs went into my leg. 

 

The second picture shows what has happened over the years from the poison damage to the nerves and blood vessels.  The camera doesn't pickup the discoloration

of the tissues.  Parts are a pale greenish black color and some parts are a brown color.  The big veins and swollen veins are from venom.  I have had those since I was

40.  Doctors have looked at them as if they were bad veins, but there is a distinct difference when they look inside.  Their is no plaque or wall breakdown.  I have to go

in to Portland to a vein thrombosis clinic and they siphon off the bad blood.  I go about every six months or so.  There is no problem with strokes or things, because the

blood is not coagulated, like deep vein thrombosis.  So I am okay from that.

 

A few days after the bite, my skin turned black and some of the tissues broke down and died.  With injections of anti-venin that area recovered after about 3 or 4 years.

Certain areas of my leg are numb all the time, interlaced with stinging pain every now and then.  The muscles aren't strong and give out pretty fast.  I can no longer climb

a ladder without hand rails, or stairways. But, I get around pretty good on solid surfaces, except concrete.  Going to big box stores kills me off.  I last about 45 minutes and

then I have to get off my legs for a while.

 

I thought you would just like to look at what happens after you get bit.

 

I had terrible dreams and nightmares for weeks afterwards. It was like a bad LSD trip.

 

 

[bigbro]

Omg and ouch

[Raskin]

Yeah..the venom attacks nervous system and beaks down living tissue for digestion..is bad..i been lucky..growing up with southern cotton mouths..you really got lucky..considering

[Pate]

Pretty impressive post. Never realized you could get nightmares and bad dreams because of a rattle snake.