At Desert Hand & Physical Therapy we get to see some incredibly inspiring stuff happen everyday with our patients. Treatment can help many improve or restore mobility and move forward with their lives. This time, we’d like to share a story about our very own Practice Manager, Jeanette Amado.
Jeanette was bit by a rattlesnake and was told in the ICU that she would have to undergo surgery. Desert Hand & Physical Therapy stepped in and was able help her avoid surgery altogether. Here’s Jeanette’s story:
“I used to watch a lot of those animal shows, you know the ones – with snakes and other wild things. And you know those guys on the show, they would just go up to those snakes and grab them, without getting hurt. Well, when my kids were small, they would play outside on their scooters and just run around with each other. One night, all the kids were outside and I was across the street hanging out with the other neighbors. Suddenly all the kids came running back and yelling ‘There’s a snake in the street!’
I grew up in the desert and was never really afraid of snakes, so I decided to go over and take care of it. The snake had been accidentally run over by one of the kid’s scooters and was injured. It was coiled up and it was laying there and I thought “Well, I’ll just pick up this snake like the guys on the animal shows”. I figured I could be fast enough and then just take it into the desert away from all the kids. Unfortunately, the snake was too quick and one of its
fangs barely pricked me on the finger. I walked back to the neighbors I told them that the snake had bitten me, but we didn’t really think too much about it since it didn’t hurt that badly. I wasn’t even sure what kind of snake it was.
After that, one of the older kids went out to have a look at the snake, since it was still laying in the street. He came back and said, ‘I took a picture of the snake and it’s a Diamondback snake. It’s a Rattler!’ Everyone panicked – we knew that I had to get to the hospital immediately. My husband took me to the hospital and I was in the ICU for three days.
After I got out of the ICU, my hand was still pretty badly swollen and infected and I was told that I was going to need surgery. The poison was still eating away at the skin of my hand. Before I had surgery, Chris Reynolds (PT, Desert Hand Therapy) suggested some therapy first to clean up the wound. He wanted to try and help me avoid surgery. He whirlpooled it, he packed it with some medical gauze, and luckily it healed right up. The therapy saved my finger
and I ended up not having to have any surgery at all.”
