Posted by:
gaboon_survivor
at Fri Oct 17 12:34:54 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by gaboon_survivor ]
>>Thanks for providing the additional information about your bite. You are lucky to have your life and limbs! One more question, if you don’t mind - when you eventually received the right AV (one vial day 4 post bite?!), did you or your doctor note any change in your status? If so, what changed, exactly?
>>
>>Well, back to work.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>WK
>>
thanks also for expanding on that...cant say I understood it all being a civil engineer..but it does help.
to try answer your question, I dont think my status changed much with the AV, but it definitely improved temporarily day 5 when they lined up all they could trust not being hiv and matching, to donate whole blood for me. I stopped hilucinating and felt better, took food/water for maybe 12 hrs, then deteriorated again, lungs started filling etc...day 6 (i think) was when they decided to medivac me to joburg, and they said I was within hrs of my life when I arrived there.
reading that site I referred to earlier, looks like the gaboon and puff adder bites are treated very similar, which is what you pointed out ealier that the venoms are very close...do any distinct differences jump out for you that would make you lean gaboon vs puff adder in my case? given the further info I have provided, and given that gaboons were sighted in the area by trustworthy sources - my Dad others close to the time of my bite.
My understanding and experience growing up in Zambia was that puff adders where rarely fatal even if not treated with AV (which is often the case in africa)...which i guess is why i still lean towards the opinion of the experienced surgeon who said only a gaboon could cause the degree of damage i had.
I could follow this up with the first Dr in zambia that treated me, he has retired since, but worked there as a missionary dr for 37 yrs I recall (delivered me also)...and treated many snake bites. one thing he mentioned after i returned from joburg was that he was so used to treating black skinned people, the colouration of my ankle (black - I am caucasian) did not clue him earlier that i had more serious complications developing.
Another exlanation for the lack of antivenom supply at a rural mission hospital (or any hosp. in Zambia), is that it was a struggle to keep stock up to date, refridgerated etc. with numerouse power outages, AV not available in the country, except importing privately from S africa, and also the problem with getting correct id of snake, most done hang around to clober it.
cheers
[ Hide Replies ]
- any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - gaboon_survivor, Wed Oct 8 19:13:55 2003
- yes post them - budman 1st, Wed Oct 8 21:12:25 2003
- RE: any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - WW, Thu Oct 9 11:05:28 2003
- RE: any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - gaboon_survivor, Thu Oct 9 19:58:47 2003
- RE: any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - BGF, Thu Oct 9 22:51:52 2003
- RE: any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - WW, Fri Oct 10 04:58:49 2003
- Too add... - Jeremy G, Fri Oct 10 06:39:43 2003
- RE: any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - gaboon_survivor, Fri Oct 10 20:32:58 2003
- RE: any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - WK, Sat Oct 11 12:05:20 2003
- RE: any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - gaboon_survivor, Mon Oct 13 21:01:15 2003
- Long rambling session enclosed... - WK, Thu Oct 16 14:32:55 2003
 RE: Long rambling session enclosed... - gaboon_survivor, Fri Oct 17 12:34:54 2003
- RE: - WK, Sat Oct 18 01:34:35 2003
- Agreed... - WW, Sun Oct 19 05:29:52 2003
- WK,WW... - gaboon_survivor, Mon Oct 20 21:26:10 2003
- RE: WK,WW... - WK, Tue Oct 21 11:37:01 2003
- RE: WK - gaboon_survivor, Wed Oct 22 20:03:44 2003
- RE: WK - WK, Thu Oct 23 13:32:13 2003
- gaboon viper and blood clotting - gaboon_survivor, Wed Oct 15 20:21:01 2003
- RE: any other gaboon viper bite survivors out there? - BGF, Sat Oct 11 15:19:44 2003
- Glad to hear you're still with us.... - vvvddd, Sat Oct 11 01:49:09 2003
- my bite pictures - gaboon or puff adder? - gaboon_survivor, Fri Oct 17 19:49:34 2003
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