We had so many wonderful memories of going to Lake Anna with our first boat, Wally, and so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane to be back out on the water with Wally Jr. Andy was definitely in his happy place captaining the boat and I promptly found myself back at the bow enjoying the breeze on my face. We quickly found our rhythm as boat people and enjoyed lots of rides around the lake and even a few dips in the water as well - that water is still the perfect temperature!
The docks by the cabins remained the best place to take the dogs swimming and boy did they have fun. Liddy of course was jumping in before we even threw the ball and Sadie took a bit of warming up but by the end of the swim session she was jumping off the dock as well. The lake remains Liddy's happy place and I think it's becoming Sadie's as well.
So after a really fun first evening and then full day out on the lake - enjoying our time being sans kids - we decided to go for a night time boat ride and this is where "the wheels fell off" so to speak. After our cruise we got the boat tied back up to the dock and had to make about a 40 yard walk on a path through the woods back to our car. Instead of digging for the flashlight in our bag we (or rather, Andy) decided we could simply "walk with purpose" - so as to avoid tripping on tree roots, etc (which was honestly the reason I wanted the flashlight) and so off we went - walking with purpose when all of a sudden I felt a terrible pain - or puncture- in my toe. I immediately stopped and told Andy a stick had just popped up and punctured my foot. I quickly got my phone out and used the flashlight to show that indeed my foot was bleeding - ouch! So we hobbled me to the car and I just wanted to get back to the camper as quickly as I could so I could get some ice on it for relief - because boy did it ever hurt. After about an hour my foot was getting pretty swollen and black and blue but we both had just settled on going to the ER in the morning - certainly the pain would subside and maybe I had just sprained it somehow.
Cut to the morning after I was up most of the night in horrifyingly terrible pain and a foot, ankle and now leg (up to knee) that was swollen and it was for sure time to go to the ER. Though I'll admit we both still assumed I had a sprain of some sort. So off we went - after I hopped to the car as there was no way I could even consider putting pressure on my foot - and after the 40 minute drive we arrived at the ER. Luckily an ER tech saw me hopping in on one foot and quickly grabbed a wheelchair for me. I proceeded to tell them all about how a stick jumped up and punctured my foot and how I was probably at about an 8 now for my pain (a solid 10 in the middle of the night for sure) and so I got wheeled to a bed and within a few minutes I had the ER doc coming to check me out. After telling her the stick story she promptly corrected me saying "You mean a snake not a stick." To which I adamantly responded - "No, I mean a stick." To which she more adamantly responded "No no, it was a snake." Cue my horrified response of "What!? OMG! No! What?!" and all the tears that followed - lol. Learning you've been bit by snake will legit make you cry like a baby - of this I can attest. And furthermore when someone comes in to ask why you are so sad and you tell them you were bit by a snake - the guaranteed response is "OMG I'd be crying too." So we've got that part figured out.
So a few xrays, blood tests and a tetanus shot later we find out that it was a copperhead that got me - and luckily it only fully punctured my foot in one spot - the other fang (omg, just typing fang makes me want to weep) simply grazed my foot - and thank goodness as two shots of venom could have made for a far different story. The only other poisonous snake in that area is a timber rattler which would have caused much more damage and would have affected the way my blood was clotting - so that's how they were able to determine that I got, I guess, the good kind of venomous snake.
Since more than 8 hours had passed and because my blood work was looking favorable I did not need to have the anti-venom administered - which I think was a blessing as I'm told it is $$$$$ and had some pretty funky side affect possibilities - so I left the ER with crutches, some pain meds, and an explanation that I should think of this like a concrete brick falling on my foot as far as the amount of damage that venom causes - so recovery was going to be slow but eventual.
So yes, flashlights in the dark are a must - though let's think about that for a moment - would I really have wanted to see the snake bite me? Because I'm almost certain that would have led to full on cardiac arrest - so you know, perspective folks.
Needless to say, this threw quite a monkey wrench into the remainder of our weekend. Though, as we always do, we found a way to make the most of it. Andy still got a few more boat rides in - and even took Sadie for her first boat ride - which I'm told she loved! I got to rest and recover and even got to ride around the grocery store on one of those motorized carts - omg the humiliation - lol. I did get one more boat ride in, which I'll admit was a bit of an undertaking but it was nice to get out of the camper and get some fresh air.
It was 4+ days before I was able to walk on that foot and honestly even to this day - nearly 10 weeks later - I still have some swelling and tenderness in top of my foot/ankle - but I have one heck of a story to tell.
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