Little girl 'no longer smiles' after receiving 30 vials of antivenom while recovering from rattlesnake bites
An Arizona toddler has not smiled since Friday, when she was rushed to a local hospital after being bitten twice by a diamondback rattlesnake.
She has since been pumped with 30 vials of antivenom - and may need even more - as her family worries about the long term effects the 15 month old may face.
'We miss her smiles,' Jacquelyn Reed told 12 News.
She explained that she and her young daughter, Cara, were simply walking around their property near Florence when Reed went to throw away a piece of trash.
Reed says she was only gone for about 10 seconds before she heard Cara start to cry.
When she then went to find out what was wrong, she noticed the young girl 'had four puncture wounds on the top of her foot, in the little window of her little jelly shoe, and behind her, to her left was a snake coiled up.'
Terrified, Reed said she immediately scooped Cara up and rushed to a nearby emergency room - calling ahead of time to let the doctors know her daughter needed antivenom.
But an online fundraiser set up to help the family with the little girl's medical expenses says the hospital was unable to provide the antidote for over an hour - and soon Cara's foot started to turn black.
At the same time, Reed said, Cara ended up vomiting and passed out.
From there, the hospital airlifted the little girl to Phoenix Children's Hospital for treatment - where Reed said Cara has 'had 30 vials of antivenom so far.'
Her recovery has not been easy, as Cara soon started having trouble breathing and had to be intubated.
That tube was finally removed on Tuesday, following a difficult few hours for the family.
'For the first few hours after taking the tube out, her breathing was very tight and we couldn't keep her oxygen up,' Cara's aunt wrote on the online fundraiser, noting that at times the little girl's oxygen saturation dropped to just 25 percent.
Eventually, Cara's medical team at Phoenix Children's Hospital called the Ears, Nose and Throat specialists to the bedside - where they discovered that the toddler's vocal cords were swollen nearly shut.
At that point, the doctors provided the little girl with more steroids, respiratory treatments, 'positioned her in a specific way to help with her floppy airway' and started her on oxygen mixed with helium.
'We were told that if she didn't show improvement within the hour, that we would be reintubating her with a tiny breathing tube and heading to the OR to have a vocal cord dilation performed,' her aunt, Delia, wrote.
'We prayed and sat by her side, listening for improvement in her breathing' and soon, Cara 'began to move more air,' Delia wrote in an update on the online fundraiser.
'She slowly showed improvement and got over the hump.'
Then on Wednesday, Delia wrote that Cara was 'finally getting nourishment by way of a feeding tube.
'Cara is now aware enough to make eye contact and is getting upset when Mom goes out of her sight,' she shared.
'She is so strong and resilient, and we are so happy with the progress she is making.'
Yet it remains unclear whether Cara will ever regain full function of her foot, as Delia noted on Tuesday that she was beginning to show signs of long term injuries, and 'we do know that her injury is unfortunately one of the more severe.
'We will be looking to see what kind of recovery she can make, but right now, nothing is off the table as far as her long term damage goes,' Delia shared, noting that the family is considering foot surgery.
But both she and Jacquelyn say they are just glad Cara survived the ordeal.
'We are just grateful we still have our little girl with us,' Delia wrote on the GoFundMe, as she thanked everyone who has raised over $17,000 for the little girl's recovery.
'Cara is a true blessing from God and somehow, everyone knows it,' she said.
'We feel your love and your support and [know] without a DOUBT that Cara was preserved today because of the outpouring of faith and prayers to our Heavenly Father by all who love her.'
Jacquelyn added that her baby is 'the angel of the family' and she still hopes 'that we can get full function back, that she can, you know, be back to her normal, happy, like cute, adorable self.'
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