What began as a family trip to Cheney Lake became a life-changing medical crisis for one Kansas mother. For Britagne Miller, a suspected spider bite was followed by surgeries, infections, and a battle to survive.
After spending weeks hospitalized, local news outlet KAKE has reported that Miller is now recovering at home and trying to become eligible for a liver transplant.
What happened?
Miller told the news station that it all started on May 28 while she was at Cheney Lake with her family.
Sitting at a campfire, several spiders crawled over her and bit her. Four days later, she went to the hospital after a bruise near one bite on her calf became more swollen and painful.
Miller said she was already dealing with two blood clotting disorders, a compromised liver, and multiple allergies. According to KAKE, doctors removed nearly 300 milliliters of blood clots during surgery and placed a drain to help the bite wound heal.
She described the pain in stark terms to the outlet: "This one kept swelling and swelling, and it was like, you know, a fire stir that's metal. It was like shooting down my leg into my foot, and it felt like it was being stabbed."
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Her condition worsened after the procedure. Miller said she developed staph and gram-negative infections, and doctors believed she was in end-stage liver failure, telling her she could have as little as three days to a month to live.
Luckily, the worst-case scenarios didn't come to pass. She was reportedly released from the hospital on July 11 and began at-home care with hopes of getting a liver transplant down the road.
Why Does It Matter?
Miller's experience illuminates the dangers of venomous spiders, especially for more vulnerable individuals. Raymond Cloyd, a horticultural entomologist at Kansas State University, told KAKE that two of the spiders found in Kansas are venomous.
"The two venomous ones that we have in Kansas are the black widow spider, and the more numerous one is the brown recluse spider, which prevails throughout most of the Midwest to mid-central Kansas," Cloyd said.
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Based on the bite's location, the early suspicion is that Miller was bitten by a brown recluse spider.
In addition to physical and mental burdens, the medical emergency created financial strain for Miller and her family, KAKE noted. Miller said her husband lost his job because caring for her and their children kept him from maintaining regular work hours.
What's being done?
Miller's family has started a GoFundMe to help pay for hospital bills, ongoing medical expenses, home health care, and everyday necessities during her recovery.
Meanwhile, Cloyd said people can reduce the risk of spider encounters by being cautious around places where they may hide.
"If you have boxes that have been sitting there cold, you want to wear gloves," Cloyd told KAKE. "Shake shoes or even wash them before you end up wearing them because those are areas where brown recluse and black widow are more likely to reside."
He added that sealing cracks and crevices is the main exclusion step to keep spiders and associated insects from getting inside homes.
Miller said thoughts of her family kept her going through the pain and repeated procedures.
"I was like, I give up," Miller recalled to the local news. "I'm done being cut open. I'm done being poked and prodded. I'm done hurting. Then I thought about all of them."
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