Updated
Updated · KSL.com · Aug 8
Kansas Mother Survives 300-Milliliter Clot Removal, Awaits Liver Transplant After Spider Bite
Updated
Updated · KSL.com · Aug 8

Kansas Mother Survives 300-Milliliter Clot Removal, Awaits Liver Transplant After Spider Bite

3 articles · Updated · KSL.com · Aug 8

Summary

  • Britagne Miller left a Wichita hospital on July 11 after surviving multiple surgeries, severe infections and a medical crisis triggered by spider bites she says she suffered at Cheney Lake on May 28.
  • Doctors removed nearly 300 milliliters of blood clots from her leg, then treated a staph and gram-negative infection as her condition worsened into what they believed was end-stage liver failure.
  • Miller said physicians told her she had three days to a month to live, but she declined hospice, spent time in medical and cardiac intensive care, and is now in at-home care.
  • The next step is a liver transplant once her hemoglobin rises enough to qualify, with her pre-existing clotting disorders and compromised liver complicating recovery.
  • Doctors could not confirm the species, but the wound pattern suggested a brown recluse bite; a Kansas State entomologist said brown recluse and black widow are the state's two venomous spiders.

Insights

Was a spider bite truly to blame, or did a hidden bacterial infection push this mother to the brink of liver failure?
How did a simple camping trip leave a Kansas family relying on crowdfunding to survive a terrifying medical nightmare?
Could your underlying health conditions secretly turn a common bug bite into a rapid, life-threatening medical emergency?