A Kansas mother was left battling for her life after a suspected spider bite triggered a series of complications that once left doctors fearing she had only weeks to live.

Britagne Miller of Goddard said the ordeal began on May 28 while she and her family were spending time around a campfire at Cheney Lake. During the outing, she said multiple spiders crawled on her, leaving bites across her body.

At first, Miller did not think the bites were serious. But days later, one bite on her calf had turned into a painful, swollen bruise that became so severe she went to the hospital on June 4.

“This one kept swelling and swelling, and it was like, you know, a fire stir that's metal,” Miller told KAKE. “It was like shooting down my leg into my foot, and it felt like it was being stabbed.”

Doctors discovered Miller was dealing with a severe blood clotting issue in her leg and determined she needed emergency surgery. But for Miller, surgery came with added fear because of her complicated medical history.

Miller said her health challenges started years earlier when she was pregnant with her daughter and diagnosed with two blood clotting disorders. She later developed liver issues and multiple allergies to foods and medications, which made the idea of undergoing surgery even more frightening.

“I'm terrified of surgery, that I'm going to go to sleep and not wake up, or that I'm going to bleed out,” Miller told the news station. “They came at 9 o'clock in the morning, and they're like, we need you to sign this paper. We're going into surgery.”

During the procedure, Miller said doctors removed nearly 300 milliliters of blood clots from her leg and placed a drain to help the wound heal. But five days into her recovery, things took another turn when the wound became infected with staph and another serious bacterial infection.

Doctors also determined Miller was experiencing end-stage liver failure.

“They couldn't keep my levels above even critical,” Miller said. “They gave me three days up to a month to live, so that was scary.”

Miller said she spent time in both the medical and cardiac intensive care units and remembers only brief moments from that period. Despite doctors’ concerns, she declined hospice care and continued fighting through the complications.

After weeks of treatment, Miller was finally released from the hospital on July 11 and began receiving care at home. She said her family was the motivation that pushed her forward during the darkest moments.

“I was like, I give up,” Miller said. “I'm done being cut open. I'm done being poked and prodded. I'm done hurting. Then I thought about all of them.”

Miller said she has now survived multiple surgeries and infections, but her recovery is far from over. Her next goal is improving her health enough to qualify for a liver transplant.

“The plan is to get a liver transplant once they can get my hemoglobin levels up,” Miller said.

Doctors were never able to definitively confirm what type of spider bit Miller, but the location and appearance of the injury led them to suspect it may have been a brown recluse spider.

Dr. Raymond Cloyd, a horticultural entomologist at Kansas State University, told KAKE that Kansas is home to many spider species, but only two are considered venomous: the black widow and brown recluse.

As Miller continues her recovery, her family is facing financial struggles after she said her husband, Jake, lost his job while caring for her and their children. Jake launched a $45,000 GoFundMe to help cover medical bills, home health care and daily expenses. At the time of publication, the fundraiser was about $10,000 short of its goal.