A spider bite

[PJMcK]

Thursday night, I went to our wood pile so we could have a campfire at our mountain house. On Friday morning I had a fever and felt vaguely nauseous. By Saturday, I had to go to the emergency room because my fever was up to 103• and my right hand had swollen. If you saw the first Star Trek movie with Chris Pine, that’s what my hand looked like!

After numerous tests and x-rays, it was clear I had been bitten by either a black widow or brown recluse spider. Both are dangerous. Next time I’ll wear gloves!

So once again, I was incredibly fortunate to have good insurance and got treated with a course of anti-biotics and a B12 shot. There were no questions from the staff about my ability to pay.

It’s going to mess with our vacation but it beats being dead!

Every American should have a medical safety net. In this wealthy country, it disgusts me how Republicans want our citizens to be sick or dead.

Shame on them.

Oh, and Trump is an idiot.

[RKP5637]

1. I'm always concerned about spiders when working in our yard. I try to be careful, but they are so

small and dangerous. I'm also careful when keeping my gloves in the garage ... because sometimes they climb into gloves in storage. Scary stuff. Glad to hear you survived OK. PS: I hate tRump and his regime!

[PJMcK]

2. Thanks! (n/t)

[Ohiogal]

3. Glad you're OK!

That is one experience I wouldn’t want to have!

But, you are so right about having good health insurance and easy access to see a doctor right away. Beats the alternative, huh!

This time of the year 12 years ago I was in the middle of chemo fighting stage 3 cancer... followed by radiation ... followed by two major surgeries. I had good insurance which paid for everything, too.

It was such an awful time, I was severely depressed, most of the time I could barely function. I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams having to worry about not having $ to pay for it all. One small example, I had to have a shot of Neulasta the day after each chemo treatment (I had 8 altogether). Each one of those shots cost $3000. And this was just one part of my total cancer treatment.

I, too, hate with a passion how Republicans want to take away health insurance for many Americans. There are no words to describe their evil. Why they want to see millions get sick and die .... it’s beyond my ability to understand.

[PJMcK]

4. I'm glad you recovered. Ohiogal

It’s frightening and appalling that we’re in this state.

What kind of country are we becoming?!

ETA: Ialways read your posts!

[Ohiogal]

7. Awww thanks

Same goes for me!

I agree wholeheartedly that health care in this country is a total disgrace. Trump and his cabal are mean spirited, hateful, idiots.

I hope you keep those gloves handy from now on! Ticks like woodpiles, too ... we found that out the hard way here.

[RKP5637]

9. The GOP seems to delight in hurting others. I think sadists and real mental freaks are attracted to

the GOP. Just about all of them are really freaky when you hear about their past and their ideas. And now with our communications of today it's rather easy for them to coalesce together.

When at the university years ago, we were told by one professor that seriously, about 25% of the population in the US had some serious mental issues they really needed help with ... most do not seek out help. IMO, that 25% is with the GOP. I imagine it could be even more these days. There are some real nut cases walking around and often their behavior is hard to detect unless in a clinical setting.

Well, democrats are not immune to this ether.

[magicarpet]

5. That last comment,..

Shame on them.

Oh, and Trump is an idiot.

######==######

Proves PJMcK is of sound mind and body.
Sorry to hear you were bitten,... nice to know you retained your political spunk.

[PJMcK]

23. Thanks! (n/t)

[elleng]

6. OH GOLLY, GLAD you've been treated, PJ.

SORRY about your vacay. MAYBE I'll go out for some nearby fresh seafood this week in your honor!!!

[PJMcK]

24. Well, the Landlady(!) and still plan to eat well!

She went off to the fish market and picked up a tuna steak and some fresh clams.

I think we'll eat well tonight.

Thanks for your nice thoughts.

[elleng]

32. Good, DO eat well.

Too hot for me even to head to the market now, even tho would LOVE steamed shrimp. Was just checking menu for tomorrow (or Tuesday) @ nearby restaurant, MD crab soup AND crab cake 'sandwich.'

[Anon-C]

8. A brown recluse bit me at Army Airborne school...amazing what that venom can do!

Medic removed the skin that was necrotic, and gave me Prednisone.

A small brown recluse bit me a year ago while moving...classic bite right on my hand. That one didn't do much, but a year latter I can still feel the bite.

[RKP5637]

10. Wow, really scary stuff and so dangerous. n/t

[sprinkleeninow]

11. Heal quickly and completely! 💙

[PJMcK]

25. Thanks

The bite was on my right hand between the middle and ring fingers and they're really stiff so no piano for a couple of days!

ETA: The neighbors might prefer that. (wink)

[sprinkleeninow]

35. That's right! You have musical chops!

What was the other instrument(s) you play?

We reminisced one time regarding you teaching in a former stomping ground of mine. 🤗

[mountain grammy]

12. Glad you're ok and trump is an idiot.

[sprinkleeninow]

36. I'm also glad he okay.

And drumpf is a jerkass.

[LittleGirl]

13. We have a

Wood pile and there’s a bee nest but you’re right; Spiders like them too. I think I’m going to get rid of the pile. Sorry you’re stung but I hope you recover quickly.

Can’t believe IQ45 is still potus and sick that the republicans are silent.

[sprinkleeninow]

37. We all should henceforth end our posts/replies with an

appropriate ode to the presi-de(me)nted one.

Schlumpy is a huge fraud.

[LittleGirl]

40. LOL, I love it! eom

[yaesu]

14. A friends bf got bit by a brown recluse on his back thigh a few weeks ago and had the same

symptoms, had to make 2 trips to the ER as the bite got worse do to infection after the first visit. Had the same treatment you had. I don't think a black widow would do that to you. Recluse have tissue destroying venom that leaves bite areas more prone to infection.

[barbtries]

18. i had a friend with a black widow bite.

it was gnarly. they had to scrape out part of her leg basically.

[stopwastingmymoney]

44. Me too

I was bit by a black widow (in my wood pile too) about ten years ago.

It made me sick for nine months before I finally insisted they cut it out of me.

I’m still really sensitive to spider bites ever since

[marble falls]

15. A friend of mine got bitten and the resulting wound looked like a gunshot ...

wound before Doctors got it to start healing. Brown Recluse bites are nothing to play around with, I hope you have a quick recovery!

[PJMcK]

27. Thanks you

The ER doctor estimated that it should heal in 7 to 10 days which sounds fast.

[marble falls]

29. It sounds fast to me, but then you got yourself to the ER tout sweet. Good call!

[GeorgeGist]

16. Greed is a terrible disease.

[Collimator]

17. Very happy that you are okay.

That spider's name certainly wasn't Charlotte.

Excellent points about the need for affordable health care for everyone.

Loved your closing salutation. At my college ( a woman's college), I used to end every email with, "Death to the Patriarchy."

(That's especially amusing if you knew how cheery and non-threating I am.)


So. . .

Death to the Patriarchy! And Trump is an idiot*.

* Also the sky is blue and water is wet.

[PJMcK]

28. A question about Charlotte's Web

If she was the only spider the the barn, how did she get pregnant?

(wink)

[Collimator]

33. Hey, the girl had a life, you know.

She could have slipped out some nights inbetween spelling spells. And she did go to the fair. I don't know anything about the timing regarding reproductive functions in spiders, but all sorts of things are possible. She may have already eaten her mate before she met Wilber.*


* A charming thought to accompany a treasured children's book.

[PJMcK]

34. I know, I'm bad! (n/t)

[secondwind]

19. Your story made me happy, that you turned out okay... good news is always welcome nowadays!

[Xipe Totec]

20. Sadly there are no shots to cure stupid, and shitting on gold toilets doesn't help either nt

[EarnestPutz]

21. "Oh. and Trump is an idiot" - I like that. It's going to be my new salutation.

[certainot]

22. some years there are a lot of black widows around my place. from what i hear

(including my mother who was bitten by one when she was a kid) the black widows widow bites will hurt a lot more immediately while the recluse bite will eat away......

[benld74]

26. Truth within your post, especially last sentence

[Laffy Kat]

30. There is a spider in these parts I just heard about...

The brown widow. Sounds like their bites aren't as bad as black widows but can still cause pain and complications. They look like innocent orb weavers to me, so beware. Have a look:

https://dengarden.com/pest-control/brown-widow-spider

[MuseRider]

31. My farm is loaded

with brown recluse. I am lucky that I have only a very small reaction to their bite. A good friend research doctor told me several years ago to put a pin hole in a CoQ 10 capsule and rub a little of the oil from the capsule several times a day. I had never seen a brown recluse until that year when it seems I got an infestation in my horse barn. I have been bitten several times and each time I have seen the spider so I know what it was. I followed his advice and so far I have had a little pain, the bullseye and only a small ulcer. If I did not now know that I don't react badly I would use that then go to the doctor but I know that I am probably ok. Use it for comfort but after your reaction this time I think going to the ER will always be a good idea. This is something that it's excellent on a burn. Pain is gone soon and never a blister. YMMV glad you are ok.

[BigmanPigman]

38. My friend was bitten by a brown recluse

and he had the worst headache, a fever and vomiting. He didn't think it was from a spider bite until he went to the hospital and he put two and two together (he brushed away cobwebs in the back yard by his wood pile). The strange thing is that he got all the same symptoms again two weeks later. He told me that if he had a gun he would have shot himself he was in so much pain. Another friend was bitten by a black widow (hiding in her shoe).

On the local news I heard that an exchange student who was visiting CA from Sweden was bitten by a rattle snake and he had to get venom shots. The bill was over $250,000. He couldn't believe it since Sweden doesn't make you pay for this. Fortunately he bought extra traveler's insur before he came here and was covered.

[lambchopp59]

39. I was bitten by a black widow in 1976

On the back of the leg sleeping face down. I got her (slap)... number, turned her over, sure enough, orange hourglass. There was an odd outcome to that event. It made me very ill the same day, and it indirectly led me to a kindly gentleman that allowed me to rest off and heal up, and I ended up living with and assisting that senior citizen for nearly a year.
However, if it was a black widow and it got a lot of poison into you, expect a cavitating wound of necrosis to appear. It wasn't particularly painful unless bumped, just a weird hole in my posterior thigh and needing twice daily dressing changes with yellowish lymphatic drainage. It healed up in a couple weeks, then itchy, flaking skin over the healed area would return repeatedly.
But I was back on my feet, mostly up to full activity after a couple days rest.
I would not allow anyone to take me to the doctor or hospital for this, despite encouragement to do so.
Because i was a teen runaway, escaping a far worse fate.

[panader0]

41. A brown recluse bite is more serious than a black widow I believe.

Necrosis will occur with the brown more so than the black.
There are plenty of both here in So Az. I have been very lucky
to avoid their bites in my 40 years here although I've been
tagged a few times by scorpions.

[PJMcK]

42. Insects' poisons are so dangerous

I've always had an almost irrational fear of bugs and since I've spent a lot of time outdoors, I've tried to overcome the fear with a conscious awareness.

Still, I hate bugs! Scorpions freak me out, too.

[CanonRay]

43. Same thing happened to me on New Years Eve one year

felt great, went to the woodpile at our house in Colorado, within an hour I'm burning up and barfing.

[PJMcK]

45. How did you recover?

After two days of antibiotics, I'm feeling 100% better and the terrible swelling in my hand has diminished significantly.

As I said in the OP, I'm grateful for excellent health care and I cannot understand why anyone would deny it to others.

[CanonRay]

46. Yes, in a couple of days

but I felt a lot better by morning. Took Benadryl when I could keep something down, so not much swelling. Since it was a holiday, never did go to the doc.