Misery loves company

[Reeltarded]

Been a rough couple of weeks.. and then...

I put on my left shoe and suddenly felt a lightning bolt from the top of my big toe to behind my left ear.

Black Widow

Called my doc, a friend, he is out of town.. and asks me if I am having trouble breathing. Nope, not yet. Had me submerge my foot in the most insanely hot water I could stand. I got used to it so I did it for an hour. During that hour I got a headache that rivaled the worst migraine ever and started heaving and gacking water. I hadn't eaten much that day. Good. Oof.

My foot was swollen like a grapefruit and felt like an all over bone bruise. It was red/purple and the bite mark turned into a nasty dot half the size of a dime.

Two days later the swelling is gone, the bite itches like a curse, I want coffee. I must be ok now. No headache or I got used to it. Hard to tell.

I have a very bad reaction to wasps. I was freaking out. Don't put on a shoe without spraying it with insecticides and napalm then banging it on cement for 60 seconds and setting fire to it.

About 8 years ago I helped a friend move his music store to a new location. His storage area was unconditioned block construction. When we pulled up the doors I noticed that every surface around the doors and any framing was covered by randomly scattered webs. Brown Widows. They look like mottled milk balls with a red mark. There were easily over 3000-4000 in a 2400' space.

Life is infested with crappy insects and deadly land crabs. They must die. Get a can of gas and a torch.

[martin manning]

Yow! I don’t want any part of that. Glad you are recovering.

[Reeltarded]

Glad it wasnt a recluse.

[Phil_S]

Ouch! Sorry. I suffer from venom allergies. I have some sense of how awful this is. Hang in there and you'll be well soon enough. FWIW, I'm going to offer some unsolicited advice, so apologies if I'm out of order. Venom allergies are a serious matter. I recognize the spider bite is a different thing, but I think what I have to say applies. Anyone who has venom allergies should have an Epipen. I'd venture to say if you had used one after the bite, it likely would have helped and it probably wouldn't have hurt anything. Last year, I complained to my allergy doc about the cost of the Epipen, for which the manufacturer decided to gouge a vulnerable market. She gave me a promo for the Auri-Q, which is an alternative epinephrine injector. I got a pair for $0! Seek out this deal!

[xtian]

Man, spiders are my snakes.

[Stevem]

I always have a propane torch ready for there webs and Ants !
It's good your ok and also on the plus side now you have built up some resistance to those types of bights!

[Reeltarded]

I have already crossed that 'do not get stung again' line.

[norburybrook]

Yikes, Miles.....don't do that again, glad you're OK. I've just got back from Australia and saw some horribly big Huntsman spiders in my brothers garage!!! oh he also brought back a couple of passengers in a classic car he'd towed 2600 Km home to restore...red backs...they'll put you in hospital straight away...little fellas like the Black Widow, they look very innocuous. Fortunately my brother spotted the distinctive web.

I'm with Xtian...spiders are my snakes too,


M

[pompeiisneaks]

I'm glad you survived that, ouch! Nothing I want to experience. Take comfort in the fact that you're not in Australia where pretty much anything that bites you is instant death

~Phil

[Reeltarded]

Imagine being in India in the late 18th century sleeping in a tent. Meh.

[stelligan]

Yikes!
When I lived in Sacramento, black widows were everywhere. Killed more than my share. Always worried about bites but, thankfully avoided them. I guess around here it's brown recluse. I haven't seen any - they're reclusive. You had me checking my work boots before I went digging in the garden today......
Hope you heal up soon.

[Reeltarded]

recluses here don't mind traveling in the open.. they are 10 times more likely to be in a shoe.

i am going bare feet from now on

[telentubes]

Yeah, that's bad. Had a friend loose a big toe to a recluse, and another on deaths door from a rattler bite. But I hate the tic worst of all. One of my older sisters has pretty much had her life ruined from Lyme disease. It's epidemic on the coasts.

[dorrisant]

Seems like you recovered very fast. Good on you! I had a recluse bite a few years ago... Looked like i had half a volleyball under the skin on my thigh. A crater the size of half a golf ball formed at the bite location... Lost about 6 days with that one. That was the first of two recluse bites in 2 years. I used to help spiders, relocating them to greener pastures and such. Now, I pretty much kill on sight. Let someone else figure out whether it was poisonous or not.

[Winder]

Dayum! That sucks! Glad you're on the mend.

Grew up in Sacramento. Black Widows everywhere. Mofos can jump too!!! I used to sit on my weight bench in the middle of the garage with my Crosman 760 and shoot them in the corners of the garage. Had a near miss once plunging my hand into a paper grocery bag to open it up. Saw the widow just in time ... still give me chills thinking about it.

Spiders freak me the hell out!