My mother awoke one morning and like every other morning, showered and began to dress. She swiped her pants up which lay over the her tub and proceeded to put them on. She felt a prick on her leg. She ran her hands over her pants assuming there was a pin or something attatched and she discovered an unusual lump, which she sqeezed and took her pants back off. The lump was a spider, a brown spider. She had clearly been bitten, but being the anti-worrier that my mother is, she thought nothing of it. After a few hours she began to break out in hives an noticed a red and swollen spot on her thigh. After waiting it out overnight (because she is the opposite of me) she went to the hospital. The bite and rash had progressively gotten worse and they told her that she had been bitten by a brown recluse. My mother can tell by the expression on the nurses face that this is a big deal. “What do I.” my mother asked semi-horrified. “Nothing that you can do.” says the nurse. She informs my mother that this is the ONLY bite that has no anti-venum, and what this spider’s venum does is actually liquify your cells. It eats your skin away and there is no way to idicate how bad it will be. My mother did a little research on her own and learned that this spider’s bite can truly be a tragedy. The stories on the internet are certainly less then plesant; stories of a 2 year old who was bitten on the face and half of his face was eaten away; stories of legs and arms needing to be amputated; images of people who literally have no flesh left on their appendages. So…..my mother waits. The past 5 weeks have been pretty ugly. Between an oozing sore and a black hole and excrusiating, burning pain- it has been a jouney for my poor mom! It has been 5 weeks and her wound is still not nearly healed. See the images below to look at her progress…or lack there of! And….shake your clothes and check your tubs and get call an exterminator!!!!! [UPDATE! As I was publishing this blog post, my mom found ANOTHER brown recluse on her other leg in the shower!! Everyone pray that she did NOT get bit again!!]
DAY 2
1 WEEK
Week TWO
I am so sorry for your poor mom!!! I’ll pray that she didn’t get bit again and that her existing bite heals soon!
Your mom needs to go back to the hospital and see someone else. That nurse is an idiot and I would be very upset about the fact that she sent her home and said nothing can be done. Yes, there is no anti-venom, but there ARE avenues that can be taken!! I was bitten by a brown recluse 5 years ago and went to Southeast Hospital for treatment. They sent me to the wound care center and I had to do hyberbaric chamber therapy for a few days to help heal the spot that had been bitten. My bite was directly behind my knee and was so painful that I couldn’t walk after the first day. There was a huge ring of red around the bite and the center was completely black. Within 3 days of the chamber therapy, the bite was almost completely healed. Seriously, she should not just stand by and wait to see what happens – take her back to the hospital!!
I talked to your Mom last Friday night when I took my granddaughter, Sammi, to see Mario do his pizza thing for her (and of course see Miss Angie). She said she was doing better….but wow, another bite….she will probably have new stories this Friday. They are such wonderful people. I’m so glad they came to our community.
This is crazy! I am so sorry for her!! Yes, I would take her back to the hospital as well. There has to be something they can do… even if it’s to help her feel better!
I agree with Kristal! Been there done that and you CAN find relief.
Wow, I too had a brown recluse bite on my side and went to the doctor right away. They gave me 2 rounds of steriods and strong antibiotics. This did help the healing, swelling, and pain as well. I hope she does get better soon.