I was actually bitten by a brown recluse

[SwOOp]

Yep, amazing enough as it is, I was bitten by a brown recluse. Of course I didn't know it until a few days later when I noticed signs of something not right.

 

The breakdown:

Swoop is alseep one night, apparently he decides his positioning is uncomfortable, so he rolls over. Well mr. recluse didn't like this and decided to bite. Of course Swoop was asleep and didn't feel it. Nor did he feel any pain or was even aware that anything had happened when he awoke.

 

Later that day at work Swoop goes to scratch his lower backside, and "OW!" was this a zit he scratched over on his back that hurt so? Swoop ponders "hmm... I never get zits on my back. Maybe it's a boil... eeewww.... waitaminute, what is a boil, never had one before, so why now?"

 

Swoop being unable to see asks his co-workers to have a look, "Looks like you got bit was everyone's reply"

 

"Oh well" Swoop passes it off, "Not the first, won't be the last."

 

A day goes by, the irritation is still there, but he notices a bunch of little red bumps now on his side (right where his future love handles were to be). He hops in the shower and notices even more little red bumps on his right hip.

 

While discussing this at work, Swoop proclaims that it couldn't be a bite, must be a allergic reaction to something. "Nope," were his buddies replies, "it's a bite". "What the heck, were they trying to eat me?! There is no way they would hang around to bite at a person that long, let alone not have me wake up from it." So Swoop passes it off for a reaction to something.

 

Enter day 3:

Swoop's upper legs are sore as all hell get out, the lymph glands around his groin area were swollen and rock hard. "Ok, doctor time." The doctor's diagnosis is that it was a bite of some kind, insect or spider. He administers a shot and prescribes a week's worth of steroids, and orders bloodwork done on him to make certain it is nothing else, or more serious.

 

Upon Swoop's follow up exam a week later, the doc confirms everything is orky dorky, "But those marks will take some time to go away." He says. Of course he finishes the visit with "If you notice any of these symptoms again, call me immediately, even if I am at home, you can't let something like this go."

The doc never pinpointed what the bite came from, of course it's hard to tell without a sample of the attacker.

 

So all is good and life goes on, and Swoop is watching TV in his room, when he notices a spider perched on the ceiling. A light whack with a fly swatter was enough to bring the behemoth down. Swoop looks him over good and does some research. Upon the investigation he comes to the realization that it is a brown recluse.

Fin

 

Well I guess I can't totally be certain that it was the recluse that bit me, but I have since found one more recluse, yet again in our bedroom, so I am marginally certain that is the way it went down. Recluse's have varying affects on different people, some have no reaction at all, some have just the area at the bite point turn into a red, white, and sometimes bluish lesion. Others could have the more severe reaction of tissue damage and the degenerative affect on the skin if left unchecked. But common myth of how dangerous and even "deadly" they are is grossly exagerrated.

 

The most amazing thing of all though, is that I even got bit by one, they are like most timid creatures, they do not attack out unless fear of being killed, or unsuspectingly being rolled over on.

[Playaa]

wow dude...uumm...I'd still have your house sprayed to get rid of em...if that's even possible

don't know if someone else in your family isn't horribly allergic

[Slimmage]

best piece of literature I've read today!

[BIGSHaW]

wow tough luck swoop...glad you are ok though

[linch]

Yeah....good thing is your ok!

[Crowbar]

great story, I'm bettin you'll be telling that for years to come. and I concur with playaa, get the house sprayed dude, 2 spiders...yeah, I'd be paranoid.

[soul .gc]

First Recluse Story -

 

My wife got bit last year on the top of the head in a Little Ceasar's kids playland (no, she was not playing hehe). She did not think anything of it but a spider bite at the time. Two days later she sees her Doctor cause it is looking pretty gross on her head and she started seeing white spots in her eyes. The Doc rushed us off to the ER at the hospital. Turns out all the skin around the bite was dying and was going to have to be surgically removed, keep in mind this is smack dab on the top center of her head....this means hair loss in that area until a transplant can be done.

 

The prescribed some drugs to stop the white spots and nausea, turns out the bite was affecting her vision and starting to deaden the optic nerves somehow. After a 3 days of the drugs and two surgical consults we were set for the surgery day. The day before the surgery our Doctor says it looks like it is starting to heal, turns out the drugs they gave her worked and they cancelled the surgery and a month later you could not see the bite anymore...

 

The funniest part was the first ER intern was very rude and told her that her physician was wrong, there were no Recluses in Michigan and this was not a bite from one. Thankfully my wife decided to get tinkled and asked for the head doctor....he came over, read the report and the physician statement and then tore into the ER intern right in front of everyone.

 

Second Recluse Story -

 

Prior to the one above my Brother and I were living in a house in Tallahassee while attending Florida State. This was a typical college house, trashed a lot and not the most sanitary place you would ever want to visit. The fleas were so bad from the dogs that you could see your white socks change colors (no exaggeration, it was gross). My girlfriend came to visit for a weekend and would not shower in the bathroom untiil she cleaned it and killed the plant growing from the wall...took her an hour to clean it hehe.

 

Well everything is going fine in our cesspool of a pad and my brother goes to bed one night and next thing I know I hear a girlish shriek. I run out from my room, smashing a good-sized cockroach on my way. There he is in the hallway rambling on about some huge spider in his room. Apparently he woke up and the light was still on and on the pillow in front of his face was a nasty looking spider that looked just like a recluse. We tried to go find it but could not see it anywhere.

 

When we moved to Florida our friends had told us about the nasty crap living there and we had to check the yard once a month for poisonous snakes and other vermin. We lived in town and had to do this. Our neighbor had two dogs die before they realized it was a copperhead living under their storage shed out back.....just friggin scary. So we knew what the Recluse could do when it bit someone and all about the skin dying and stuff...

 

Needless to say my Brother was a bit freaked. He slept on the couch that night and the next while the exterminators came in and sprayed to kill the spiders. I did not realize how freaked he was until three weeks had gone by with 4 visits from the exterminator and he had still not slept in his bedroom again. We never did find that spider but he finally went back to his room after the last exterminator visit.

[Magruter]

Nice story swoop, it took alot out of me... ....I'll have to read soul's story in a alittle bit.

 

Glad you're ok swoopy poo.

[Fatty]

Should we move this story to public? Did you mean for this to be a private, family-type moment?

 

Glad all members are still breathing. This is scary.

 

Any links to recluse information?

[Magruter]

Here ya go, anytime i'm looking for bioligical hazards i always to go school sites, they seem to have some great information on local hazards.

 

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061.html

[SwOOp]

Yeah, I meant for this to be in the public chat Fats, this is like the 3rd time I've posted in here when I meant for it to be in chit-chat blah blah blah.

[urk?!?]

Jeesh Swoop. Glad you're aight. That's CRAAAAAZY

 

Oh, and moved it to the chitchat

[Trouble .gc]

Here ya go, anytime i'm looking for bioligical hazards i always to go school sites, they seem to have some great information on local hazards.

 

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061.html

nice chioce mag OSU!!

 

i'm glad you are ok smoop...spiders ar scary..

[Mooney .gc]

good thing ur doing better now. i hate spiders

 

 

<3 Swoop

 

 

 

Inspired`Mooney

[gOOters]

get your freakin house sprayed mang! Jeez...

 

I like your avatar Maybe Dale will give you a deal? A DALE DEAL! HAHAHAHAHA, WAHAHAHAHAAHAHA...hrm.

[dwEEziL]

Yikes, I didn't know it was a recluse. Geez, and I was there when it bit you too. Must have been a crap-eating spider cuz it didn't touch me.

 

BTW, how is Christy's hand doing?

[flux]

  good thing ur doing better now.  i hate spiders

 

 

<3 Swoop

 

 

 

Inspired`Mooney

i second this.

[Xterminator]

what's a recluse?

[SheepNutz]

Glad you are ok my brotha.

[Xterminator]

Glad you are ok my brotha.

dude i'm totally serious. Maybe you guys call it something else then we do

[SwOOp]

She's doing better Doug, she didn't need stitches and there wasn't any glass in the cut, so all is well. It could've been a lot worse though, it was right on the wrist where all the nice vital veins are.

[Xterminator]

ah it's a type of spider.. koo.....ouch

[Justin]

xterm a recluse is a type of spider, very nasty characters they are. They are also commonly known as fiddlebacks for the markings on their back. Common mistake most people make when they "see" a recluse is size. Most fiddlebacks are no larger than a nickel at MOST. Of course there are exceptions just like with anything else. I get to deal with them constantly being that I live in southwest oklahoma about 20 minutes from the texas border. So if you see a decent sized spider with markings that look like a fiddle on it's back, chances are it's NOT a recluse.

 

On another note, you can put any kind of insect, serpent, or venomous creature in front of me, but when it comes to spiders. I swear to you it can be the size of a thumbtack and I will run and scream like a little girl.

 

* Scary Fact*

 

The average human being swallows 13 spiders while sleeping during the course of their life. *shudders*

[dwEEziL]

Mmmm, protein

[Sir Shertown Pimp]

xterm a recluse is a type of spider, very nasty characters they are.  They are also commonly known as fiddlebacks for the markings on their back.  Common mistake most people make when they "see" a recluse is size.  Most fiddlebacks are no larger than a nickel at MOST.  Of course there are exceptions just like with anything else.  I get to deal with them constantly being that I live in southwest oklahoma about 20 minutes from the texas border.  So if you see a decent sized spider with markings that look like a fiddle on it's back, chances are it's NOT a recluse. 

 

On another note, you can put any kind of insect, serpent, or venomous creature in front of me, but when it comes to spiders. I swear to you it can be the size of a thumbtack and I will run and scream like a little girl.

 

* Scary Fact*

 

The average human being swallows 13 spiders while sleeping during the course of their life.  *shudders*

I live about 20 minutes from the Oklahoma border, where are you at?