# Spider bite.



## Gologit (Sep 30, 2011)

I just got home from a little three day vacation at our local hospital. Monday morning I had a small red itchy spot on the back of my right hand. Monday evening I had a hand about the size of a catchers mitt...but much more colorful. I went to the local Urgent Care clinic...you know, the one where all the doctors speak with accents and have medical degrees from colleges in Botswana or the small islands of the Caribbean.

Docs In A Box took one look and had me admitted to the real hospital. The one with real doctors. Lots of blood drawn, lots of big IV antibiotic bags hanging from two poles, lots of holes in my arms, and some really really good pain meds. Did you know that when they take blood for blood cultures now they put it in little bottles that look exactly like the small Tabasco bottles? I hope whoever took the blood didn't stop off at the cafeteria on the way to the lab.

They figure it was a spider bite. I don't know, could have been I guess. They put me in a room by myself, declared it an Isolation Unit and made everybody gown and glove when entering just in case it _wasn't_ a spider bite.

It kept swelling and wouldn't pop on it's own so they finally did an Incise and Drain. Hospital people call it the Slice and Stomp. Among the other wrong turns I've taken in my life was becoming an EMT and I remembered the S and S procedure. Sometimes people would pass out from the sight, smell, fluid discharge and resultant high pitched screaming . Sometimes the patient would pass out, too. :msp_biggrin:

They sent me home this evening with a huge ugly crater on the back of my hand, more anti-biotics, and a whole bunch of those good pain meds, too.

Anybody ever have a spider bite? If so, how was it treated and how long did it take to heal up? Nerve/tissue damage? Loss of motor control or residual nerve dysfunction?


And a side note...it's really really hard to sneak off down the hall to the special hiding place where all the hospital staff go to smoke when your're dragging two wheeled IV stands, neither of which will track straight.


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## hanniedog (Sep 30, 2011)

Without pictures it never happened. Kidding aside hope you get better fast.


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## Simonizer (Sep 30, 2011)

Gologit said:


> I just got home from a little three day vacation at our local hospital. Monday morning I had a small red itchy spot on the back of my right hand. Monday evening I had a hand about the size of a catchers mitt...but much more colorful. I went to the local Urgent Care clinic...you know, the one where all the doctors speak with accents and have medical degrees from colleges in Botswana or the small islands of the Caribbean.
> 
> Docs In A Box took one look and had me admitted to the real hospital. The one with real doctors. Lots of blood drawn, lots of big IV antibiotic bags hanging from two poles, lots of holes in my arms, and some really really good pain meds. Did you know that when they take blood for blood cultures now they put it in little bottles that look exactly like the small Tabasco bottles? I hope whoever took the blood didn't stop off at the cafeteria on the way to the lab.
> 
> ...


Dammit Gologit I'm an engineer not a doctor!. However, I tutored many students in university and one of them became an entomologist. You suffered a necrotizing bite from what I suspect is a Brown recluse spider. Google the little beast. Hope you treat the affected region properly if I am right. (and I almost always am)


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## Gologit (Sep 30, 2011)

Simonizer said:


> Dammit Gologit I'm an engineer not a doctor!. However, I tutored many students in university and one of them became an entomologist. You suffered a necrotizing bite from what I suspect is a Brown recluse spider. Google the little beast. Hope you treat the affected region properly if I am right. (and I almost always am)


 
Nope...no necrosis...just plenty of edema and localized sepsis. That plus the fact that brown recluse spiders are _supposed_ to be rare around here really has me wondering. There are about a million different kind of bug bite that it might be. Or maybe it wasn't a bug at all. They're really scratching their heads over this. That's why I wanted some first hand information from people who have had something similar. 

I have some good antibiotics close to hand and follow-up work scheduled for Tuesday


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## rwoods (Sep 30, 2011)

Hope you recover soon. Ron


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## Metals406 (Sep 30, 2011)

Sorry to hear it Bob. . . Hope you heal up quick!

It was most likely not a Fiddle Back. September is a huge migrating/breeding month for Hobo spiders. The males are the ones that pack a punch, and travel to find a mate. They can be identified by several features -- the the most pronounced will be their spider sex organs on their "face". Called Palps or Palpi, they make the male Hobo look like he's carring around boxing gloves. If they are blunt, and not pointy, you most likely have a Hobo.

I really like spiders, and have taken the time to study up on Hobo males. The only true way to identify them is by magnification and examining their "bits & pieces" carefully.







They also rarely "wet bite", and dry bite humans more often than not. I was examining a male a couple years ago in my grandfathers basement, and he didn't like that I was trying to roll him over to examine his belly. He put a puddle of venom on the floor the size of a nickel. :msp_ohmy:


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## troythetreeman (Sep 30, 2011)

brown recluse bites are ugly
if i were you id be hoping it was a black widow
no joke


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## Metals406 (Sep 30, 2011)

troythetreeman said:


> brown recluse bites are ugly
> if i were you id be hoping it was a black widow
> no joke


 
I was walking to the bathroom at my old shop years ago, and almost walked face first into a Black Widow hanging from the ceiling. I grabbed it and took it home as a pet, until it died some time later.

Widow bites, in most cases, won't make a "wound", but instead cause abdominal and leg cramps. 

I think Widows are rather pretty spiders.


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## Metals406 (Sep 30, 2011)

Bob, I was doing some reading online, about West coast bite cases. A few turned out to be bacterial from a poke, or sliver, cut, etc.

Make them sweep the wound and test for fungal and bacterial infection.


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## lfnh (Sep 30, 2011)

Jeez, that's a heck of a way to start out the week.
Good your're home and don't need to sneak around for a smoke.
Hope for a quick heal up. Lee


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## lt1nut (Oct 2, 2011)

You said you were trained as an EMT so I know I don't have to say this BUT first-hand reminding is never a bad thing:
GOOD pain meds are narcotics. It takes the body a while to acclimate to their sedative and mind-numbing ways. PLEASE don't run a saw when on them for the first 10-15 days or so. Don't drive when tired. Yadda-yadda-yadda.

How do I know? Failed back syndrome since '00, MANY narcotics- currently Kadian(Morphine Sulfate) and Percs as needed, in addition to other meds and a spinal cord stimulator. I've got the chronic pain thing down to a T, hehehe.

Oh, GET BETTER!!!!


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## RandyMac (Oct 2, 2011)

Holy #### Bob!

My worst bite/sting was a scorpion, nasty.

I'm tying one on, got well you tough old bastard


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## Metals406 (Oct 2, 2011)

Any news on this ya old mossback!? 

Or did ya have to chew it off like a coyote?


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## Gologit (Oct 3, 2011)

Metals406 said:


> Any news on this ya old mossback!?
> 
> Or did ya have to chew it off like a coyote?


 
No chewing! I was puttering in the yard today and whacked the bad hand against the side of the house. Hard. Broke everything open again. Got quite a bit more gunk out and it bled well, too. That's a good thing.

Doctor visit tomorrow. The boys with the white coats, stethoscopes, and serious expressions still can't figure out exactly what caused this but it seems to be healing at the rate they expect. That's a good thing also.


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## Metals406 (Oct 3, 2011)

Gologit said:


> No chewing! I was puttering in the yard today and whacked the bad hand against the side of the house. Hard. Broke everything open again. Got quite a bit more gunk out and it bled well, too. That's a good thing.
> 
> Doctor visit tomorrow. The boys with the white coats, stethoscopes, and serious expressions still can't figure out exactly what caused this but it seems to be healing at the rate they expect. That's a good thing also.


 
OUCH!! Been there done that. I shot a 16g finish nail thru a knuckle (blew it apart) on a job. . . The next day while driving a nail into some shear, I wrapped it on the plywood during a full hammer swing.

I don't recall exactly, but I'm fairly certain there was some squealing like a little girl, and involuntary urination. 

Have them Dr. bastards sweep your wound for bacteria/fungus. . . It might not have been a bite.


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## MacLaren (Oct 3, 2011)

I swear that sounds like a brown recluse. I had a good friend workin on fence posts and the next thing ya know he is in the hospital with all kinds a swelling. he got bit on the knee. Seems like he was in for 3 days as well. They kept draining the fluids, as it looked really bad. When I read your thread that was the 1st thing come to mind.


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## logbutcher (Oct 4, 2011)

Glad you're healing boy.
Sounds like the Brown Recluse Spider--extremely dangerous. Good prognosis for you.
BUTT: take it easy for a long while. The meds alone can lay you out, as well as getting rid of systemic poison.

No alcohol BTW !


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## kr5258 (Oct 4, 2011)

A friend of mine got bit by a Brown Recluse above the ankle. He has a prosthesis from the knee down now.


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## hitechredneck (Oct 4, 2011)

KR..

You must be a Hallmark card writer...that is a quite cheerful get well message


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## Metals406 (Oct 4, 2011)

hitechredneck said:


> KR..
> 
> You must be a Hallmark card writer...that is a quite cheerful get well message


 
:hmm3grin2orange:


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## Metals406 (Oct 4, 2011)

MacLaren said:


> I swear that sounds like a brown recluse. I had a good friend workin on fence posts and the next thing ya know he is in the hospital with all kinds a swelling. he got bit on the knee. Seems like he was in for 3 days as well. They kept draining the fluids, as it looked really bad. When I read your thread that was the 1st thing come to mind.


 
Hobo venom acts in a very similar manner to the Recluse (often less severe). As Bob stated earlier, Recluse are extremely rare this far North.


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## Gologit (Oct 4, 2011)

Metals406 said:


> Hobo venom acts in a very similar manner to the Recluse (often less severe). As Bob stated earlier, Recluse are extremely rare this far North.


 
Yup. I've been doing a lot of reading about spider bites the last few days. Not much else to do.

The brown recluse, most of the experts agree, is a non issue where I live. Small colonies of them live in the southern part of the state but there doesn't seem to be any migration to this area.

The hobo spider mentioned by Metals406 is another matter entirely. They're here. And their population appears to be growing.

I've talked to a lot of medical people the last few days and I've learned a lot. Some of it is a little scary. According to the Doctors the bite itself isn't, of itself, terribly bad. The bite is very treatable. But what usually happens is that the bite will become infected and then the _real_ problems start. Spider bites, for whatever reason, are absolute magnets to infection.

Most of the horror stories you hear about people losing limbs and suffering other major tissue losses are from the infection, not from the bite itself. Too many people wait until they have a raging infection before they seek help. The medical advice I got differed in minor details but there was one constant thread that was repeated over and over by everyone from whom I sought advice. Do not, under any circumstances, ignore the bite, scratch at it, try to treat it yourself with off the shelf remedies, and think it will go away by itself. It won't. Unless you live in some kind of sterile bubble you'll just make things worse.

So...don't do like I did and ignore the thing. I waited about a day longer than I should have to get help and it almost cost me my hand. I should know better, too.

The cost factor isn't something to be ignored, either. Three days of being in the hospital with constant IVs, blood tests, and wound dressings isn't cheap.

You _will_ lose weight, though. Especially after eating hospital food for awhile. I asked the food delivery person what kind of meat was on my plate one evening...it was kind of a gray oval thing, and she looked at for a minute, and replied..."Well, it must be pork, 'cause there's also apple sauce on your plate. If it's beef there'll be mixed vegetables instead." That was good answer so the next day I asked her what the vegetables were made from...they were uniform in color, size, shape, texture, and flavor....not all like the veggies at home. She said she didn't know but would try to find out. Never did get back to me on that. :msp_rolleyes:


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## hitechredneck (Oct 4, 2011)

GoloGit..I will mention you to my small mens Emmaus group for our prayer list...hang in there. I admire your attitude.


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## tree md (Oct 5, 2011)

Hope you heal up quick and are back in the woods soon!


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## RandyMac (Oct 5, 2011)

who da cuttin in my territory?


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## SpiralAcacia (Oct 5, 2011)

Gologit said:


> I asked her what the vegetables were made from...they were uniform in color, size, shape, texture, and flavor....not all like the veggies at home. She said she didn't know but would try to find out. *Never did get back to me on that*. :msp_rolleyes:


 
She must have found out the veggie source and being kind hearted decided to spare you that info.
:smile2:

Get well soon!!

SA


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## Rearden (Oct 5, 2011)

Kind'a late to the dance but this may help others. This is for my State, but they have links to others there as well.

How to Identify Maryland Spiders | eHow.com

While working through a wood pile earlier in the summer I was bitten late in the day and slung the sucker off before getting a good look at it. Started itchin' and scratchin' within minutes...but "I'm a Man!" so like an idiot, I just went on finishing my chore. A few hours later the bitten finger was getting red but not real serious (yeah I've done the self impalement with a nail gun too...so my point of reference is there).

By next morning finger had swollen nicely and could barely be bent. I figured it was a simple infection, not too uncommon when working with firewood, so I slathered it with anti-biotic cream, wrapped a piece of duct tape around it and went back to work (had a couple of big trees to buck). Don't know if it was the bight but all day I just kept feelin' worse and worse. Headache, tired as crap and almost flu like. Kept drinkin' lots of water and changed my duct tape a few times but it just kept getting more swollen and so hard it felt like it was gonna pop. Of course Murphy's Law also dictates that that would be the only thing that I would bump repeatedly all day, so by day's end I was pretty wore out. 

Went home and soaked it in the hottest water I could stand for about 15 minutes to try and tenderize it and then started stabbin' and squeezin' (what can I say...been married forever - so the pain is reassuringly familiar). Found some ancient anti-biotics in the back of the medicine cabinet and started takin' them like I was probably supposed to when they were first prescribed and never did. More cream and new tape, but now I was startin' to worry about blood poisoning...'cuz da wife will still expect me to work even after I'm dead.

Label said not to consume alcohol while taking, so I just drank beer instead. Next day I made excuses to screw off and by the following day, after numerous soak and squeeze sessions, it finally started to sort itself out. My guess was a wolf spider got me and the rest was just bacterial from not treating it immediately...but that was bad enough. No bullseye or necrosis, but it definitely kicked my bum. With the clarity of hindsight I freshened up the truck's first aid kit and got me some info for future reference. 

Carbon monoxide, reactions to certain wood dust and even aspirating bat guano dust have all had a go at me at various times. Each time I get a little dumber and found a new way to get into trouble.

Glad to hear you're on the mend. Just thought I'd add my two cents on dealin' with it now rather than sufferin' longer later.
Do as I say, not as I inevitably do.


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## paccity (Oct 5, 2011)

damn bob hope it heals. if it's anything like what hit me a year or so ago it's a bacterial infection. i got mine in the shin from a hemlock sliver. thought i was going to die, had me on some stong antibiotics through an i.v . .. still have a big hole in my leg from it. prayers for a speedy recovery. funny thing when i was laidup i discoverd this little peice of heavan.


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## what-a-stihl (Oct 12, 2011)

*bite*

Any possibility that it might be a staph infection which is commonly misdiagnosed as a spider bite?


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## John Ellison (Oct 13, 2011)

Jeez Bob, some guys will do anything to get out of work. Seriously, I hope it turned out all right. I have run into people that have had Recluse bites around here and it ain't pretty.


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## ozzy42 (Oct 18, 2011)

Hope you have a good recovery .
I got bit by one back in 97 or 98 .
I only went to the doc when a red line was coming from it running up my arm.Well,,,,that and the fact that my wife made me go.Glad she did.damn thing ate a whole the size of a dime in my forearm.


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## MacLaren (Oct 18, 2011)

Well men, for what its worth, while talking with Jay from Terminex I found out that we do have the occasional brown recluse spider. They are very rare however. He also stated that we have no hobo spiders I live in Asheville, NC as to give you an idea of what region I am referring to. He also told me that our area is cropping up with more brown widow spiders. They are migrating from Florida with people when they travel. They are more aggressive than a black widow. He also told me that a black widow spider bite wasnt really bad, as a matter of fact they dont even make the anti venom for it anymore, as it wasnt profitable.....So...come to find out we can have instances of brown recluse spiders. I asked him what the worst spider bite there would be to get in this region and he said undoubtably the brown recluse. He did say however the hobo was about as bad. But then again, he stated we do not have hobo's in this neck of the woods. Im not tryin to prove anyone wrong, just passin along what he told me. I would imaine those guys are pretty schooled in the matter.


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## hitechredneck (Oct 21, 2011)

Hows's the "spiderman doing? any updates?


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## trimmmed (Oct 22, 2011)

damn Bob, I'll just have to call you "Lucky Bob" from now on. Cleaning out a basement in 2007 I got bit by some mf'er spider, which I killed at or actually right after the bite, maybe during but killed it quick. The bite hurt like hell, so I sat down for a bit. Felt the bite area heat up considerably for about an hour, at which point I was beginning to wonder if maybe I should be goin to have it looked at. Then I started feeling better even though the bite are hurt like hell. Few days later bite had necritized out to about 3/4" diameter, just a juicy round hole with no noticeable effort to scab over, took more than a month to scab, finally healed and left a nice little scar. I know it was a spider, not sure which one since I squished it quik, but my googleness makes me think it a yellow sac spider. The bite , when it happened was painful, no question I was gettin bit by something.


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## Gologit (Oct 22, 2011)

As nearly as they can figure mine was a Hobo spider. We don't have the Brown Recluse in this area but the Hobo is just about as bad. There was enough trace of venom that the blood cultures could identify it as a spider bite but not enough to really nail it down.

I don't actually remember being bitten. I'd put on an old pair of White Ox gloves that had been laying around the shop all summer and the critter was probably nesting in there. There was just some minor pain and a red mark...at first. The increase in pain and swelling was immediate. I've had infections before but nothing that took off as fast as this thing. It was like a huge boil that just kept increasing in size.

LOL...I'd post some pictures of it but it might spoil your appetite.

It's mostly healed now thanks to good hospital care and some real powerful antibiotics. There's a little bit of nerve damage but not enough to really affect dexterity. I was lucky.

And yes, I took my collection of old cotton gloves and ran them through the washing machine...twice. On hot cycle with bleach. The leather gloves got sprayed with Raid.


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## TermiteBuffet (Oct 22, 2011)

Glad you're doing better , similar situation 2 years ago looked like a spider bite , ended up being a staph infection , geez they cut my arm open and packed with gauze to drain ugh that stunk and was nasty . After that i saw how people could die from this type of thing . Heal up quick , time to cut some wood. Later Termite


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