I really had the best intentions to keep blogging about vacation last weekend. Until on Sunday I felt like I was gonna die. (That may be a
slight exaggeration.)
Sunday I didn't have to work until 5:00 so I had planned on getting alot of things done: cleaning the house, working on Etsy, scrapbooking, etc. Well, much to my annoyance, NONE of that got done. I couldn't even sleep that night. I had the worst headache, waves of nausea, and felt like I was running a fever. Not good at all.
So I take some Extra Strength Rapid Release Tylenol and sucked it up and went to work for a few hours.
I need to back this up for a second.
We have a HUGE problem with mosquitos here. I mean, anytime Tim and I try to have a nice dinner on the back patio, we pretty much have to bathe in OFF spray and then swat at something every 30 seconds. So it's not uncommon for me to have bug bites right now.
Well, I get to work and I'm telling the girls that I feel like crap and then I say, "Take a look at this freakin' mosquito bite. It did NOT like me."
Laura looks at me and says, "That is NOT a mosquito bite. THAT is a spider bite!"
Oh crap. NO wonder I felt so bad!
So I keep on my Tylenol regimen that I have established for myself and I'm starting to FEEL better but my bite has gotten
way worse.
Monday I go to work and I still have the headaches, fever and nausea coming and going but it's more manageable. I got a bright idea that morning and said, "Ooh! Why don't I take some Benadryl. That should definitely help."
Well, it helped a little. Not nearly what I thought it would do though. By lunchtime, I was getting worried. So I call my mom and tell her and of course, she does the Mom thing and freaks out. "How much swelling is there? How red is it? How much does it itch? What are your symptoms? Do you think it was Brown Recluse? I just read that Ohio has one of the highest concentrations of Brown Recluse spiders in the nation! Do you think you can leave work?"
OMG. Way too many questions. I started getting very nervous... and I left work and went immediately to Urgent Care about 10 minutes away. Thankfully I didn't have to sit too long in the waiting room because the itching was BANANAS at this point.
The doctor comes in the room and I tell her how I think it happened sometime on Saturday, started feeling like death on Sunday and the whole nine yards. She said, "Well I'm pretty sure it's not a brown recluse but I've never seen anything quite like this." Thanks, doc.
That's so reassuring. She writes me two prescriptions: one for antibiotics and the other for steroids (for infection and swelling). Then I am cautioned that if this does not improve within 24 hours or my bite starts to turn grey or black I have to go straight to the Emergency Room. <
>
Then she says, "I don't mean to be rude, but pardon me while I draw on your leg. This way you'll know if the redness gets bigger and worsens." She proceeds to draw a large circle on my leg that ends up being about the size of a baseball. Now I feel like a freak, AND look like one. Thank you very much. But I'd rather have a big circle on my leg than have to amputate my leg.
Typically this would be the point in the blog where I would have a picture. I decided to spare you guys that notion today. You can thank me later. The only people that will ever see that picture is my family.
Forty-eight hours later, I am happy to report that the medicine is working fabulously and I have killed at least six spiders in my house since I've been bitten.
Take that, nasty spiders. There's more where that came from!
