Not so much fun

The past 48 hours have sucked. On Tuesday morning, I retrieved a pair of workout shorts from a cupboard that is built into our midcentury home. An hour after putting them on, I noticed what looked like a mosquito bite on my stomach just above the waistband. A few hours later it was the size of the palm of my hand, then the size of my entire hand, and currently the size of both of my hands put together. Red, swollen, itchy, hot, and containing a pattern of concentric red and white rings. Add to this a killer headache, nausea and general malaise... I think it's fair to say that some little critter (I'm guessing a spider) was hiding out in those clothes when I put them on. (Note to self - never go near said cupboard again. Good thing we are moving!)

Of course, if you google 'spider bite', or ask anyone you know about it, you will hear horror stories to end all horror stories. Tales of flesh-eating bacteria and near-death experiences. Well, that was enough for me. My doctor is out of town this week and the nurse I spoke to on the phone wasn't much help, so I spent two hours at a walk-in clinic yesterday afternoon. The doctor I saw there told me to put some anti-itch cream on it and sent me home. By night, it had grown about three inches in diameter and the swelling was only getting worse, so I went to the emergency room where the triage nurse took one look at it and told me I'd better stick around long enough to get seen. I had some bloodwork done which ruled out infection before getting home six hours later at 3 a.m.

I am feeling much better today, though it looks like it will be some time before the mark is gone, and I am supposed to stay vigilant about necrosis/fever for the next few days. Yes, I have a photo of my bite but no, I won't post it here. It's a bit too gruesome for a G-rated website.