Bitten on the Bum by a Brown Recluse Spider

I jumped out of the shower in a rush to get to the church potluck dinner. It was finally cold enough to wear a sweater so I had pulled a plush blue one out of storage. I had no idea that the sweater I had pulled out of storage harbored a Brown Recluse Spider who crawled out of the sweater and into my jeans as I showered. I dried off quickly, pulled on my sweater and squeezed into my jeans.

As I tackled getting my dinner and 19 month old baby into the car I felt like there was maybe a sticker or something in my pants and I kept tugging at my jeans to see if there was something in there. Driving to church I began to feel weird. My throat began to itch and I was having symptoms of allergies. Once at church I began to feel progressively worse. My chest began to feel tight. I was having labored breathing. I thought maybe I was getting sick but at the same time, it dawned on me that I might of been bitten by a brown recluse. We had trouble with them the year before and my husband had been bitten. It had been a mild bite but it still required a piece of dead tissue to be surgically removed. My friends told me I needed to get to the emergency room. I was stubborn. I was getting chills and I felt horrible and just wanted to go home. I got the baby and drove home... breathing was difficult.

Once home I did the most stupid thing you can do. I didn't know that hot water will spread the venom of a spider bite and I still wasn't sure I was bitten and I was so very cold. Annah was asleep when we got home so I put her in her crib and doing what I always do, I ran the hot water straight. I never add cold water to my bath. I love steaming hot baths that leave me looking like a lobster. Shivering and feeling miserable I eased into the extremely hot tub and soaked. As I soaked, the poison rapidly spread.

Once out of the tub I still was having more trouble breathing. I have a nebulizer my son used for Asthma. I still had the breathing medicine for it and I treated myself. It helped.