Muzings From The Ledge: To Recluse or Not Recluse
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In my various travels these days I often find myself in some weird and strange places and situations. Working on the defense side of capital murder cases I spend almost as much jail time as do my clients and a lot of the rest of the time in drug neighborhoods, federal housing projects, and neighborhoods that seem as if they should have been condemned 40 years ago. As a result I often wonder when, not if, I am going to run into some nefarious bug of some kind that is going to get a good bite out of me despite my precautions to the contrary. Thus, after a recent return from Selma, Alabama I should not have been surprised to find a large lesion on my right thigh. I had returned on June 16 and was in the process of taking a shower and I notice this large round very redden spot on the outside of my thigh. In the center was a clear indication of a bite or a sting of some type. It looked to be at least a day or so old. There was a small blister in the center of it and the entire area was raised, reddened and felt quite warm. Oddly, while it itched a bit it didn’t actually hurt. I had not felt the bite or sting when it happened and had never in all my years saw anything like it. This, I felt was strange since having grown up in Alabama I thought I have been bitten or stung by pretty near every bug available or known to man in this state. Well, I didn’t think a lot about it, I just put some anti septic on it and a band aid and forgot about it.
The next morning I got up and I noticed some aching pains coming from the bite area so I looked at it and I noticed that the center of it had sunken in about 1/8 inch which didn’t seem just right. Looking closely at it it seem to have some yellow puss in it so I used a sterile bandage to squeeze it slightly, another big mistake. The liquid came out and the place began to hurt and now I had a small crater in my leg about a quarter inch deep. So, with what little bit wisdom I had left on Sunday morning I put some Neosporin on it and called my doctor who is also a friend of mine. Jim said it just sounded like an insect bite that may have gotten infected so just keep it clean and and it should go away quickly. As the next week progressed, the bite mark also progressed reaching the size of a half dollar and eating out a hole about 1/4 inch deep and 1/2 inch in diameter in my leg. Finally Jim, my doctor called and said he had talked to a friend he has in Poison Control who said the it is sounding more and more like the bite of a Brown Recluse spider. I guess they were really bored on the 3rd or 4th tee Sunday afternoon. Its bite was painless and it is deteriorating the skin around the bite area. He did say that my bite did not seem to be a serious one because I did not have the fever or nausea normally associated with a Recluse bite. Well no, I was simply watching my leg disappear a few centimeters at a time. I have had localized muscle pain but he said that should go away in about another week. The fact that there was no anti venom was also a great help too.
Well here I am entering my eleventh day and most of the swelling has gone down but what ever it is it still seems to eating away at me. I am still having aching pains in my muscles and the doctors say it will go away soon. Yeah, after it eats through to the other side of my leg. I must admit it does look a lot better from the surface.
Was this a run in with the notorious Brown Recluse spider? I don’t have a clue. I am quite sure it wasn’t a Black Widow because I have saw their fangs and I quite sure I would have felt those suckers. But what ever this was I do hope I don’t meet it again because it hasn’t been a pleasant experience, still isn’t for that matter. If I do discover what it is I am going to have some business cards printed up for it so it can hand the damn things out to tell people to leave it the hell along. I can see it now, “Don’t Screw with me. I might not kill you but I can make you wish you were dead.”
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wonder if any herbal remedies exist? I’d be praying on it but you know I’m that way.
Oso, the remedy I have found is to not let the bugger bite you in the first place.
Man, what an experience, us old geezers must be careful. Take care Lazer.
Thanks Holte.
WHAT THE HELL LAZER…
-and why on earth is this species called “recluse” in any case? They sound very outgoing and obnoxious.
Heal up soon friend.
-SJ
SJ is call a Recluse because it is really a shy and retiring little creature. But it hides in closets, and in clothes, sheets, shoes, etc. It is best known for a violin shape on its thorax. Fortunately you folks up North don’t have to worry about them very much.
I still think it’s a misnomer.
Is a mugger a “recluse” because he’s hiding behind a corner before he clobbers you?
How about “Sneaky Bastard Spider,”
“The Cheapshot Brown,”
“The Violin Shaped Underhanded ne’erdo well,” etc, etc.
Get well soon.
I had a friend that was bitten on the butt with a recluse. And no this isn’t the start of a joke. Anyway, he went through hell for about 3 months.
Assuming that it is a Recluse and not something else, antibiotics aren’t normally used unless it gets infected, because they haven’t been shown to help.
Believe or not, some are recommending the use of nitroglycerin patches because it is said to disperse the venom a lot quicker.
Whatever you do, don’t cut or scrape on it.
I have also heard that electricity will neutralize the poison of the Recluse and have read of people using a stun gun with the electrodes across either side of the bite. Of course, this would have to be within minutes of the bite before cellular damage sets in.
Ummmm…just thought I would mention, a stun gun is not a Tazer.
You’re just saying that because of that suspicious bite on your nuts. I’ll use the cattle prod next time.
Mother Hen, I am starting to wonder if you have all your eggs in the basket or maybe a couple have cracked along the way. I mean…..really?
Krell you are right about the antibiotics. I don’t know what the concoction in the shots are but has slowed down the the spread of cell damage. Now about the bite on your nuts and Mother Hen and the cattle prod, I think I will wait for you two to write that story. lol
A friend of mine was bitten by a brown recluse. Coincidentally he was also bitten on the thigh. He went through the whole thing, nausea, fever, skin sloughing and etc. Not to alarm but he never quite recovered from this. At times the pain was so bad and the accompanying symptoms so occasionally severe he had to retire from the bench (he was a judge).
One year after the bite he died. The doctors say it was highly unlikely that the bite was the reason only that the bite and the subsequent malaise may have triggered a far more serious condition which eventually killed him.
Gee Mike, what are you the welcoming wagon for the reapers this week. lol I can see where this could drive someone nuts though. The doctor said that I need to get used to the treatments because it normally a long process. They are thinking about a series of hyperbaric chamber treatments. Who knows!
A friend of mine had a recluse bite her on the heel. She had to take a cocktail of drugs which her pharmacist told her were usually used in the treatment of leprosy and syphilis. Anyhow, she still needed reconstructive surgery on her foot.
There are recluses everywhere in my house. I shake out sheets and clothes before I wear them. We’ve never been bitten yet, thankfully!
My daughter found a black widow outdoors once. I asked her to show it to me, but she said our chicken Bella ate it before she could capture it.
My little visitor’s deposit continues eat away at me though a couple of shots seem to have reduced its progress. According to the latest expert opinion mine was most likely a bite from a specimen. I don’t know what they are giving me either it or the spider venom is giving my arthritis in my hip and knee fits.