International Warfare - an update

Next week, it will have been two months since my battle with the Chilean Recluse spider. Many people have recently been amazed to still see my bandaged arm and have asked how I'm doing.

During that time, I have moved from the doctor's wrap, to 3 inch wide x 4 inch long jumbo bandages, to two standard size plain and finally one standard-sized rainbow bandage. The truth is that the pad on the rainbow bandages is bigger, roughly the size of two plain bandages, so that really doesn't indicate progress. When I wore a rainbow bandage the first time to work, it was in the shape of a heart (half again bigger than the standard) and the bright colors made some new people curious to see if I had been hurt. By that time, I had been wearing a bandage for a month and my "how in the hell could you have not noticed my suffering for a whole month" attitude may have come across as a bit brash. I'm really sorry if you were among the offended. I wear the rainbow bandages when 1) I am running late and ripping open one package and fighting with one set of tabs is faster than two; or 2) when I'm feeling that my "fabulocity" reading is weak and I need to gay it up a bit. Otherwise, I'll use two plain bandages as they cost less (yes, even using two at a time).

Some days my arm doesn't bother me. Other days, the pain is so intense that I have wondered if cutting my arm off would be a better solution than endurance. But then I realize I use my left hand for many practical things like eating and typing at work and research at home, so I just took a Tylenol and put up with it. Some days even two months since the bite are extremely painful, but nothing like the first few weeks.

When the spider bit me (if you remember from my June post), the red patch went to a large near 2 inch blister in just a few hours. Although the doctor popped the blister, the venom had eaten my flesh under the blister, causing a huge crater on my arm. (Flesh being the tissue under the skin.) The hole has been surrounded by a dark red ring, which I assumed was infection. Little by little the crater has filled in, though I still treat the tender area very gently in the shower (remember that whole accidental scraping off of the new skin incident from my first posting?). The red ring remains, but is now a large circle of bright red (infection for lack of a better word).

The web site where I found the wonderful picture at the top said Chilean Recluse bites usually take between three and four months to heal. I hoped that time frame applied to the Chilean people who may not have had advance medical technology available. But, it has nearly been two months and it doesn't show any sign of being done soon. When people ask if I really recovered weeks ago and am just milking it for the sympathy, I just want to poke them in the eye. I tell them about my flesh being eaten away and the replacement pack I ordered weeks ago from Sears and Roebuck has been on back order. One smart-ass suggested I should have just gone over to the Wal Mart store because they have everything and not waited for Sears. Flesh? Nope. The high-end nature of flesh definitely makes it more of a Sears and Roebuck thing.

I have heard many harrowing stories of spider bites. The physical damage and suffering others endure from the Brown Recluse and Black Widows is significant. When I hear the stories, some are saying that my little 2-inch flesh-eaten away blister wasn't so bad because they heard of a cousin or sister or friend of someone who died or lost a limb. No, my wound wasn't as bad as some have suffered. This is not a competition, not am I grandstanding for attention or sympathy. I'm simply trying to document the experience I have had for those who may care.