I was bitten on Oct. 24, 2006. I had just bought a new car and decided to make room in the garage to park it since there was a storm on the way. There was a box of clothes sitting by my back door that had been there for maybe 4-6 months. The box would not fit in the trunk of the car, so I decided to scoop them out and place just the clothes in the trunk to take to charity. On my way to the trunk, if felt a very light sting on the inner aspect of my L upper arm. I threw the clothes onto the ground, and being an RN, immediately thought the worst. I started shaking the clothes out to find the evil thing that bit me, and there it was crawling under my car. I lightly tapped on it with my shoe, as to not totally destroy it. I took it inside and and called my mom to get an ID on the internet. I went within an hour to the ER with no resolution to my problem. I went home and began applying ice to get through the night. The next morning I went to visit my Dr. and he gave me a shot of cortisone and antibiotics, and sent me home. I did take my spider in baggie every where I tried to get help. By the next morning I was experiencing a systemic reaction, face swollen 2x normal size, redness from head to below my knees, and the most pain in my arm that I could ever imagine. Went back to my Dr. and he sent me home again telling me that it was just a bite and not to worry. I did not accept this for an answer, and went to another Dr. in Fort Worth. He immediately admitted me to the hospital and started IV antibiotics, morphine, and vicodine. An infectious control dr. came in and started me on Dapsone. My veins kept blowing so they put in a central line and I stayed in the hospital for 6 days. About 3 weeks later I went to a plastic surgeon for debridement of the site and the next day was sent to a wound healing center in Fort Worth. The dr. there basically told me there was nothing he could do for me, but his insistant nurse asked I be allowed to wear a "Wound Vac" to promote healing to the appzx 10cm round wound on my upper arm. After about 6 weeks with that horrible contraption on my arm, they then began skin grafts, using Apligraf. Six months to the day after my bite, I went in for a check up and was completely healed, except for the ugly scar left behind. Not a fun journey, but God blessed me through it all the way.
