Black Widow Bite!!

[Kalidasa]

Sounds like she did go, because they leave you sitting in triage ALL DAY LONG! Hope your hand doesn't get too swollen

 

[ruffledfeathers]

That was what I thought too. If she hasn't been on, that means she hit the ER and that will take FOREVER.

 

[antoinette]

My nerves are now finished !!!!!

I pray Wendy went to the ER and had it seen to, this is something NOT to be ignored.


Just checked on FB.... no update there

Please updated us my friend

Praying all is okay with ya

X X

 

[ShellyBorg]

I hope she took off the ring on the other finger also! When one starts to swell the others will.

 

[MonicaMc]

I've had some "fun" dealing with, and removing black widows from my work. Building isn't tightly closed up so we tend to get black widows, crickets, ants, moths, the occasional mouse and other small critters. Black widows are the most prominent spiders although it seems we've done a good job of getting rid of most, if not all of them! And keeping them at bay!


Wendy, I hope you are fine!!! No need to scare us!

 

[JerseyWendy]

I'm all right! Thank you all so much!!

Alex came home early, ready to take me to the ER, but I honestly didn't feel like waiting for 3+ hours to be checked out.

I'm sure my blood pressure was somewhat high, but that could have been from all the excitement, too. I broke into a few sweats, took some muscle relaxers, plopped my butt onto the recliner and slept....and slept. Woke up a few times with more sweats (no, not hot flashes...these were different, they were cold sweats).

Alex ran out last night to buy bombing things for the shed. He used 2 in there and will repeat in a week. I'm curious to see what I'll find in there when the sun comes up.

I also wanted to take more pictures yesterday, and the camera slipped right out of my hand and smashed onto the bricks.

I'm achy this morning, almost as if I had an extensive workout. Neck and shoulders are stiff. My finger no longer hurts, but is a bit tender and just a little swollen.

The bite of a Black Widow doesn't cause necrosis, so no worries there.

 

[kc_y0]

That's scary Wendy!! I hope you feel okay!


Do you know whats so strange? I haven't seen a black widow spider in yearss, but today I was out to pot some new plants and I was carrying a pot around for ages, with my hands underneath it, and I turned it upside down to find a whole nest of huge black widow spiders. :| I was horrified that my hands had been there but thankfully I wasn't bitten! Ew they are so yucky

 

[crimson]

Holy Crow Wendy!! that is a serious nasty spider, you really should have went to the ER.
maybe you should go see your doctor and see's what he thinks.
HUGS to you, I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Betrisher]

Most of you wouldn't know this, but an old and venerable Australian tradition is 'The Redback on the Toilet Seat'. This means, the inevitable Redback Spider (our equivalent to your Black Widow) which inhabits the outdoor dunny or toilet. Since I do indeed have an outdoor dunny, I also have my share of Redback Spiders incumbent there. They keep to themselves in the corners and only ever come out for lunch or dinner, depending... Mostly, they eat flies and moths (there's a bit of a plague of Bogong moths going on ATM), but sometimes, they'll catch little fence lizards and eat those too. Unfortunately, my daughter has a wee phobia about spiders of all sorts, even artificial ones (NB. Her father and I always make sure we give her at least one spider or another for Christmas and birthdays). She has learned over the past nineteen years to turn a blind eye to Miss Redback, though. It's the much more active and athletic Huntsman who lives behind the cistern that gives poor Ell the creeps. It's kinda fun to watch her step cautiously into the dunny only to reel backwards at light speed and come a-galloping into the house to get someone to move The Dark Huntsman for her. Of course, if she's home alone, she simply doesn't 'go'. Hmmm... problem... But anyway, while our Redbacks are widely publicised as a 'dangerous' species, we've never been troubled by them.

Worst spider experience I ever had was the day a Sydney Funnel Web jumped onto the back of my hand and began walking up my arm toward my shoulder!!! (NB. SFWs are the deadliest spider in the world and the bite is lethal within hours). I managed to flip the creature off with my trusty little trowel and then did the Tap Dance of Depression on its little head. Whew! Never again! We do see SFWs all the time, but so long as they stay out of the house, I don't mind.

An acquaintance of ours is currently in hospital with necrotising fasciitis from the bite of a common black house spider. This species isn't supposed to cause any great problem, but this bloke happened to be particularly sensitive to its venom so...

My entomology professor put it all in perspective when he told us 'Every spider can and will bite. Whether you are allergic to its specific venom is in the lap of the gods. So don't handle spiders!'

I don't. And neither should Wendy!

 

[getwozzy]

Ohmygoodness wendy! I'm so glad you're ok!!!

 

[sonja]

Betrisher - Thanks to your post, I don't think I can EVER visit Australia now! I wouldn't be able to pee the whole time I was there! I'd never sleep for fear of a giant spider crawling on my face! What if one wrapped me up in a giant web! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

And, no indoor plumbing......:smile012:

 

[JerseyWendy]

So you all had me worrying, and I DID call my regular doctor. She said since I didn't have a SEVERE reaction with tremors, vomiting, chest pain, breathing problems, fainting within the first few hours, I should be just fine. She want me to come in at 1PM so she can check my vitals.

And yes, I am 99% sure this was a black widow. No, I didn't see the tell tale red hourglass on the UNDERSIDE of the abdomen because I didn't bother rolling her over when she was attached to my pinky. She was small, PITCH black, glossy little thing, AND I found 3 egg sacs in the shed this morning.

 

[Betrisher]

LOL! Sonja, our spiders are very well-mannered and don't wrap themselves around you. They only bite when you disturb them. I should've added that we, in Australia, do generally have indoor plumbing. Just not me. Our house is really old and really small and my dunny is precious to me: all sorts of wildlife visits it! I've had Shovel-headed Planarian worms, Blue-Tongue Lizards, a Black Snake (Snidely), a mouse, five kinds of frogs and a Fischer's Lovebird (Nimbus) all visit me in and around my dunny. I wouldn't have it any other way!

You should *definitely* come to Australia - it's a great place!!!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I'm so happy you are doing alright! That must of been scary.
I wonder if it was a false black widow? They are a invasive species similar to the black widow, they even eat widows(really depends on who goes into who's web lol). My friend was once bitten, the place of bite was painful, and she felt woozy and a little tired and sore for a week but symptoms never processed further than that.

My garage used to be FULL of black widows, still a few but the majority have been pushed out by the falsies. Recently when the house was sprayed I havn't see any more.

 

[mtdoramike]

WOW, I'm so glad you are alright Wendy, that can be a very dangerous bite for sure. You were very lucky.

 

[MonicaMc]

Glad you are alright!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Ok, back from the good ole' family doctor.

Temperature 98.8
Pulse 76
Blood pressure 120/75

She told me I had an ear infection in my left ear, which I knew nothing about. I'm up to date with my Tetanus, so she sent me on my merry way with a prescription of antibiotics (for the ear infection).

 

[TreeBee]

Happy to hear that your ok!

 

[MikeyTN]

Ok you scared me half to death as I didn't hear back from you....*slap* :54:

 

[getwozzy]

Oh yay!