When Spider Bites Become Issues
“Spiderman, Spiderman, Does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies. Look Out! Here comes the Spiderman.”
That spiderman would be my oldest teenager, who was bit Monday night by some sort of unknown creepy-crawly. As I wrote before, he woke me up at 1:00 a.m. with a swollen finger and hurting arm. Benadryl brought it down, but his finger was still super-sized Tuesday morning.
By the time I got home Tuesday night his hand was puffy and red. As instructed by a nurse friend of mine, I marked an outline of the redness with a sharpie. Fortunately, my son didn’t have a fever and he felt normal.
Wednesday morning resulted in red that had spread past the sharpie. Off to the doctor! The doc x-rayed his hand, took two tubes of blood and prescribed both an epi-pen and antibiotic. Fortunately the x-ray and blood work came back normal. He was diagnosed with a localized infection from a spider bite. His hand looks much better after only two doses of the antibiotic. The fun never ends!
On the way home I said, “Hey, do you think you can spin a web now?” “No,” he sighed, “I already tried.” Dang.
Night Frights With Spider Bites!
I remember many a night staying up until the wee hours, nursing sick children until my eyes were practically crossed. Then comes the morning and you have to dig deep to simply function the following day. Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. Wait! It WAS yesterday!!! And today, I am a walking zombie. I’m too old for this!
We are leaving for vacation late Friday night. My house is a wreck and I don’t want to come back to the same wreck I left. So I have been a whirlwind of cleaning frenziness this week. Last night was my room - the hub for “all junk that has nowhere else to go so it is thrown in my room.” At 11:00, completely spent, I fell in to my freshly made bed. Ahhhhh. Tired but worth it.
“Mom!” “Psst!” “MOM!” Rolling over. 1 a.m. “Whattttt?” Squint. Blink Blink. Squint. “MOM! Something bit me and now my finger is all swollen and my arm hurts too…” Reality. Up and out.
I followed my teen into the bathroom for immediate triage, desperately trying to open my eyes and focus in the glaring light. Wow. His finger has turned into a sausage! What happened? Think, focus, wake up!
It is the strangest story. My son was sitting on the couch using the mouse for his laptop when his pinky finger began to itch. As he scratched it he saw it swell and then the top of his arm started to ache. Very scary. I am proud that he knew to come get me, although I heard, “Never mind Mom, you should go to bed,” several times. Yea right, like I’m just going to leave you!
Four children’s Benadryl (grape - it was all I had in the house!) and Benadryl spray later, the swelling stopped increasing - and if anything, it went down slightly. After a few hours of watching over it I felt safe going to bed, only to have the alarm wake me far too early a few hours later. Yawwwwnnnn.
I checked the poor sleeping child’s finger a few times this morning and it is still swollen, but not terribly so. No bite marks, no sores. How strange. Spiders in my couch? What else could it be? I just can’t begin to imagine what in the world got his finger!
Seeing his reaction I know I must watch him carefully if he is ever bit or stung again. He has always been my one for allergic reactions. But for now, I will simply zombie through the day and hope for the best. Then tonight I will grab my trusty bug zapper and go spider hunting. Normally I save every bug I find in the house. But tonight will be different. I’ll look for the spider that has my boy’s name on his fangs! And then he is mine… all mine. If I don’t fall asleep first!