The Details of June 28th, 2012

Good afternoon.. I've had a blog for about 3 years now. I write in it from time to time, but over the last year I forgot about it. Well, recently I had a few crazy events happen in my life and these events led to many questions. So I decided to write about the day June 28th, 2012 on my blog. Hopefully, this will help answer everyones questions & help everyone be more aware, educated & cautious when it comes to " black widow spiders". The week of June 26th was suppose to be a week dedicated to my husband and myself for our two year wedding anniversary. We chose to rent a cabin at beaver's bend and take our boat for 4 days. We were both excited because we hadn't had the chance to take our boat out on the water at all this summer. The first day at Beaver's Bend was fun and exciting because we were able to see our big/fancy cabin that we rented. The next day we went to the lake for about 5 hours and did a little kneeboarding and wakesurfing then came back and grilled steaks on the grill. Well, not many people have heard about this, but actually my bad luck began on June 27th. I went upstairs in our cabin to simply get a blanket to take back down stairs because Kary and I were watching the Rangers play. Well, my toe got caught up in the blanket as I was walking down the stairs and I flipped upside down and landed on my booty and my left arm and went flying down the steps. Of course my arm was scraped up and now it's all bruised and well so is my booty.. I just THOUGHT that was bad... This was the beginning of the ending to our anniversary vacation.. June 28th, ( Thursday ) Kary and I decide to head out to the lake around 10:00. At first I had decided I wasn't going to get in the water. I was going to relax on the boat the whole time. Well, then a thought comes across my mind to try something new on the kneeboard. So I told Kary that I changed my mind. I decided I wanted to get on the kneeboard. So, I reach into the back of the boat and grabbed "my" lifejacket. This lifejacket I had just worn the day before at the lake :) Well, I put it on and zipped it up. Then I felt a lil pin prick on my back. I thought, there must be a sticker bur or something in this lifejacket. At first I truly thought nothing of it and then decided to reach my hand inside where the "prick" feeling came from. I then felt a web that I pulled out along with an egg sack and a HUGE black widow spider. I threw all of it down on the boat and told Kary that I believe she bit me. Well, Kary was smart and said we need to get back to the cabin in case I have a reaction. As we head back, I felt like I had been hit in the back by a baseball. Then i begin to have a lil burning under my arm and towards my chest. I tell myself that's just from reaching in the lifejacket so fast and that i must to have strained something. Actually, this was the first sign of many from the "spider bite". Kary decided to circle the area where I was bitten to see if it gets bigger and we head on back to the cabin. As we arrive I still feel about the same as I did. Kary had been looking up information about spider bites and what to expect. I told him I felt ok. Well, then about 30 minutes later the pain in my back got a little worse and then I started having muscle cramps across my stomach that led to muscles spasms all through out my back. After MUCH debate we finally decided that it was best to go to the hospital. On the way to the hospital the pain got worse and worse and worse. It started going through out my whole body. Felt as though every muscle I had was having a spasm or a cramp. We get into the emergency room and they were very quick to get us in, but the pain was soo bad it felt like an eternity!! Kary continues to get more and more worried because I am constantly moving and rocking back and forth and telling him how bad it all is. When we get back to the er room, they began to give me an IV but I was so tensed up from all the spasms that the first IV didn't work b/c my blood vessel ruptured. FInally, the 4th IV worked and the meds began going in. It took hours later to finally get relief b/c none of the pains meds that they were giving me seem to have any kind of effect on the poison that wsa going through my body. Finally, they gave me something that nearly knocked me out and I felt really good for about an hour. My parents came up to be there for me, even though I told them they didn't have to. They still came to be by my side. Kary was amazing through it all and even fed me jello and fruit in the er. He was worried because I was in such horrible pain for so many hours. Finally, once the pain seemed to be more under control we were able to leave with a pocket full of prescriptions that I would have to take for a while. When we got back to the cabin I was hoping for a good nights rest, but I started having more pain and more spasms and I tossed and turned all night and never slept a minute. The next day we drove home and I took all of my meds how I was suppose to and I began to run some fever and ache ALL over. I really thought Friday night when we got home that we were going to have to head back to the er because I felt as though I was taking a turn for the worst again. Fortunately, the temp began to come down and my parents brought over some amazing food and I took some benadryl and went to bed early!! I slept 10 total hours. Yesterday, my feet and legs felt as though I had fire ants all over me at all times and my legs ached. The poison from the bite attacks the nervous system which causes these feelings. Today I felt even better when I woke up, so I thought I could do some mowing and various things. My feet and legs feel better but my chest and back continue to ache. The spider bite location is really cold and sweats. It looks good, but feels achy around it. The moral to this story is... Be more cautious when dealing with spiders and if you are bitten by a black widow, then seek medical attention! Black widows are shiny black spiders with a redish orange hour glass on them. You can't mistake them for anything else! They are nothing to play around with.Spiders never bothered me til NOW. I am very paranoid now and I will be paying a lot closer attention in the future. I thank God for giving me a great family and awesome friends that prayed for me and did so many things while I was down and out. I will continue to improve and be back to normal before much longer. :) Love to all!