Warning: If pictures of blisters, skin infections, spiders etc aren’t your cup of tea–then this post isn’t for you.
I spent a lot of time walking the dogs last week. The weather was cooler and I had a lot of time on my hands.
One afternoon I saw a tree that I thought looked cool and shaded. In my mind, that’s a great tree to lay under. No better way to relax, right?? (At least, that’s what this Okie thinks).
I laid flat down on my back enjoying my time with the dogs and snapping a few pictures (in an attempt to be artistic and post it to Instagram).
By the way, this picture never made the cut to Instagram. A spider bite and I didn’t even get an Instagram picture out of it…geez.
After a few hours, I felt my neck started to feel a little “off.” It was burning a little and all I wanted to do was scratch it. I reached around and found a bump and decided to take a picture.
There it was. The beginnings of my spider bite story. I had no idea if it was actually a spider bite, but the black mark in the middle let me to believe it was. You can actually see some of the venom spreading with those red marks around the bite. However, I didn’t think it was anything serious. I had always thought that you’d know immediately when you got bit by a venomous spider. You’d feel searing pain and then they’d have to amputate your leg. Or so I thought.
So, I tried to avoid it, but it just wasn’t going away. As time went on, I could feel the site getting bigger. It was crusting, oozing, and really itching. I could feel a mass of something underneath my skin and it was swollen.
A few more days go by. I tried to take pictures of it to track it’s progress and I was constantly asking friends if it was getting worse. They would tell me what it looked like and that it seemed ok–so I just went along with my day.
A day or two more go by and I realize it’s beginning to scab over. In my mind, scabs mean that things are healing, so I was happy and I thought I was in the clear. Sure, it still itched, but scabs can itch sometimes.
I woke up this morning and realized it was burning MUCH more than usual. I touched the skin on the back of my neck and realized it was hot as can be.
Needless to say, I was scared shitless. How did it get bad so fast?? I had no idea how low the redness went and that scared me even more.
I finally decided it was time to go to the doctor.
They told me everything that I already thought. I have a fever and high blood pressure due to the infection present. It burns and feels like someone is constantly snapping rubberbands at my neck–and I generally feel tired.
The spider bite and it’s venom caused the initial burning sensation from the venom spreading and brown recluse bites are known cause the bite site to red and upon close inspection may reveal fang marks. Most commonly, the bite site will become firm and heal with little scaring over the next few days or weeks. Occasionally, the local reaction will be more severe with erythema (redness of the skin)and blistering, sometimes leading to a blue discoloration, and ultimately leading to a necrotic lesion and scarring. Necrosis is no joke as it involves the death of cells and tissues in your body (basically, it eats away at your tissues).
The doctor said from my symptons and timeline reported that it was most likely a Brown Recluse Spider Bite. A brown recluse’s venom is more potent than that of a rattlesnake, but causes less disease due to the small quantity the spider injects. The opening from the bite allowed bacteria to enter the wound which caused a severe skin infection called Impetigo.
These spiders are only found in the Midwestern and Southern States and are known to bite in the Summer Months. They are nonaggressive spiders, but will bite if they are rolled over on, etc. They live under houses, in cardboard boxes, under brush, etc.
Somehow I got lucky enough to roll up on one of these spiders and I paid for it.
I’m on antibiotics for 10 days and hopefully the infection will dissipate because this skin infection is contagious and I’ve got a lot of new faces to see this week!
I have to say that I’ve had a lot of injuries and crazy things happen to me in my life. This one just adds to the list.
It just upped my “badass” status.
Have you ever been bitten by a spider?
And please: if you think you have a spider bite, just go to the doctor. You don’t want to wake up one morning with burning red skin all over your neck.
{ 91 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh.My.God. That’s worse than I thought…so glad it’s not super serious, but how frightening. I’m totally freaked out about spiders and got heebee jeebies reading this…ick!
Oh my goodness, I’m glad you went to the doctor! The pictures make the bite look really painful. I hope the infection clears up soon and that you feel better!
Spider bites are no joke…I got bit by a spider in the face as a kid and my half of my face swelled up to epic proportions. I’m terrified of them now!
I seriously almost fainted just reading this.
If I have anything on my body that has the slim possibility of being more than a mosquito bite, I start getting dizzy and have to hide the phone from myself so i don’t call 911.
I’m a bit of a hypochondriac. Glad you’re ok now!
That is terrible! I’m glad you’re okay! I’m TERRIFIED of spiders and spider bites. Yikes!
and THIS is why I’m petrified of spiders. sneaky little bastards. I’m so glad you’re going to be okay though, that’s wicked scary! yikes!
Oh my goodness, literally the same exact thing just happened to me this week!! I went to the DR yesterday and got antibiotics after 3 days of wondering what the heck happened to my arm. The pictures you posted is exactly what my forearm looks like, it’s so gross! I live in Texas and I was out weeding and doing yardwork and my DR said he didn’t know for sure what had bitten me but he said he thought it was a recluse bite. I thought the itching was going to do me in more than anything! That’s the last time I do yardwork!
HOLY SH*T!!! That is insane. We have brown recluse here in Florida and they scare the crap out of me — and for good reason! I hope the antibiotics kick in soon.
Oh my gosh!!! That really sucks. I’m glad you’re okay.
Oh my gaw, Lisa!!! I’m so glad you finally got your butt to the doctor. I’m so scared of spiders and it’s amazing they can cause that much damage. Hope you get to feeling better soon!!
The words “HOLYSHIIIIIIIT!!!” left my lips when I saw that last picture. That’s insane. I hate spiders, hate.them. I’m from Kansas so I know all about the brown recluse and even though they really aren’t here in Colorado, I swear every brown house spider we have in our basement (I can’t get rid of them apparently) is a “brown recluse” so I smash it to smitherens. I’m so glad you go to the doctor before anything worse happened.
WOW!!! My roommate in colleg was bitten by a brown recluse on her ankle and she had to be on crutches for 3 weeks. Those bad boys are NO JOKE! Hope it heals fast badass Lisa!
YIKES!!!! Glad you’re ok!
By the way…
Thank you so very much for sharing your nursing school experiences! I start my very first day on Monday and am terrified! It helps to hear how much you loved it and also getting those little preview snippets. I just started to blog about it and hope to get some of my anxiety out by writing. So thanks. You’re awesome
you’ll do great! keep checking back bc I plan to blog a lot about it as well! My 2nd semester starts on Monday!
I got bit by a spider in junior high. And the spider bite? It was on my boob. I don’t remember which one, but I do remember that the one boob swelled up to several times its normal size. Needless to say I refused to leave the house, and my mom was completely understanding.
Holy Shit!! I had no idea that you posting about a bite on Twitter would look like THAT. That is definitely very scary. Feel better!
Holy crap! Scary stuff.
I have anaphylactic allergies to insect bites (including mosquito bites). I found out when I was stung by a wasp/bee and technically “died” (I wasn’t breathing and my heart stopped momentarily). I know have to carry an epi-pen with me from spring until winter. You’d think I’d love winter for this reason, but nope. I’m a summer/spring gal.
Oh my dear Lord in heaven!!! Holy cow, Lisa! Brown recluses are one of my biggest fears EVER! I had one in my apartment years ago about 2ft from me. I was sitting on the floor organizing papers and saw it and nearly flipped out. I ended that suckers life in less than 60 seconds afterward. Ughh, those are awful!
I cannot believe you were bitten by one! Gah, I am SOOO glad you are recovering! And yes, you are a TOTAL bad@ss!!!
Oh, and Please, please, please make sure to take probiotics to replenish the good bacteria from the antibiotics! 
I miss you Talia. I miss your posts, your fun fun attitude…..please start blogging again. K, thank you.
Ouch that is insane!! Feel better! (And I thoroughly enjoyed the pics- every time I get a wound or something crazy first thing I do is take a pic! LOL)
Holy man thats crazy!! I have never seen a spider bite like that before. Hopefully the infection clears up fast.
Sweet baby cheeses, that is nuts. I am terrified of spiders, and I always see those crazy Youtube videos about spider bites, but I never really worry about it. Welp, those days are over….
I hope it all works out for you and you are good as new as soon as possible!
Oh my gosh! This is horrible! I never knew their bites could be this intense! Ouch!
Repeat after me: From this day forth, if I THINK a spider has bitten me, I will get it checked out ASAP!!!!!
Those are mean, yucky spiders!!
I hope you’re better soon!!
holy Sh!T dude. i hope youre ok now. damn.
Whoa. I’m glad you’re okay. Spiders don’t mess around. Respect.
I almost shrieked when you texted me the photos! haha. but kinda awesome looking *nerd* Glad it wasn’t so bad! xo
I figured you’d appreciate them (word up to the nurses….yes, i just said word up).
Ack your pictures are freaking me out with memories from when I was 5. I was bit by a spider and the doctors put me on antibiotics and forced my parents to remove the puss daily. I would scream and kick as my dad held me. Such horrible memories.
Glad you are taking care of yourself now.
ahhh, i would have freaked too! Glad your okay but take care of yourself and rest up. goodness that scary!
…and this is why I hate the outdoors. *shudder* I hope you feel better soon!
Yukkkkkyyyyyy!!!!!
OMG LISA!! That is one crazy and scary bite. I’ve never seen anything like that! Glad you are okay!
whoa. that is crazy.
I didn’t get a spider bite but I got bit by a deer fly two summers ago that made my ENTIRE LEG SWELL UP! I couldn’t walk or bend my knee and it was so painful. After two days of watching it get worse I took myself to the ER and all they could do was give me jacked up benadryl and pain meds to help me sleep. It’s the worst bit i’ve ever gotten in my life!
Ow! I was bitten by one also! Went to the ER one night after my thigh looked similar to your neck. They popped the bite because it had bubbled up with so much poision. They then drew a circle around all the red stuff AKA: the infection. They informed me that if the red spread outside of the circle to come back ASAP. I woke up the following day and the red had spread to my knee to my upper thigh! Scary! I was admitted to the hospital and stayed for three days! Those spiders are no joke! Keep a close eye on it and finish your meds!! PS: I’ve been reading your blog for a few months but have yet to comment…funny how this would be my first one! hehe.
Wow! 3 days huh?! *saying in my head: please don’t let that be me.*
Glad you are ok now! And thanks for commenting–it’s always more fun to comment, isn’t it?
Wow that’s scary. Hope you get better ASAP!
Omg! I’m glad that you went to the doctor and that you are okay! I would have been freaking outt! I hate spiders with a fiery passion. I don’t think I’ve ever been bit by a spider and no I’m probably going to be on the lookout for them if I ever sit down outside haha
Wow. You are a lucky girl! Glad you’re ok!!
OH my goodness! I hate bugs…that looks awful:( Avoiding spider forever…
Omg, I am so glad you’re ok. Freak little incidents like these scare the living crap outta me. You are so meant to be a nurse, with how calm you sounded writing this post! I’m sure you weren’t calm at first but still, to post about it says a lot!
I hope that’s what this means. As long as I live and don’t lose skin, I’ll end up thinking this was kind of a neat experience. I am weird like that.
I cannot believe that. I just got the heeby jeebies looking at it. I hope it heals up fast and so sorry you have to deal with that!!! Eeep. Although had to laugh that you upped your badass status.
I hope it heals up before I meet you so I don’t look like some diseased woman at HLS! haha.
oh dear! hope you feel better soon!
Ahh I’m having deja vu! Last summer I got a similar bump/rash on my wrist under my watch band. The doc attributed it to a bad spider bite.. which turned into a staph infection from sweat/chlorine. It looked just as nasty (if not nastier) than these pictures. Luckily I had no scar so you shouldn’t either! Glad you are okay, Lisa.
Yep, good old staph infection–just what I have!
awwww man so glad you are okay!! hope it clears up with antibiotics, that sucks!!
Holy shit!!! That is insane!
I get spider bites kind of a lot, but luckily none have ever been from a poisonous spider. Now I know what to look for I guess!! Glad to hear you are okay and hopefully that gets better soon…it looks painful!
Oh shiz….for real? This is the LAST thing you need.
So mad at world. Argh.
Maybe this experience will help you with a patient one day #lookingforbrightside.
Your man better be coddling you!
Ack! Glad you got it looked at, hope it heals quickly!
Knew there was a reason I hate bugs! That last picture was insane! Glad you got it all checked out, hopefully it heals up fast!
I HATE spiders, listened to your warning, but decided to read your post because you had me intrigued and I figured I may learn from what you experienced someday. I can’t believe how bad it got, but I am glad you went to the doctor.
Just seeing the picture of the spider freaks me out. Eek!
Dang! That sounds awful! Good luck on the healing process
That is SO crazy – Since im a hypochondriac i would’ve gone to the doctor the first day haha
Ouch. That looks like it’s terribly painful! I’ve never been bitten by a spider… only lots of mosquitos and chiggers in Texas.
omg goodness! looks painful! hope you feeel better!
i may have gotten bitten when I was little. I lived near the woods and my sister and i were ALWAYS outside.
Seriously. I was bit by something on Monday and I have been paranoid about it since. Then I open your page and it’s there!
I don’t have the dark mark in the middle and it doesn’t seem to be spreading, but… this freaked me out. I think I’m going to go to the doctor tomorrow!
Glad to know you’re doing okay!
As mothers always say—it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Yiiiikes!! That is pretty badass!! I think we have brown recluse spiders here in nm.. but they are pretty rare! I haven’t had any spider bites before, thank God. I had a friend who was bitten by a baby rattlesnake while she was sleeping though! The wound looked pretty similar to that!
OH MY GOD! I hope you are okay! I have never been bitten by a spider like that (knock on wood) but my ex-boyfriend and his brother had spiders in their house in college and they both got bit and had to have their neck and arms drained, respectively, at the hospital. They swelled up with pus!
oh eek! I had some pus a few days ago, but that seems to be gone! can’t imagine having to have it drained.
I just shit my pants reading this. I am terrified of spiders. Get bettter asap!
HAHA! That was my first reaction when I saw the picture I took. I shit my pants for sure!
OH MY GOSH – you poor thing! I’m glad to hear you’re on antibiotics and am wishing you a very speedy recovery!!
i’ll be meeting you in like one or two days!
Owww! You must have got an awful shock when you woke up to that. I hope it clears up soon. Get well soon Lisa!
I think, to put it bluntly, that picture made me want to shit my pants!
Brown Recluse Spidey’s suck. Thank goodness you are on meds, girl. Hopefully it clears up sooner rather than later.
A friend was bitten on the leg by a recluse (don’t get freaked out!) They had to basically dig out the infected skin so it didn’t spread and then impact it. It all depends on the person’s reaction to the poison, I guess, with how severe it is.
OH my gosh. I have the chills. I seriously hope you feel better soon!! That looks SO painful! I’m pretty terrified of brown recluses (my husband likes to tell me lovely stories of what they can do), so this is pretty much my worst nightmare. Get better soon, girl!
ouch chica!!!
OMG that is SO SO SO scary!! I’m like itchy just imaging it!! SO glad you are going to be ok!! ahh!
OH MY GOD, LISA.
ahahaha I just sat at my desk with my chin on the floor. I’m not kidding. I was totally NOT expecting that final picture. holy, poisonous spiders in oklahoma!
I hope it starts to feel better fast… gaaaaah!
Spider bites are one ailment I can talk about. Pull up a chair.
I was 13 and at camp. Monday night we all slept under the stars and I felt a prick on my arm, I slap it and go back to sleep. Next morning, I have two welts on my arm. Being the prepared camper I am, I take two Benadryls (assuming the welts are just regular mosquito bites). A few hours later, the welts are getting bigger and I tell my counselor, who gives me more Benadryl. Back at the camp home base, my entire arm is now swelling and I go to the nurse. She gives me more Benadryl and tells me to come back after supper. After supper, she sends me to the hospital, where they immediately admit me.
I’m 13 and in a hospital in the middle of nowhere north Georgia. My counselors can’t stay overnight or more than an hour a day, so I’m left to my own devices (reading and rereading the two books I had and watching Charlie’s Angels). I have an IV for four days. The diagnosis is cellulitis. What I’d thought were mosquito bites were wasp/yellow-jacket/other stings. What the doctors and I couldn’t see until the swelling went down were the small spider bites running up and down most of my fingers. Ick. Turns out the plethora of venom/stings/bites had caused my body to freak out and just start attacking everything.
To make matters worse, my parents were out of the country, and my emergency contact didn’t bother letting my aunt (a nurse) know anything was wrong until Friday afternoon. My aunt arrived (after a frantic 14 hour drive) Saturday morning just as I was being released. Thank the Lord. She is still pissed at that emergency contact to this day for not letting her know sooner that I was in the hospital. Now I have to carry around an epi-pen when hanging out outdoors and be super careful. Also, I hate spiders.
I’m glad you are ok!
You poor thing! I’m glad you went to the doctor. When we were going over skin disorders in class(for esthetics) a couple of months ago I found out I had psoriasis and had always thought it was dry skin. nope! Now I go to the doctor instead of self diagnosing myself.
I hope you feel better.
YIKES! How scary. Hope you’re on the up and up with those antibiotics!
These spiders are horrible! My dog got bit by one last summer and it ate 2 holes under his arm. You could literally see inside of his body. It was so gross! He could barley move for a month! I felt horrible for him! It is not a fun thing to go through! I’m sorry you had to experience this! I hope you recover quickly!!
Ack! I’m just up in Wichita, KS so I know about the spiders too! My Dad got bite by one about 3 years ago while downstairs in their laundry room. The bite made his whole calf turn black & blue, ick!! At the time, I was living in NC and was coming home to visit a week after he was bit. I refused to come home and stay at their house unless an exterminator came first!!! I was SO scared to sleep in that basement!!
A few summers ago, my brother was bit (bitten?) by a brown recluse spider and actually had to spend the night (maybe two, I can’t remember) in the hospital. His arm started turning black from the venom – it was nasty! He now has a fairly large scar on his arm from the bite and has since apologized to me for always making fun of my fear of spiders. Now, he gets it.
Don’t be too much of a badass! Make sure you go back to the doc if it gets worse even if it interferes with your HLS plans. Some of the other commenter’s stories are pretty nasty. My husband’s grandfather died of a heart attack triggered by a brown recluse bite.
I hope you heal up soon!!
Oh my gosh, hope you get better soon! I’ve heard a lot of bites are actually something else, are you sure it isn’t something like MRSA? I just worry because you spend time in hospitals.
Being from Florida, they ALWAYS used to warn us about brown recluses!! I’m so glad you’re okay. When I was 10 I had a spider bite, but I kept it hidden from my parents because I was afraid of the doctors. It grew and grew (kind of like a volcano on my shoulder) until it was so big that my sister got scared and told my parents. I had to go to the doctor and get a shot because my fever had gotten so high! I can’t recall what kind of spider bite it was, although I don’t think it was poisonous. I’m pretty sure my bite was just infected
i’d be scared shitless too!! my mind would race a thousand miles a minute with a whole bunch of fears that would inevitably develop from the bite..like “will this get worse”… “will i die” … “will i turn into superwoman” lol. But i’m glad you are still here and that yes, another notch in your badass belt has just been added!
xoxo <3
Lisa!
My daughter reads your blog and sent this post to us – and now a mystery is solved!
My husband had what looked like two bites on his shin and within weeks it spread into that nasty, itchy, blistery, black/blue skin from his knee to his ankle. four doctors in three days later he finally gets on the correct medication and starts to slowly heal. But still no diagnosis as to the cause, although spider bites were suspect.
Sooooo the family joke was that I had planted a brown recluse in our bed…I denied this of course explaining that if I was to plant a spider it would have been a black widow.
Now after reading your blog and seeing the pictures, we know it was a brown recluse (my husband says if I really wanted to job done right I should have purchased it at Neiman Marcus instead of Walmart).
But I didn’t plant it…really I swear;)
Lisa!
My daughter reads your blog and sent this post to us – and now a mystery is solved!
My husband had what looked like two bites on his shin and within weeks it spread into that nasty, itchy, blistery, black/blue skin from his knee to his ankle. four doctors in three days later he finally gets on the correct medication and starts to slowly heal. But still no diagnosis as to the cause, although spider bites were suspect.
Sooooo the family joke was that I had planted a brown recluse in our bed…I denied this of course explaining that if I was to plant a spider it would have been a black widow.
Now after reading your blog and seeing the pictures, we know it was a brown recluse (my husband says if I really wanted the job done right I should have purchased it at Neiman Marcus instead of Walmart).
But I didn’t plant it…really I swear;)
oh my gosh, that looks crazy painful. you poor thing! how did it go from that tiny red bump to the last photo??? ouch!
THAT is why I hate spiders and get cold chills outside in 100+ Oklahoma weather and my husband makes fun of me. To me, EVERY brown spider is a brown recluse. Yuck, and every morning I check my shoes to make sure they are spiderless because I’ve heard they like to hide out in dark places like that. Neurotic or safe??? I really wish I didn’t see this post.
Shudder! I am deathly afraid of spiders. I don’t know what I’d do if I got a bite like that. I hope it heals up for you really quickly!!
Holy gravy, that’s one scary spider! I’m in Alabama so we have brown recluse spiders and black widows and they honestly all creep me the heck out. Glad you went to the doctor before it got worse!
Ahh! Lisa, I was reading this post on my phone the other night & totally forgot to write you a comment. But, OMG, I’m so glad you are ok!! It looks scary! Eek!
I wouldn’t even know what to do if a spider bit me besides freak out..so now I would NEVER ever take any chances after seeing this bite. Goodness. I hope you are feeling much better! xoxo
OH. MY. GOODNESS! ….You totally increased your b.a. status tenfold! Holy cow! ….Hope you are feeling better!
oh my god scary!!! thats crazy how bad it got! glad you’re feeling better though….you are obviously a huge a badass now