Let's Exterminate All Spiders!

I am not a fan of spiders. Which is funny, because as a kid I used to think that they were rather cute. And I used to pick them up, have pet spiders, etc etc.

Now I am less than thrilled with them.

In 2005 I got bitten by a spider (a white-tail, and if anyone from overseas reads this - they are BAD) right by the side of my eye. I woke up, and it was all swollen and huge. My boyfriend saw me and made me go to the doctors immediately. (Which was a good thing, because otherwise I would have left it because I do not like doctors, or hospitals.) The doctor said that it was a good thing that I did come in when I did, because if I had waited another hour I probably would have lost my eye. Whitetails are THAT poisonous.

Fast forward to Thursday, two days ago. I woke up with a lump on my chin. It was a pretty big lump, but I assumed I had scratched a pimple in my sleep and it had become infected. It would go away in a few days.

I went out to my friend Hoang's concert that evening (in lots of pain - but his playing was lovely) and then out to dinner afterwards. I wasn't hungry (warning sign!) and Claire saw my face front on and asked what had happened. I said that I had an infected pimple. She said, "I think it's a spider bite."

Well, I went home (Rebecca offered me panadol, forgetting that it doesn't work on me) and got as much sleep as I could, which wasn't much. Then I phoned the doctor and made an appointment.

He took one look at it and said, "spider bite". What's more, this spider bite has ALSO become infected. (Hey, I don't like to do things by halves.) This bite too is in a dangerous spot, as there is the possibility that the infection will go into my nasal cavity and that is, in the doctors words "rather dangerous". He gave me antiboitics (no painkillers, as they either don't work or don't work AND cause horrible allergic reactions) and said that if the infection continued to spread or if I got a fever or started vomitting then I would need to go into the emergancy room immediately.

Went to my parents' house, where John-Wayne was the first to see me but the last to actually notice that I had a huge red lump on my face and much of the rest of that side of my face was swollen up. I told my parents all the details, and tried to eat something. I let Rebecca know about the situation, as we were meeting for KFC (Kids For Christ) training early Saturday morning, and from then on I had a nicely packed weekend.

Well, I woke up this morning in an extra large amount of pain. I went to the bathroom, and sure enough, the infection had continued to spread, and was now about 3/4 of the way down my throat and nearly up to my eye. (The inflammation part of the infection, not the solid pus part.)

So I got my mother to drive me into the emergancy room. After an hour and a half wait I got in, and they doctors took a good look at my face. They contemplated draining it, but that would leave me with a rather large scar on my face, so they decided against it at present. Then they changed my antiboitics, told me about a new pain medication called Endone (which appears to have no pain-killing affect, but at least it isn't causing me to vomit, halluncinate and loose 10+ kilograms in 3 days, which Tramal does for me). I am going back tomorrow morning (with a pink slip so I get to see the doctor immediately!) so they can see if it is still spreading, going down, or what. So far it looks to me as though it is staying the same, but the pain is worse.

So all of my weekend plans have gone out the window. I am missing out on two church services, KFC training, Steph's "Big Lunch" that has been arranged for 2 1/2 months, and spending time at Rbecca's and Kallie's house annoying them.

My conclusion is inevitable. All spiders must DIE!