Updates on stuff.
I've missed blogging the last week or so but I'm feeling well enough get back in front of the computer. Thanks for all the well wishes.
Earlier this week, I was getting dressed in the morning I noticed a strange mark on my stomach. It was a hard pea sized purple knot surrounded by a reddish pink area the size of a quarter.
I figured shit..not another spider bite. The last few I had were festering and annoying but this one was bigger and nastier looking than the ones I had previously.
I wiped the area with alcohol, dug out the knot in the center of the bite with a sterilized steak knife and packed it with a mixture of silvadene cream and golden seal powder. This concoction usually cures everything.
I kept an eye on that day and later that evening red blotches started appearing in spots around the bite and they were getting darker. I felt feverish and nauseous.
I thought, well fuck a duck, either the bite is spreading or I have some kind of staph infection.
When my wife got home I told her I should probably see a doctor. This is rare for me because I hadn't really seen one since I got my appendix out in 93.
At the emergency room they took one look at the area and quickly got me into a room , started an IV and took some blood.
I guess my home made doctoring had done some good because she said I could probably just take some shots, stay a few hours for observation and she would prescribe some oral antibiotics.
It turned out to be a good thing I went because part of the reason I felt so bad was because my blood pressure was something like 199 over 119 and they were very concerned. The doctor told me to cut the salt from my diet and get to a regular doctor right away.
I started feeling better as soon as I got home and over the next couple days the red spot started shrinking and the fever finally broke last night.
I'm not sure what kind of spider it was but luckily it got me where I had some fat instead of near anything important.
So now I'm on the mend. I had never paid attention to the salt content of my food before. When I took inventory of what I was eating, it looks like I was consuming at least 5000mg per day. It looks like that fact alone is part of my blood pressure problem.
So now I have to find a low sodium, low carbohydrate, meat free diet. I wonder if I should just say fuck it and find a field to graze in.
posted by Bill Rowland @ October 21, 2007
45 Comments
45 Comments:
Glad you're feeling better, and that it wasn't that new super staph infection that's supposed to be running about.
Low sodium isn't that hard to do, but low carb, and meat free? I'd be a dead man. That's all I eat.
Unsalted, of course. :)
Good god, I am glad to hear you're doing better. I have a super-sensory radar that tells me anytime a bug is within 20 feet of me, so I know to freak out and get rid of it.
Good luck with the diet, and for Gott's sake, stop sticking yourself with knives. Gaaaah!
I think you'll be fine with the low-sodium - it seems to me that most of it comes from things you add to your food, and you can get tasty results without salt, easily. It'll just take some getting used to, and a few modifications to how you cook.
Glad you're okay. Did they figure out what kind of bite it was? What type of spider, I mean?
My goodness, you've been through some shit this week huh?
Glad you're doing better and that you're now aware of your BP. The easiest way to cut salt is eat mostly whole food. It's the processed shit that will get ya!
Take care of yourself!
Wow, so glad you forgot all that macho shit and went to the ER...sometimes it just best to be sure.
You must have been very sick for asking to go to see a doctor, I'm glad that it is over now, I understand that it's easy to be beaten by a spider, they are in the tee shirt, you don't see them when you slip over your shirt, they don't like to be stuck between the skin and the cloth, and they bite, it happens to me all the time but it is small harmless spider even though it's itchy for quite a long time. Unsalted bread is not good.
Wow, you must have some pretty nasty spiders there. Glad you are okay. And yes avoid the salt, get back in balance. Take care.
LMAO @ digging into yourself with a steak knife! Don't like doctors much do you? You probably got some of the poison out that way though.
Glad you're going to be OK...just watch that BP, it can really kick your ass. You might want to contact a spider assassin and get rid of all of them once and for all. They seem to be angry with you for some reason!
Hammer,
Glad that you went to the hospital, got the antibiotics, and found out about your blood pressure.
There are some spices that may work on your food instead of adding salt when you are cooking at home.
It's the restaurant/fast food meals that are the sodium on steroid places.
Better a low sodium diet than a stroke. Even if it means you ARE grazing in a field :)
Loving Annie
Meat free? Say it ain't so...
It's a good thing you got yourself checked. I'm one of these people that have to be crying from the pain before I see a doctor.
Take care of yourself, Hammer. We don't wanna lose you to the Morton Salt girl!
Het Hammer,
The bite may be a staph infection called MRSA. It's running rampant 9esp here in the midlands of SC too. It has been in the news lately and even caused some deaths- (From people who woaited WAYYYY to ong to go to the Hospital.
If they cultured it it may come back as Methicillin Resistant Staph Aurues (MRSA). Treatment- it is resistant to many nmany antibiotics but thankfully respomds to a double dose of Doxycycline (Vibramycin) & Sulfa-(Septra & Bactrim.
Handwsh hands wash heandwash- watch ANY bumps on the little ones and watch for signs of spresding just like you did!!!
If it's not MRSA------Nevermind!
Hope you feel better my friend. This is my first post since the 19th as my 2 year old puter up and died--Spider bite I think- :-)
so I waiting to get a new one!
Feel better buddy!,
John
Yeah, you gotta watch that high blood pressure..
I went on the sodium free diet for six months..did help my blood pressure at all..quacks allow that is the way it goes. So now I just take a high powered pee pill and a blood pressure pill every day and it stays within range until I read the news every morning..
well...even though you are on a meat free diet...you can still use those steak knives for do it yourself at home surgery...sheesh
(good to read you are on the mend)
it doesn't sound like any spider bite i've heard of - if it were a black widow or a brown recluse, there would have been some rotting of the flesh - one person we know ended up in the hospital because some sort of fly had laid some eggs in a sore he had on an obscure part of his body - he didn't notice it until it became knotted and infected like you've described.
next time try the black walnut remedy.
my bp is 116/69 and the doctors have always told me to eat MORE salt, but i don't like it all that much. whenever i stand suddenly, it's like being back in the sixties...for a few moments...
p.s. i'm glad you're doing better and try incorporating more rice vinegar into your recipes - 0 sodium and it's good on most vegetables, especially baked potatoes.
the kind we use is nakano and they also have it seasoned or with roasted garlic. been using it for years.
you have been through so much lately! the diet sounds rough. you will have to tell us how it goes. stay well!
Hammer,
Glad you're on the mend. Low sodium? Cut out the canned goods, especially soups. They're loaded with sodium. Just read the labels.
Damn. Spiders can be some pesky buggers. Sorry to hear about the bite.
We dont' eat much salt. I have high blood pressure, and Gigantor has heart problems on his side of the family.
That salt substitute isn't to bad. But we use lots of mrs dash, lots of it.
Wow...I'm sorry you had to go thru all that...glad you feeling better...you should have your blood pressure taken again....or get a home monitor to keep track of it...it may have been high cause you were stressed out from the trauma....but a change in salt intake is always a good thing.
Peace
Steamed veggies, balsamic vinegar, liberal use of chilies.
It is amazing how you discover a major health problem while taking care of a minor one. My friend recently discovered he had an aortic aneurism while when he went to see the doctor over something very minor.
All the best with cutting out your salt intake... I know, myself, how difficult that can be at times!
Take care!
Wow Hammer,
Glad you are feeling better dude!
Wow, what a week. I'm glad that you're feeling better too.
It's hard to find the right balance of food for both health and taste. Good luck.
OMG! Glad you're better. SPIDERS are the most venomous critters for their size. I'm safe because when spiders bite me, they get sick and die. Take it easy.
I have to agree. I would be dead without meat. We eat a lot of hambruger and such in this household. I mean we have our vegies too but alot of meat here. That sounds terrible. I just killed a spider that has been lurkin around the house for a few days. I am not to fond of spiders.
holy cow! glad to hear you're on the road to recovery. i try to keep a low salt diet, but i fail at most turns. i'd have to give up all pre-prepped food and fast food to really make a dent in it.
You should get to a doctor and do as he suggests. But you probably won't go.
Glad to read you're feeling better, Hammer. Take care of that high blood pressure. It's a silent killer.
You take care of yourself! That's an order!
Holy flippin' cows...had read that spider bites bite (pun intended) but never knew of anyone who'd gone through it.
However you do it, please have someone spray or otherwise get rid of the suckers.
Do you know how the bug got you?
Keep getting better.
I know someone who has a superbug (MRSA). He almost died two times and is still on shaky grounds. Apparently in the UK they are banning hospital doctors from wearing long sleeves, ties and white coats because all of those things carry the superbugs.
p.s. if you drink bottled/canned drinks, look at the sodium ratings on them--it's pretty high. Especially, of all things, green tea.
Sodium intake is just something most people don't think about. It just takes a little effort to step back and knock out a couple of Chinese take-outs to get better marks on your BP.
Enjoy your grass!
Wow. That's a high BP. I took mine the other day and dropped below 100 systolic. That was before my first Thirstbuster of the day, though.
Anyway, glad that insect bite resolved without an amputation or something.
Scary stuff! I'm glad to hear you're doing better.
Glad you are ok. I've had a couple nasty spider bites in the past and they are not fun.
Meat free??? How come
You're my hero. I'm all about the self-medicating, and I would've paid you a quarter to watch a video of your self surgery. That's not weird, is it? Anyway, I would've lanced the fucker,too.
Glad you're feeling better. Salt is a hard thing to give up, but once you cut waaaay down on it, after several days, a little will go a lot longer way than before. Take care of yourself!
I've been cutting back on salt too - I no longer salt my food at the table. It was quite hard at first, but now I don't miss it...
Yup I think the diet thing is the key, and maybe some deep breathing exercises. My better half goes every two months for check ups, but if he arrives in a rush the BP is up = arrive ten minutes early maybe?
Cheers
I've never been much into salting my food, but I think we just get it from all the stuff we eat anyway. Lots of salt and sugar in everything. Tough to figure out what to eat and what not to eat. Try the field, but stay away from the steaming piles.
And the steak knife thing killed me. Yep, I'd do the same thing. From the sound of it I was expecting the chest burster from Alien to appear. Glad everything came out ok.
wowzers that doesn't sound like fun. Hope you get to feeling better soon and hope you get the BP under control. Let us know how you make out with the doc.
Glad you're feeling better, I wouldn't have been able to use a knife on myself!
Good luck with the twigs and berries. I'm sure there's low salt meals that taste good, so let us know if you find any good ones.
Geez Hammer. Stay well. Take care of yourself. I'm sorry you've had such a crummy time lately. I've been out of it, so my apologies for the belated well wishes. Yikes.
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