Niagara Falls ComicCon has come and gone. I really wanted to attend this year. I had planned to attend this year. I actually had a mission for attending this year. My mission…find someone who I could interrogate about Peter Parker and Spiderman.
This is where I would like you to start humming the Spiderman song because I can tell you I can’t get that song out of my head and I really think it is time I stopped suffering alone. Here is an Aerosmith version of it for you to get in the mood.
It’s a little dark but it seems appropriate.
As a child I wasn’t a huge fan of Marvel comics and its heroes. I was more of an “Archie” kind of gal. Then they started making movies like the first Superman movie and I was hooked. I will watch any movie, good or bad, with a Super Hero in it. Iron Man, The Hulk, Avengers…any of them…all of them…over and over and over again. It may be my actual lack of contact with the original comics that may be the problem and that all my information is based on the movie story lines but I have to tell you I have some questions about Spiderman. Correct me if I am wrong. Mild mannered Peter Parker gets bitten by some kind of super nuclear spider and morphs into Spiderman. Am I wrong here?
My week was a bit busier than usual and I had planned to end it by attending ComicCon. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I attended an intense program in Toronto on Marketing and Social Media. This included having to commute each day along hell’s highway (aka: the 401) into Toronto. Fortunately, my commuter buddies were great company and made the trip very easy for me.
Carpooling Made Easy
It had been a long time since I sat for 10 hours a day in a classroom. Actually, I don’t think I ever sat that long in my life but as I said it was an intense program and the days were long.
The Longest Time I Have Ever Spent In Class
At some point Wednesday afternoon the middle finger on my right hand got itchy and I scratched it. Upon examination I realized I had another spider bite. I say “another” spider bite because I have been bitten by spiders a lot. Brown ones, black ones, white ones, big ones, small ones, all kinds of spiders have feasted on me. I often have a reaction to the bite and I have on several occasions ended up with infection and a course or two of antibiotics. Thursday morning when I woke up I noticed my finger was quite swollen. It took me the whole drive into Toronto to get my ring off with the aid of some hand cream and a lot of profanity and grunting and groaning. By the time we were coming home my finger was throbbing and I was feeling unwell. I can tell you that my commuter buddies were tired of me wagging my middle finger at them and insisting they look at it. Friday I realized that the swelling and redness had moved up into the knuckles of my hand. I waited, not very patiently, for a delivery from Sears between “noon and five” which showed up around 4:30 and finally drove myself to the hospital.
Friday Morning – Crap! Here we go again.
I sent He-Who a text to tell him where I was in case he was looking for me. He wasn’t but appreciated the update anyway. In emergency an IV was put in and a bag of antibiotics was put through. I would need a treatment every 8 hours for the next 8 days. The good news was that arrangements were made for home nurses to come and take care of this. The bad news was that they couldn’t get that sorted until the morning and I would need to come back at 3:30 am Saturday, or as I like to call it “ComicCon Day”, for the next treatment. I had driven myself to the hospital in my car which is a “stick” and I now couldn’t use my right hand so He-Who had to be called to rescue me. I was able to use his car to go back in the wee hours of the morning for the next treatment. When the nurse came later in the day they hooked me up to a handy dandy little portable contraption that would give me my antibiotics every eight hours. Each bag held three treatments and there is a little computer that controls the whole mess so the nurse only has to come once a day.
Handy Little IV Setup
By Monday morning my hand looked like this.
Monday Morning – Sporting my new “ink” indicating where the infection was on Friday.
The IV site had to be moved to the other hand which left me with no hands working. That big swollen hand would not bend for anything.
2nd IV Site
Handy Little Bag of Antibiotics
Handy Dandy Little Computer
It was great to not have to spend the whole time in the hospital while this was being done. It was kind of neat to play with the computer and learn how to change my own bags. But come on, the only “web” I got out of this was this stuff.
Spider Web? I think not!
I have questions Peter Parker!
Seriously, my “Spidey Senses” tell me if I am going to be the one known as the “Spider Lady” at the very least I should have a cool costume.
Bib, The Michelin Man, called. He wants his hand back.
Glad you’re healing up. Good on you for recognizing what the problem was and going for help right away
I know! We were laughing so hard at it. It hurt like hell but I thought it looked like when Howie Mandel used to blow up the surgical gloves like balloons.
Thanks.
Here I was thinking you we’re going to be swinging over Niagra Falls!
What a terrible story, actually. Well told, but terrible. Go to the doctor sooner next time, please.
We have an effective family remedy: baking soda is placed on the bite and then vinegar is poured on it. It draws the venom out and can save you a trip to the ER.
Glad you’re OK, though!
Elyse,
This is not the first time I have had a spider bite to deal with. One went bad in December and it took 4 courses of oral antibiotics to finally get rid of it.
No one has ever told me about the baking soda and vinegar trick before. I will certainly try it next time. Thank you.
Just don’t use the expensive fancy kind. White vinegar. And if it doesn’t work go to the doctor sooner!!!!!
He-Who has already placed an emergency container of each together int he cupboard ready to go.
Nicely done spider lady lol. I especially love the randition of your take on the costume you would have!!! Awesome!! Glad your hand is looking better than it did Monday morning too…WOW…looked much worse than you described to me the other night YUCK!! Great read as always big sister … I enjoyed your humor through out your story telling. Hope your web is removed soon. Luv ya xo
Thank you. Hopefully, the whole thing will be over Saturday morning. I will be finished the IV then and we will see what happens.
I’ve got a question for Spiderwoman: how can you be getting bitten by spiders? In Canada? Michelle, this is a terrible story – tooooooo creepy for words. To think, there I was all those years, thinking I was in a safe place, and I could have been attacked by spiders – makes my hairs stand on end! My goodness … at least your poor fingers can wiggle around enough to type us the tale … I’ve got mine crossed Saturday will be the end of it for you. 🙂
Oh, Meredith we have plenty of spiders here. All kinds and for the most part harmless. I just happen to have a bad reaction to them that turns to infection and they I have a problem.
My fingers are tenderly wiggling again so I have been able to catch up on some thing. For the most part I have I have been one fingering it. Thanks for the finger crossing hopefully that’s all it will take. 😉
I’m not surprised there are spiders, honey, but being bitten by them? I’ve lived in places where there’re deadly spiders, and a gazillion harmless ones, but I’ve never been bitten … Alarming!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed, you keep waggling yours! 🙂
I think people get bitten all the time (not by any of the exotic ones like you have access to) but they don’t have any reaction so they don’t even notice it. Much like with a mosquito bite you just swat it away and never really see it. I’m not sure what really happens, it seems it all comes about under the cloak of darkness. 😉
I suppose you’re right, Michelle. Why would they bit us though?
Honestly I always thought it had something to do with scent. Have you ever been in a group of people when there are mosquitos about? There will be two people being tortured by them and four people say, “They aren’t bothering me”. All these little creatures are pretty amazing creatures and have built in sensors for everything. I actually was reading the other day about how dogs can smell cancer in a person. Can you imagine?
Michelle, I think I shall call you Spider Lady from now on. I believe you earned it, indeed! Ah, you poor thing. Your poor hand. That looked like it must have hurt badly. You’re so good-spirited about it. My son had a bite once (not as bad as yours), but the little line went up his arm and I freaked. He did need antibiotics. Good for you to get it treated. I’ve been to a comic con once (the one in San Diego before it got really big). They’re crazy, aren’t they? I love all the costumes. Next year, you must go as Spider Lady! I hope your hand is healing up okay.
I love your Spiderwoman look! Wow, your hand really swelled up. How long did it stay that way? I’m glad you got treatment for it and that you are doing ok. Sending lots of love and TLC your way my dear and very special friend! 🙂
See I could really pull off the outfit, right? 😉
It was like that for about 2 days. It was really good when it went down and the pressure stopped hurting. I was worried about it bursting like a balloon.
I should get unhooked tomorrow and I will retire my outfit.
Haha, I love your sense of humor!
Bloody Hell!
There wasn’t much blood but it was a wee bit of hell. 😉
I love gingerfightback’s comment. Let me repeat it for emphasis. Bloody Hell! That being said, I’ve been bitten by spiders too – I don’t know which kind. It swelled and was painful and then when I thought all was well, it did it again. Apparently you can get one venom pocket cut off by the swelling of the other and when it shrinks, the other pocket goes to work reinfecting. Hopefully this won’t happen to you. But if it does, don’t waste time. Go back for more antibiotics. Take care.
Thanks Renee. This is exactly what happened in December to January. It took four courses of antibiotics to finally get a handle on it. That bite was on my stomach (of all places) so I at least could function, I just couldn’t stand having even cloth from a top touching it.
I’m sorry this happened to you but I appreciate that I am not the only one. No freak show here 😉
Oh my……..the swollen hand picture is painful……but the costume, I must say, is becoming :-).
It was painful Stacia but we still couldn’t help laughing at it every time we looked at it.
M. Good Blog… man did you get a bite looks painful…. but I like your new suit… it ‘suits’ you JS-C
Yes, it seems to be my colour, don’t you think? It was nice that it matched my lipstick.
Thanks for stopping by.
M
You’re my hero, Michelle.
I think I love you even more now that I know you were planning on attending Comic Con… Maybe we would have run onto each other?
We could have teamed-up like the heroes of old!
To be honest it is because of you I had planned to attend. I watch the big televised ComicCon from San Diego on TV. It is awesome and I always wanted to go. You are the one who told me about the one in Niagara or I would never have known. Maybe we can make a “Next Year at ComicCon” pact?
Serious spider adventure – not the costume you planned, I’m sure.
Whew – I worry about bites, too -I know they lay in wait for me….(stupid useless cat could do something useful – like kill spiders)
Hope you feel better – and hope you make it to Comic Con next year – would be awesome with Hook in tow!
It would be fun, wouldn’t it.
One of my friends has a cat that spends all her up time chasing spiders. I thought all cats did that.
There is nothing about this that sounds like fun.
Unless you got He Who to do everything for you during your convalescence.
hehehe…
He has been a star throughout. Doing his best…lets just say I have a hell of a mess to clean up when this is over.
Cool post, Spider Michelle, although not so cool to be bitten by a spider this way. That was a serious bite! It must have hurt a lot. I hope your hand/finger is much better now. About Peter Parker; you seriously want to ask a serious question about a comic figure? As I kid a loved those heroes, my thing was Batman – and he is still the best – on the movies…
I’m a huge fan of the Batman movies as well. Of course, I grew up on the half hour, black and white TV show. I loved when the big words would flash out at us. “POW”, “BANG”, “CRASH”. We didn’t actually see any violence but we read it.
I am on my last bag of antibiotic as we speak and my last dose will be late tonight. Tomorrow freedom from the contraption. 🙂
That is good to hear. Enjoy your new freedom!
*BEEP!!!!*
Oh, no!!! So, I ‘liked’ the post… but it felt like all kinds of wrong to do so, because that sounds AWFUL! I had a spider experience once where I developed a tennis ball sized welt on my leg… but honestly… compared to your photos, I feel silly even mentioning it! Sorry you missed the CON, but I’m even sorrier about your hand! Yikes… feeling… woozy… must… sit… down…
😦
Woozy is pretty much how I have felt from beginning to end. I came off IV yesterday so all that is left is the healing from all the punctures. My arms look like somebody beat me up with a baseball bat. I won’t make you look at pictures as I don’t know if anyone is around to pick you up if you pass out.
Oh my gosh, that’s awful! I hate spiders, and now you’ve given me another reason to add to the list. What an ordeal to go through. I hope you’re better soon!
Thank you, raising Daisy. I am officially on the mend. No more IVs and I can use both hands at the same time. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Do you actually see the spider, or do you just know what the bite feels like? I bet your commuter buddies feel terrible now.
Great post, Michelle. Can’t wait for the movie.
Charles, I have never seen the spider actually bite me. They are sneaky buggers! I do react to the bite but it is and get them all the time. I have the exact same bite on my other hand and it did not turn into infection. It is the infection that gets me. I had a bad one on my stomach just before Christmas and the move and it took four courses of antibiotics to get it under control. It had me on the couch for a good month. My immune system isn’t what it should be. I blame it on the chemo. Normally I am “STRONG LIKE BULL” (said with a Ukrainian accent) but those sneaky little spiders can take me down. 😉
Yikes, I hope you’re recovered. No morphing, right?
No morphing. Nothing so exciting as that. All I have now is some stiff hands and some bruising. All is well with the world.
Hey, feel better.
It’s all good now. Thanks Bumba.
Holy spidey bite, Batman! I’ve never seen a reaction that bad.
I’m sitting at my desk scratching a couple of small, itchy-hurty, liquid-filled bumps on my arm, the same place some horrible spider nailed me 2 weeks ago, and I think this time it may be poison ivy. I’ve been feeling pretty sorry for myself the way every biting creature makes a beeline for me (get it? beeline – get it?), but now I see I don’t have it bad at all.
Hope you’re all better now.
Oh, I get the “beeline”, and the spider line and the mosquito line. I am their favourite meal. There can be 7 other people standing with me and I am always the only one who gets bitten…over and over. Of course I am also the one who reacts the worse. We’ll have to compare our bites some time.
I seem to be all good now Peg, thanks for asking.
That’s so scary Michelle! I’m so glad everything ended up O.K. I hate, hate, hate, spiders. Yikes.
Watching my hand blow up and wondering at what point it would burst was pretty scary. I don’t know anyone who likes spiders. Most people are like us and hate them. You would think they would take the hint and go away!
To hold such a delightful and positive perspective of “spidey senses” during such an uncomfortable state is empowering indeed. As you think back to the incident and the thoughts which you held, what did you notice about yourself?
Shakti
I’m just one of those people that things like this happen to. Humour is my strongest armour against anything so I wear it as often as possible. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
I didn’t know that spiders bite! Poor you – that looked really painful and very inconvenient too. Glad you got it sorted eventually. 🙂
Thank you. I was enjoying your site earlier due to our mutual friend (who has no taste in music as he doesn’t like David Bowie) and I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and comment.
Yesterday I noticed a little red bump on the back of my hand. At first I though it was a mosquito bite, but it seemed too small and “raised” off the skin too much. Another thing is that it is extremely painful when I touch it and it is sometimes itchy. It could possibly be a zit but I don’t think it is because, 1) I don’t understand why I would get a zit on the back of my hand and 2) It all of a sudden appeared in a day. It used to have a tiny white head in the middle of it but I think I popped it (no pus came out just this white piece of skin or something, oh and after I popped it turned really red and became really painful). If you type in “little spider bite” into ‘google images’ the first image that pops up is what mine looks like (there are three bites in that image, mine is like a mixture of the three except mine is a bit smaller than those ones, and not as perfect of a circle as one of them, and redder than one of them). I don’t really mind it except it is sooo painful! Is there anything I can do or put on it to make it heal? It’s so little, it’s just like this little red blemish on the middle back of my hand and I don’t know if it’s a spider bite or not but I just want it gone because it really hurts. Have you had anything that sounds similar to this? How long did it last? And what should I do? Helpful answers are appreciated, thanks!
It sounds like the bite I had but you never know. The only advice I would give is to have it looked at by a doctor, sooner rather than later.
It will probably turn out to be nothing but it is always better to not take any chances. Good luck.
OMG, I hope you’re better now! I think ComiCon would’ve been great.
Wow…I missed this one. That’s horrible! I have a swollen joint on my left ring finger (maybe arthritis…not sure) and it hurt like hell pulling the ring off yesterday with olive oil!
It seems like it has been up so long now that I didn’t think anyone had missed it. 😉
Rings always seem to go on much easier than they come off. I really thought at one point either my ring or my finger was going to have to be cut. I haven’t put any of my rings on since. I hope yours is feeling better.
As someone who has been a comic book / superhero fan from an early age ( it is a guy thing), I can sympathize. A couple of years back I was cutting the grass and felt a funny itchy burny spot on the top of my foot. I was wearing shoes & socks & this was well within the shoelace line, not the ankle area. I figured it was bite/sting. As a rule I do not react to stings. This time I did. Not as severely as what you went through.
The next day I noticed slight puffing around the spot. Within a couple of days I had to switch shoes for better comfort. For two weeks every couple of days the itchy burn would return briefly and then subside.
Liz had mentioned it to the neighbour and he said it was a spider bite. My reaction was similar to your own. Humming the old song &wondering why I could still only climb wall metaphorically. Considering we are in a uranium rich area you would think spider bites would have the old Parker panache.
Hope you are fully recovered. If you take part in cos-play again, don’t go for the Hulking out – way too painful. 😀
It is nice to know a fellow Peter Parker should be. I am fully recovered from my spider bite but now I am recovering from a full on face plant that I may just start calling “Hulking Out”. I had a bad fall and landed on my face. I have been battling concussion for over a week. My face was very bruised, swollen and a lot of Hulk type colours. https://silkpurseproductions.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/concussed.jpg
Take good care of yourself. Concussions are very serious matters; unlike movies and detective novels where the heroes seem to get up from this stuff without a problem.
You are going out of the way to get freaky pictures for the blog. All the best. 🙂
You poor thing, oh my gosh! Your hand looked horrible! One of my friends had a similar looking reaction when she got bit by a brown recluse spider. Those and the black and brown widows are nasty! Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay now Peter Parker! How is your spydee sense these days? 😉
It hasn’t improved much. I’m not sure what’s up with that but I’m working on it.
Bummer! Are you taking antibiotics? Wow, that must have been some bite with a lot of toxins in it! If it’s still infected after this long, that must have been a real potent spider!
No,no,no…I meant that my Spidey Senses haven’t improved much. The bite has cleared up. It took awhile but it finally went away. I was hooked up to an IV for over a week.