Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

A fellow I work with got bit on his male anatomy while using a porta-potty while working at a  refinery a few years.  He experienced swelling, discoloration, and pain in addition to spending a week in the hospital.  To keep this endurance related, I think about his episode every time I use a porta-potty at a ridecamp.

Gary

Nick Warhol <nick.warhol@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Okay, you guys are bringing up bad memories.  Fifteen years ago I was building a deck in my back yard in Hayward, Ca, while Judy was in England for a semester of college.  I got bitten by a Black Widow that had crawled into my shoe while I was in having lunch.  20 minutes later I got so sick I could not stand up.  I didn?t know it was the spider at the time; I was sure it was food poisoning from the frozen pizza I had just eaten.  I was lying on the ground, dizzy, throwing up, not able to stand, everything hurt.  After 10 minutes I was just about to crawl inside and call 911, when I thought it was getting better.   I lay there for an hour while the sickness went away.   I went inside and sat on the couch for the next 12 hours. 

 

It wasn?t until the next day that I went outside and picked up my shoe- out came the dead black widow.  I took off my sock and saw the bite- a big, red, swollen spot on the top of my foot.  Spider in left shoe, bite on left foot.  The mind starts working, and that?s when I got scared, and started to freak out!  I called the poison control center and shouted: ?I?ve been bitten by a black widow!  I?VE BEEN BITTEN BY A BLACK WIDOW!   WHAT SHOULD I DO!  

 

The guy was so cool.  He asked, ?When??   ?YESTERDAY!?    ?Did you get sick??    ?YES!?    ?Are you better now??   ?WELL, Yes,?  I replied.  ?Good,? he said.  ?You?re all done.? 

 

It turns out the nasty spider is rarely fatal, except to young children and older people, or people with specific allergies.   I never gave spiders much thought before then, and still always escort spiders out of the house in a baseball cap, but I KILL THE BLACK WIDOWS! 

 

 

Nick