Those of you who know about the effect of a Brown Recluse (AKA Fiddleback Spider) bite are wide-eyed at this moment thinking, “Good grief woman! Get yourself to the hospital… NOW!”  Let me clarify.  I was bitten by a brown recluse … when I was 18.  And I didn’t even notice!  It was my mother who first took note of an unusual bruise on my thigh.  That I couldn’t remember where it came from was not out of the ordinary.  I frequently had bruises I couldn’t account for.  Any slight bump seemed to make them appear so after a while I just stopped keeping track.  Anyway, neither of us were particularly concerned until a few days later when we realized that unlike normal bruises this one was not shrinking.  Instead it grew at a tremendous rate.  What started the size of a 50 cent piece was now larger than both my hands … with fingers outstretched.  And it developed an intriguing black hole (about the size of a pinhead) in the center.  Then it stopped.  Erring on the side of caution (HA!) we made a doctor appointment for the following week.  I didn’t have a regular physician at that time but my old pediatrician agreed to see me.  I remember sitting in the waiting room - the only child present without her mommy.  Typical doctor tests and questions then, “You’ve been bitten by a spider.  A fiddleback.”

“Is that bad?”

“Usually.  How long did you say you’ve had this bruise?”

“Two or three weeks.”

The doc shook her head, clearly puzzled, then sent me away with a prescription and instructions to return IMMEDIATELY if there were any more growth.  There never was.  I took the pills down to the last one even though the bruising was gone long before then.

I am telling you about this now because I woke this morning to find one of these solitary spiders in my bed mercilessly smooshed (That’s a scientific term.) beneath one of my pillows and it reminded me.

*To be completely honest - spider bites are inaccurately attributed to the brown recluse at least half the time which means it is quite possible mine was a misdiagnosis but it makes a good story anyway.