Spiders

So as everyone knows (or should if you call yourself my friend) I am terrified (mild description) of spiders. Horrified may be a better term. Anyway, you know this to be true. So it may come as a shock to hear that I am also allergic to them. Oh yay, I now have a legit region to be scared. How did I find this out you may ask!?

Well, it all started the other night (Wednesday I believe it was). I woke up to a beautiful morning filled with classes. I took a shower and got dressed and nothing out of the ordinary appeared. As the day progressed I noticed that there was a bug bite on my thigh (I only noticed because it was itchy). So I thought what any other normal person would that there had been an encounter with a pesty mosquito. Oh boy was I wrong. That night as I was putting on my pj shorts I happened to glance at my leg. What I saw shocked and scared me a little. There on my thigh were three...yes three...bites. This shouldnt be alarming I know but these bites were unique in that they were all in a line down my leg. I showed this to my roomies who were also quite puzzled. Later on I noticed a similar bite on the calf of my right leg (opposite to the previous bites). This made me a little more put off due to the fact that I hadnt noticed them earlier.

I continued to believe they were just mosquito bites and that I was just an unfortunate blood donor. BUT, the next day arrived. I woke up as I usually do and got ready for class. I noticed the bites were a bit bigger but not all that bad. During the day the itchy became unbelievable but still not alarming. I did however make a mental note about being able to feel the bumps on my thigh through my jeans and how they were emitting heat (through the jeans). Well, much to my surprise when I got home that night and put on my pj shorts and sat down to do some homework, I just happened to glance down at my leg. The bumps were no longer common mosquito bites but had infact grown to the size of a tennis ball (in roundness) and were quite swollen. I officially freaked out. One of my friends who had come over noticed them and started saying they looked like spider bites. Not something pleasant for me to hear.

Needless to say, I called my mom, who was immediately worried (I had told her about the bumps originally). I sent her a picture of my wonderful leg but before I could get her oppinion there was a fire drill in my building (not really part of the story but stay with me). While standing outside and missing the premiere of the Office, this girl standing behind me happened to look down. She then proceeded to tell me that I should go to a doctor ASAP. I thanked her and then thought to myself "way to make me feel good". Anyway, on my way back to the room, a girl on the stairs behind me also said "ew that girl should see a doctor" this being said also made me feel great.

No worries I did see a doctor. That night my mom made me go to the local ER and have someone look at my leg. I made my roomie go with me because lets face it, ERs are creepy. Before I registered a nurse came to see what was wrong with me and if I had a legit reason for being there. She looked at my leg and said something no nurse should EVER say. "oh my that doesnt look so good". I believe this made me feel even better about what I thought were simple mosquito bites but was now questioning. So I was called back into a room where I sat for what seemed like forever. A nurse practitioner finally came to look at my problem and told me flat out that what I had was a group of spiders that had attacked me. Okay lets see how well you paid attention. A GROUP of spiders. Yes my own nightmare coming true. She said that the reaction I was having to the bites showed a mild allergy to this particular friend of mine but that the next time I get bitten the reaction will most likely be worse. Now I realize that this statement is a little off. I dont plan on there ever being a next time where a spider will get within 5 feet of me. That being said, I better not ever go in anaphylactic shock because of them either. So they gave me a shot of Solu-medrol and some zyrtec and sent me on my way. And now I have been experiencing every single side-effect of the Solu-medrol. Headaches, dizziness, fatigue, trouble sleeping, aches, bruising, shortness of breath, increased heart rate, you name it I got it.

That is my exciting story of how I found out I was allergic to the thing I hate the most. Thank you for your time. I hope you found this as ironic as I have.