On Tuesday I got bit by the most horribly savage wickedly evil spider the world has ever seen! Well actually it will remain unseen since I didn't even see it myself, but it has possibly scarred me for life (not really). When it happened I was in our back yard innocently picking tomatoes for my coworkers and roomates, I felt something bite me but assumed it was one of the umteen million mosquitoes that infest our back yard, aside from the possiblity of West Nile I was unperturbed. It looked a little worse than a mosquito bite for the rest of the day but nothing major. Then on wednesday as I went to work and throughout the day it got increasingly worse. The skin got really red and began to really swell up. I've never had a severe allergic reaction for spiders before so I mistakenly assumed that after a good nights sleep the swelling would stop and then start to go down. I was horrified when I awoke this morning and found that instead the swelling had atleast doubled in size and there was now a red streak running from the biten area up my arm and heading for my heart. I thought well if it gets any worse I'll go see a doctor, and then went to work.

I showed my coworkers who then promptly freaked out, and told me that I really should go see a doctor today. So I switched PCP's, since my old one who I had never even seen was out in Leesburg, and called up my new doctor in Reston. The secretary told me to come in immediately. Now I began to get a little freaked out. I mean usually don't doctors secretary's try to play down what ever ailment you have? When she told me to get right over there, I obeyed. The doctors visit itself was rather routine although I did find out that I have shrunk an entire inch! That's right, I am no longer an average and glorious 5'4" but only a meager and somewhat sad 5'3".

I recieved two prescriptions. One is a steriod for the allergic reaction, I believe, and the second is antibiotics for the line running up my arm, which is apparently a rather scary infection. Here are some interesting facts that I turned up after an internet seach of my new steriods:

Use alcohol cautiously. Together, alcohol and oral methylprednisolone can be damaging to the stomach.

Serious side effects may include:
sudden weight gain (more than 5 pounds in a day or two)

Less serious side effects may include:
insomnia

Rare side effects:
increased hair growth
cataracts
roundness of the face
changes in behavior

So I'm going to be an overweight, squinty, unpredictable and sober insomniac, but atleast I'll get rid of the spider bite.