THE EENSY WEENSY SPIDER. . .

..... crawled up my leg and bit me.

you might now be thinking, okay.  cool.  a spider bite.  millions upon millions of people get spider bites, and it sure isn't anything to blog about.

but hey.  this is a story.  buckle up.   DISCLAIMER:  GRAPHIC IMAGE AHEAD.

so on sunday night, i noticed a bump on the calf of my right leg.  i totally brushed it off, thinking it was a mosquito bite that hadn't quite started itching yet.  or something like that.  whatever my logic, i thought absolutely nothing of it.

fast forward to monday.  i had to speak at girls camp, so i got up early to spend the day at camp with my mom.  the morning was spent unloading, getting organized, running errands, and getting lunch ready.  that afternoon, the stake leaders and i {including my mom} decided to take a 3-mile hike.  {it was gorgeous, by the way.}  but i was wearing my vans.  not great hiking shoes.  about a mile and a half in, my right leg was killing me.  KILLING me.  i thought it was my shoes.  a mile later, not only my right leg was hurting, but my whole body.  i felt weak, sick, achy, and stiff.  we got back to the cabin and i just wanted to lay down and go to sleep.  but of course, i couldn't do that.  it had started to rain and there was lots to do.  well, soon after the rain started, i got the chills.  awful chills.  i was freezing and shivering and absolutely miserable.  i told my mom i thought i was getting sick.  after giving my talk, i drove home, feeling practically delirious.  i knew i had a fever.  i was freezing cold.  i was achy and exhausted.

monday night.  i got home from girls camp and wanted to pass out the minute i walked through the door.  i talked to my dad for a few minutes about my talk, and then said, "i feel awful.  i think i'm going to get in the bathtub and then go to bed.  i think i'm getting sick.  and on top of that, i have this mosquito bite on my leg that's making my whole leg ache."

dad: "let me see your bite." ....... "oh my gosh shay, that is NOT a mosquito bite."

after looking up online the horrors of brown recluse spider bites, my dad determined that this was what had bitten me.

something inside me triggered freak out mode.  i started bawling.

you guys.  if you want to see something freaky, google image "brown recluse spider bites."  it is DISGUSTING.  and when you're told that's what bit you??  not a good feeling!  here's a sample:

and yeah, that is MILD.  not even bad compared to what's out there.  if this isn't graphic enough for ya, go 'head.  look it up.  it's SICK.  i didn't really want to make people puke today.

so anyway, after being told that "death RARELY occurs" and "coma and death possible", i was freaked out of my mind.  wouldn't you be?  i called in sick to work on tuesday and laid in bed all day with ice on it to keep down swelling, infection, and pain.  because there was a lot of pain.

i'm happy to say that my bite, while still disgusting, is healing.  i think.  it looks better than yesterday.  i walked around on it all day and it's fine.  it still hurts.  and even though the internet says it will take MONTHS to heal, i'm doing okay.

i'll let you know if it gets worse.

and i am officially, 100%, absolutely, completely TERRIFIED of spiders now.