The scene: last night, in bed. (Sorry to disappoint, but it’s not that kind of story.) I’ve been kind of sick for the past couple of days, so I was exhausted and fell asleep around 9:00. Dave was in bed too, using his laptop. He might’ve been working, he might’ve been playing a game – honestly, I was too tired to either notice or care. Around 10:45, I woke myself up because I was frantically scratching my foot. I started scratching it in my sleep, apparently. When I woke up, I realized that there was a bump on my foot. I told Dave that something bit me. He turned the bedside lamp on, and we shook out the bedspread and inspected the sheets. Nothing. I went to the bathroom to more closely inspect my foot. Indeed there was most definitely a bite mark of some kind there, on the side of my left foot, near my pinky toe. I got out the cortisone cream, sat on the bathroom floor, and started to put it on my foot, when I noticed a spot on the sole of my other foot (the right one, for those of you keeping track). Upon inspection, the spot on the bottom of my right foot turned out to be a very dead, very smooshed spider. Jesus God, that was gross. I washed both of my feet with antibacterial soap, applied the cortisone cream to the bite mark, and put some damn socks on (even though it was hot) before I went back to bed. I then proceeded to have nightmares about giant spiders all night. Fan-freakin’-tastic.
As for me being sort of sick for the past couple of days, I’m not sure what’s up with that, but I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon. Basically, I’ve had a headache nearly every day for the past 2 or 3 weeks (which I figured was probably just a sinus/allergy thing), and then for the past couple of days, my armpits have been really tender and sore. I know there are lymph nodes there, so I’m guessing that what with the headaches I’ve been having, it’s just some kind of sinus infection gone awry, which is why I made a doctor’s appointment. But let me tell you, it’s never a good idea to do a google search for “symptom headache and armpit pain,” because the only sites you’ll find will convince you that you have a brain tumor, or lymphoma, or breast cancer, or some other horrible affliction. I’m pretty sure that’s not the case here, and I’m trying not to be paranoid, which is why I’m going to the doctor.
Off-topic funny links: I love this complaint letter, which was apparently actually sent to the airline in question. (The diagrams really make it, no? Thanks to Flea at One Good Thing for the link.) And the English-to-Chinese-to-English translation of Revenge of the Sith is still making me laugh.
you better talk to the dr about this spider bite when you go. my asst at work had a spider in the bed with her too, and it bit her on the butt. she was having trouble sitting down b/c it hurt and itched and developed into a big bruise. and then she went to the dr about it, and they said it was a poisonous spider, and would you believe she had to take oral medication for SIX MONTHS to get the venom out of her system??? (and if you recall, mrs. merritte's death is belived related to an untreated spider bite — not to scare you, but still.) get it checked out.
According to what I've heard, there are no poisonous spiders or snakes in the Pacific NW. I've been bitten by spiders a few times since I've moved here – they itch/hurt, sort of like an ant bite, but it's otherwise not that big a deal. (Btw, Mrs. M died because of a brown recluse, which I know we don't have here.)
As for the other stuff, she did a chest X-ray to see about the armpit thing – there are no other swollen glands, so she thinks it's just a virus. An armpit virus. Lovely! She said to let her know if it hasn't cleared up in about a week. Meanwhile, she gave me drugs (the good stuff) for my headaches, so hopefully that'll take care of that.