I never did see a spider. All I know is that I was doing yard work, pulling out tall grasses that were growing among the ivy plants on the front easement of my house. I had my hand in the ivy. I didn't feel a bite. I just know that the knuckle of my middle finger on my right hand suddenly was hurting--it was red, inflamed, and painful. Oh, well, I thought, something has bitten me, and I went about my day, ignoring it. Four hours later, my knuckle was swollen the size of a quarter, and the red had turned to purple. Well, I thought, maybe it's a spider bite, 'cause it doesn't itch like stinging insects and it hurts like hell! I took an OTC antihistimine tablet, put ice on it, and took an Advil for pain. The throbbing pain stopped, the swelling seemed to go down a bit, and when I went to bed that night, I fully expected the swelling to be gone by the morning.
The next morning the whole top of my hand from the wrist up to my fingers was swollen and red! It looked like a sunburn that had one enormous blister. Yikes! Well, I thought again, I'd better go to the doctor; maybe she can give me a shot of antihistimine or something to counter the spider venom.
Now, this doctor I had not seen in about 4 years, and for good reason. Last time I had a severe case of swollen tonsils with white stuff growing on them, and she insisted it was strep throat and insisted I take antibiotics. I don't do well with antibiotics, get every symptom in the book, including systemic candida if I take them for the prescribed period of time. If I'm sick, my usual remedy is Echinachea/Goldenseal compound by Herb Pharm.
I hadn't been on antibiotics for years and was reluctant to do so, but Doc scared the sh.t out of me with what could happen to me if I didn't. I took the antibiotics (erythromycin), and within 3 days was bedbound with severe dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, you name it. The lab results came back negative for strep and Doc told me to stop taking the antibiotics!! Doc didn't know what was wrong with me.
At the time, a friend suggested it may have been a severe allergic reaction to some potting soil I had bought the day before the tonsils swelled--there was a moss in the product that's supposed to help with water retention, and she'd read that some folks are highly allergic to it. Supposing that this was the problem, coupled with a negative-for-bacteria lab result, I treated my tonsils with gargles of salt in hot water and gargles of echinachea/goldenseal and orally took Spilanthes Usnea, also an Herb Pharm product, that helps with candida and also is an immune system booster. It took me a month to fully recover from 3 days of antibiotics.
So, back to the spider bite--I went in to the same doc, and I told her I thought it was a spider bite, but she immediately said my hand looked infected with probably staph; she thought it was a "ganglial cyst" that got infected in my knuckle, and that's "very unusual". She wanted to put me on antibiotics. Remembering the last time, I said NO....She proceeded to tell me all of the nasty things that could happen to me if I have a staph infection and I didn't treat it. I told her I was going to treat it with homeopathy instead. She insisted on a lab sample and stabbed my poor swollen knuckle with a needle, drawing out cloudy-looking fluid. The lab results wouldn't come in for two days. We compromised--I was willing to try a topical antibiotic cream to put on the hand.
The lab results did come back positive for staph infection, but I "stayed the course" and treated myself with homeopathic remedies instead of oral antibiotics. My energy worker explained to me that the spider venom breaks down the cell tissue at the bite, and then opportunistic infections get in where the skin has been damaged. There was no "ganglial cyst."
I stopped the topical antibiotic after one day because it burned my skin. I treated myself with Echinachea-Goldenseal Compound by Herb Pharm, alternating this with Colloidal Silver by Advanced Bioceuticals, soaking my hand in Epsom Salts 3 times a day, and putting a gauze bandage soaked in Colloidal Silver on it after each soak. The first two days were the worst as I developed a fever and was quite sick. I got scared and called a friend's husband who is an M.D.(the same friend who alerted me about the potting soil); he said unless I had red lines going up my arm I didn't have to go to the E.R. (red lines would indicate the infection had gone systemic). Reassured, I didn't go to ER but kept up with my treatments 'round the clock with little sleep for 3 days.
Very important to my healing, I also saw my energy worker who helped clear the spider venom from my system (he said it was NOT brown recluse spider, thanks be to Spirit), and my shamanic practitioner who gave me extra "energy" boosts and repeatedly reassured me and encouraged me to "follow my intuition" whenever I started to doubt what I was doing regarding treating myself. I had the support of two other friends whom I called and consulted with frequently for "moral support;" one of these friends had a dream about me; he told me that the bite and the ensuing healing process was an "act of purification".
To make a very long story shorter, it's been 3 weeks and two days since I was bitten. My energy worker says it may take another 2-3 weeks to completely resolve the bite. The swelling in my hand resolved after about one week, and there is now just a modest amount of swelling and redness in the knuckle where the bite originated. I am now treating it with oral doses of Colloidal Silver and Connective Tissue Compound (by Herb Pharm--helps with cell regeneration) 2X daily each; Epsom Salt soak twice a day; and a once-a-day topical salve of "mud" called "Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay" (100% Natural Calcium Bentonite Clay).
So what am learning from this spider bite experience?
--Wear gloves when gardening! eech! I'm a very tactile person. I like to "feel" the plants with my hands. Wearing gloves while gardening is like using a condom while making love--it's "safer" but doesn't feel as good!
--Quit seeing this particular doctor!! There won't be a "third time" for this doc. However, I do thank her for alerting me to the infection in my hand, as I was going on just thinking it was a spider bite. It takes a while longer for homeopathy to "kick in"; I started the treatment the day I saw the doc; the lab results confirming the infection didn't come in until two days later. If I'd waited for confirmation before dosing myself, I may have been in bigger trouble.
--follow my intuition!!! No matter what any "expert" tells me, I have to follow my own inner guidance, even if it's not "logical". In order to do this, I have to discern what thoughts in my head are based in a fear-response produced by my mind, and what are my true "gut-level" or "inner knowing" feelings. I've been meditating more and practicing my other spiritual exercises more consistently and fervently. I've been drawing and writing almost daily in my journal, and recording my insights. I've relaxed about "being sick"; whereas I used to go into a depressive funk when ill, now I'm going more "with the flow" and feeling that all of this is happening for a reason, even if that reason isn't yet clear to me.
"Healing Hand" page from my Journal dated 5/21/08: I visualized the Negative Energies from the infection leaving my hand and being transmuted into Positive Energies
More:
I was bitten by a spider 3 weeks ago. What is the spiritual message of the spider bite?
Two more entries from my Journal documenting my healing from Spider Bite!
