A Brown Recluse.

Warning: There are some super gross images ahead.

So, after our first night at Perry, I woke up with what looked like a HUGE bug bite on my arm. Weird.  The day went on, and it continued to swell.    The next morning I woke up with it looking like a huge blood, bruise...and it was rainy, and it was really disturbing looking, so we decided to go to urgent care.

The doctor at urgent care thought I could have been stung by a hornet (and not felt it?) or could be a spider bite, but either way, would treat the same, so we got some antibiotics and an ace wrap because my arm was so swollen by that point.

This is Day 1: on the left, and day 2, on the right.

We got home Sunday, and by Monday I was getting a rash all over my body, so Tuesday I made an appointment with my doctor to get her opinion.  The pen marks are where we drew on it when we were at urgent care, to measure if it grew.  It wasn't growing, so that was good! Got some different antibiotics and she was 99% certain it was a brown recluse bite.  Friday of that week I went back to the doctor because it hadn't changed at all, and wanted them to check it again.  Saw a different doctor with the same diagnosis: 99% sure it was a brown recluse bite and I was LUCKY it wasn't any worse than it was.

A few weeks later it finally started shedding skin.  AKA I finally got brave enough to actually scrub it with a loofah and the skin fell off.  Like a sunburn.  Looked AWFUL.  But again, I was LUCKY because it was coming off like that and not creating a crater needing a skin graft.

Over the next few days/weeks it finally got all the scab off.  Was terribly itchy at time thanks to the new skin, but otherwise didn't bother me.  Just looks hideous.  Was fun to explain that to kids at the beginning of the school year!  And, to my own kids.  I couldn't pick up Connor for a few days and if it got bumped I was done for.  As for lucky, I guess I am.  But, what I'm most lucky about and most thankful for is that it bit me, and not Jace or Connor! 

Update: End of September looked like this.

Update: End of December, still noticable, and the bruising is darker than this picture looks.  When I turn my arm sideways you can see a little divet, but otherwise it will just continue to heal.