The Ultimate Irony - Bitten by a Fiddleback

I'm sorry to hear about the bite. It is incredibly ironic. It is also very serious.

I've seen first hand what a Brown Recluse bite can become when left untreated by a guy who tried to power through/ignore it. It was not pretty.

I'm glad you got to the doc quickly. Just please follow the medical advice to a T to give yourself the best chance for an optimal outcome.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
 
I too am sorry to hear about Brown Recluse bite Andy. I know first hand how nasty and painful that is.

About seven years ago, I was bite by one on my left forearm while I was working in the yard. It got worse before it got better even though I went to the doctor and got on some strong antibiotics. I ended up with an infected ball of puss that was the size of a golf ball. I later ended up in the ER to have it drained. They also discovered that I had an MRSA in the bite area and put me on IV Vancomycin antibiotics four four days. When the skin on top of the infected area rotted away, I looked like I had a .45 caliber bullet hole in my forearm. I would post a picture, but this is a family forum. It healed up over a month with no skin graft required.

I shared this story to emphasize like others above that this is serious stuff if you don't treat it aggressively. Take care my friend and follow all your doctor's orders. I'll be praying for you!

Phil
 
Man, that sucks. Did you see the spider? A lot of folks around here blame recluses for skin cancer and other missed diagnoses. Not saying that is you, but it's a fact of the medical world.
 
Comprehensivist said:
About seven years ago, I was bite by one on my left forearm ....... When the skin on top of the infected area rotted away, I looked like I had a .45 caliber bullet hole in my forearm. I would post a picture, but this is a family forum. It healed up over a month with no skin graft required.

Phil
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Phil, you gotta post a pic! (Andy already started it)

Glad you healed well bro.
 
Wild! Those suckers can cause some damage. Glad you're taking care of it promptly!
 
schmittie said:
Phil, you gotta post a pic! (Andy already started it)

Glad you healed well bro.
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Kirkwood said:
+1

Let's see a pic! It's educational.
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swonut said:
Picture or it didn't happen!
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Here are the pictures for all my morbidly curious forum friends. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Not the best picture quality back then, but you will get the idea.

I was bite late on a Sunday afternoon. It burned like hell that night. By Monday morning it looked like Andy’s bite only bigger and hurt much worse than the night before. I went to my general doctor that morning. He diagnosed it as a brown recluse spider bite and prescribed some strong antibiotics with further instructions to call or come in immediately if it got worse.

By Tuesday morning the wound area had doubled in size with a lot of swelling and redness in the surrounding area. The burning pain was reaching the excruciating level. I had to go to work that day for an important customer meeting, so I popped a leftover Vicadin to get through the morning. By noon, I needed another and later at home another...

I believe this photo was from early Tuesday evening.

[/URL]

The swelling and pain kept getting worse. My wife called my doctor to report the status. He told her to get me to the ER ASAP. The ER doctors confirmed the the spider bite diagnosis, took a culture sample of the ooze coming out of the bite holes, and sent me home with prescriptions for more powerful antibiotics. The doctor also recommended that I soak my arm in hot water as much as possible to loosen the skin and allow the wound to drain.

[/URL]

By Wednesday afternoon, the swelling had doubled again. I remember thinking when I took this photo that I should go down to central casting for the next Alien movie sequel because my arm looked ready to give birth to a hideous creature. About this time, the ER called and said we needed to get back in because the culture test showed a MRSA infection in the bite area.

[/URL]

Back in the ER, the doctor was shocked how much the swelling and redness had increased in a relatively short time. He said we needed to drain the wound and clean out all the infection. When he left the room to arrange for the procedure, I felt a little “pop” followed by my wife saying “GROSS” as the wound capsule started to spontaneously erupt.

[/URL]

This is the wound three or four days later after necrosis had dissolved all the skin on top.

[/URL]

There you have it. I can tell you from painful experience that Fiddlebacks completely suck! I recommend that you stay as far away from Fiddlebacks as possible...except the ones with bullseye tubes in the handles.

Fiddleback spiders --> :mad::thumbsdown:
Fiddleback knives --> :cool::thumbsup:

Phil
 
Wow Phil - what a story/pics. Were you into fiddleback forge knives at that time? If not, do you think this experience somehow drew you to the brand?

Like your knife reviews - both thorough and educational. Thanks for sharing.
 
Comprehensivist said:
Here are the pictures for all my morbidly curious forum friends. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Not the best picture quality back then, but you will get the idea.

I was bite late on a Sunday afternoon. It burned like hell that night. By Monday morning it looked like Andy’s bite only bigger and hurt much worse than the night before. I went to my general doctor that morning. He diagnosed it as a brown recluse spider bite and prescribed some strong antibiotics with further instructions to call or come in immediately if it got worse.

By Tuesday morning the wound area had doubled in size with a lot of swelling and redness in the surrounding area. The burning pain was reaching the excruciating level. I had to go to work that day for an important customer meeting, so I popped a leftover Vicadin to get through the morning. By noon, I needed another and later at home another...

I believe this photo was from early Tuesday evening.

[/URL]

The swelling and pain kept getting worse. My wife called my doctor to report the status. He told her to get me to the ER ASAP. The ER doctors confirmed the the spider bite diagnosis, took a culture sample of the ooze coming out of the bite holes, and sent me home with prescriptions for more powerful antibiotics. The doctor also recommended that I soak my arm in hot water as much as possible to loosen the skin and allow the wound to drain.

[/URL]

By Wednesday afternoon, the swelling had doubled again. I remember thinking when I took this photo that I should go down to central casting for the next Alien movie sequel because my arm looked ready to give birth to a hideous creature. About this time, the ER called and said we needed to get back in because the culture test showed a MRSA infection in the bite area.

[/URL]

Back in the ER, the doctor was shocked how much the swelling and redness had increased in a relatively short time. He said we needed to drain the wound and clean out all the infection. When he left the room to arrange for the procedure, I felt a little “pop” followed by my wife saying “GROSS” as the wound capsule started to spontaneously erupt.

[/URL]

This is the wound three or four days later after necrosis had dissolved all the skin on top.

[/URL]

There you have it. I can tell you from painful experience that Fiddlebacks completely suck! I recommend that you stay as far away from Fiddlebacks as possible...except the ones with bullseye tubes in the handles.

Fiddleback spiders --> :mad::thumbsdown:
Fiddleback knives --> :cool::thumbsup:

Phil
Click to expand...

Yeah for pics!!! Hey buddy I've got a beautiful old school lady finger that I would have gladly used to help drain that baby for you!
 
Phil, again, not to discount your experience, but were you able to see the spider at all? There is a species of desert recluse close to you, but very few brown recluse. It may be that your bite was actually MRSA in entirety. Check this article: https://www.kcet.org/redefine/the-persistent-myth-of-the-california-brown-recluse

This is not a challenge to the truth of your journey. MRSA can look a lot like a bite but to to be truly validated to be linked to a spider it is usually necessary to have the specimen. Even a typical American wolf spider or crevice spider can cause that if a rogue bacteria is transmitted.

Most brown recluse bites do not result necrosis and tissue death. Those that do are thought to be caused by a protein and are often fought with steroids. Much of what we associate with the recluse may be damage from secondary bacterial infections. To be clear, if I had to stick my hand in a tank with recluses or in a vat of MRSA, i'm going with the former every time.

That said, man those photos are wicked.
 
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Comprehensivist Comprehensivist dude those pics are siiiiiick :confused:

Glad you healed well. Did it leave a scar? How long was total recovery time from bite to healed?

Btw, the "alien birth" comment was hilarious. A good sense of humor always helps with life's challenges.
 
Panthera tigris said:
if a rogue bacteria is transmitted.
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Sounds like you are the person in the know.
May I please ask a distantly related question ?
I have been patinaing a Case CV blade using vegetable based items : apple, tomato, lettuce (if that even counts) tomorrow it will be nectarines. I tried some fresh coffee grounds fresh and hot out of the press pot (not old or rotting). I wash the blade all the time with soap and hot water.

annnnyway
I look at this blotchy blackened in places blade and think : "I don't think it would be healthy to get cut by this thing".

My question is : Is a patinaed plain carbon blade more likely to transmit tetanus or other problems than a stainless steel blade ?
 
No, I don't believe so. On a molecular level, carbon is very special and can bond with just about anything. My understanding is that patina is formed when carbon and iron bonds with oxygen, creating magnetite and other products. As long as you are using soap and water in between uses it should be in theory no different than a nice cast iron pan. Murray Carter uses comet to sanitize between sharpening sessions. Rules of the world apply: if you soil it with blood or dirt, be prepared to sanitize it. If you are cutting vegetables and using it for basic food prep, soap and water is fine. Summary: patina is safe to eat off of as long as it is actually patina and not the demon in the freezer. Tetanus is anaerobic and would not be found on a well kept piece of steel. The rusty nail thing is a myth. Rusty nails are less likely to cause tetanus because they have been exposed to oxygen. It's the ones deep in the dirt or sealed off, rusty or not, that you want to watch out for. Even then it has less to do with the nail and more to do with packed in dirt. The nail just opens you up for it. No risk at all in that context with your knives.
 
Panthera tigris said:
No, I don't believe so. On a molecular level, carbon is very special and can bond with just about anything. My understanding is that patina is formed when carbon and iron bonds with oxygen, creating magnetite and other products. As long as you are using soap and water in between uses it should be in theory no different than a nice cast iron pan. Murray Carter uses comet to sanitize between sharpening sessions. Rules of the world apply: if you soil it with blood or dirt, be prepared to sanitize it. If you are cutting vegetables and using it for basic food prep, soap and water is fine. Summary: patina is safe to eat off of as long as it is actually patina and not the demon in the freezer. Tetanus is anaerobic and would not be found on a well kept piece of steel. The rusty nail thing is a myth. Rusty nails are less likely to cause tetanus because they have been exposed to oxygen. It's the ones deep in the dirt or sealed off, rusty or not, that you want to watch out for. Even then it has less to do with the nail and more to do with packed in dirt. The nail just opens you up for it. No risk at all in that context with your knives.
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Panthera
Fascinating ! ! !
I sure learned some things today.
Thank You ! ! !

PS: Andy Roy
Heal up.
Keep up the good work.
 
Panthera tigris said:
Man, that sucks. Did you see the spider? A lot of folks around here blame recluses for skin cancer and other missed diagnoses. Not saying that is you, but it's a fact of the medical world.
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Never saw the spider. If I had I'd have gotten pics. Never felt it. So far all the progress has been in the right direction. There doesn't seem to be any infection, and the bite has begun to shrink.
 
Fiddleback said:
Never saw the spider. If I had I'd have gotten pics. Never felt it. So far all the progress has been in the right direction. There doesn't seem to be any infection, and the bite has begun to shrink.
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I am happy that you are on the mend Andy. It is good that you got appropriate treatment early. :) That is what is important. I apologize if you felt I hijacked your thread in any way.

Panthera tigris said:
Phil, again, not to discount your experience, but were you able to see the spider at all? There is a species of desert recluse close to you, but very few brown recluse. It may be that your bite was actually MRSA in entirety. Check this article: https://www.kcet.org/redefine/the-persistent-myth-of-the-california-brown-recluse

This is not a challenge to the truth of your journey. MRSA can look a lot like a bite but to to be truly validated to be linked to a spider it is usually necessary to have the specimen. Even a typical American wolf spider or crevice spider can cause that if a rogue bacteria is transmitted.

Most brown recluse bites do not result necrosis and tissue death. Those that do are thought to be caused by a protein and are often fought with steroids. Much of what we associate with the recluse may be damage from secondary bacterial infections. To be clear, if I had to stick my hand in a tank with recluses or in a vat of MRSA, i'm going with the former every time.

That said, man those photos are wicked.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your input PT. I can't conclusively disagree with your informed skepticism of the source of my wound because, like Andy, I never saw the actual spider. In the same vein, I was also soundly lectured at the time by I friend of mine in the pest control business who said he had never encountered a Brown Recluse / Violin / Fiddleback spider in all his jobs in Southern California and that their existence here was a myth. That is largely true. In my case, I felt that there was enough circumstantial evidence to lead me to believe that it likely was a spider bite that started it all. The anecdotal evidence is as follows:
1) There were two puncture holes in the wound site.
2) My primary doctor did all his medical training in the Southeast and had treated numerous similar bites, so his diagnosis seemed well informed.
3) This is the big clue. I was installing hardwood flooring in my house at the time. I special ordered the wood from a dealer in Tennessee. Fiddleback spiders like dark places including; wood, sawdust, and cardboard. When I said I was working in the "yard", I was actually on my back porch unpacking, sorting, and moving a couple pallets of boxes of hardwood flooring planks. I think the little bugger that bit me had piggybacked a ride out West in the boxes of hardwood flooring.

I cannot say 100% for sure whether you or I are correct in our assumptions, but the result sucked nonetheless. Thank you for your technical input either way! :thumbsup:

To all the others who commented on my photos, thanks for your concern. The crater in my forearm healed up completely in about five weeks with only a faint purple scar remaining to remind me of the experience.

Phil
 
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