I like to distract myself with the beauty of the Lord’s good creation. Everything is benevolent, right? Of course, in it’s rightful place. But… what if it’s not in its rightful place? No worries! Don’t think about it! Be in denial! That’s easier! For instance, here’s a really cool green tomato worm, though I’m not sure if it’s coming or going (@2 1/2″ long). The chickens call this worm “chicken delight”. Tasty!
Difficulties are in evidence, however, when there is blood all over, so that I can’t deny that something is not quite right anymore. I noticed a “cut” on the back of my right shoulder a few days ago. No worries, thought I. Must have got that while collecting wood for the stove to heat up a quick meal. The b-vines can be pretty nasty, after all. But then, about 24 hours later, I felt some tell-tale tingling sensations from the wound, which is about an inch long. I ignored that, though I knew it might be a brown recluse which had biten me five or six times, right in a row. Nah! thought I, uselessly. A couple days later, blood was everywhere. Out came the Sawyer’s Extractor, which sucked out multiple glops of horror of rotted flesh. Here’s one glop:
DON’T google image “brown recluse wounds”, lest you die of fright!
Did I mention that Brown Recluse spiders are also called Violin Spiders for the design in back of their eyes? Violins are playing for my being in denial. Yikes!
But, not to worry. I have the Sawyer’s Extractor, and the zillion bandages and things wonderful benefactors have sent in. Thank you. As you can see, these things are very useful for me. That will all keep me from getting the arm amputated. Yikes! I can keep the wound small with the Sawyer’s Extractor, so, no worries!
This is the price of living in a rain forest, and I’m happily willing to pay that price. But this will be about 90 minutes of distraction every day for some weeks. 30 minutes of wound cleaning three times a day. It works. For me. Don’t try this at home. Doctors don’t recommend it. They let limbs rot off and then do a nice operation. I don’t let it get that far. I think my way is better. Hah!
UPDATE: I waited too many days to start up with the Sawyer’s Extractor. I’ll try, occasionally, to keep a log of this for the sake of those who also face Brown Recluse bites and wonder what in the world they can do. If you dare follow the saga, click on the continue reading button here: ➞ 29 May morning: I thought maybe I was mistaken. The wound looked healed up a bit, but it didn’t feel quite right. I applied the Sawyer’s Extractor and immediately the gloppy rotted flesh came out:
But maybe it will heal pretty quickly. That’s my hope! Such distractions!
Here’s the wound on the shoulder (and Brown Recluses will crawl under loose clothing, biting when they feel themselves to be in trouble):
This needs a bit of explanation. The rings you see are the effects of the Sawyer’s Extractor suction cup. It’s a bit difficult to see in the picture, but it seems there are only three deep sets of bites, with the one in the middle being the worst. It’s like the little fellow injected all the poison he had.
It looks like a cut, but, instead, with the normal movement of the skin, and with the skin disintegrating, the skin begins to tear apart. But, not to worry.
I think the Sawyer’s Extractor will do it’s job. The dynamic of the Sawyer’s cure is this: the more poison/venom/acid you suck out, the less damage will be done. Even the tiniest nano-speck will keep destroying the surrounding flesh, not permitting it to heal, so strong is it. As the flesh rots, with the venom inside, that is all sucked out with the venom. Just be persistent. It will all eventually come out. The second it does, the wound will heal, immediately. That’s the hope.
I’m guessing doctors say not to use the Extractor since you risk sucking venom through good flesh, thus detroying that flesh for sure. But that is the least of one’s worries! That will happen anyway if you let it go. I’m not worried about a scar. It’s the amputation I’m trying to avoid!
29 May late afternoon: Yikes! When I cleaned the wound this time, blood ran down to my waist in steams. Not good, thought I.
I never had that happen before. None of them were like that last year, not that bad. I think I waited too long to start using the Sawyer’s Extractor. The neighbor reprimanded me today, saying that I have to treat all wounds like Brown Recluse wounds until I know that they are not. Yikes!
Still, I think I may be able to tackle this one. It will be lots of work. But, that’s O.K. Something to offer up for suffering priests! So, O.K.!
29 May toward midnight: Only about six hours have passed since the last wound cleaning session. Due to the odd place behind the right shoulder, the right hand is useless, and the left can only reach around far enough to hold the suction cup against the wound. With the plunger of the Extractor already extended, I lean into it against one of the 6″x6″ posts of the hermitage. Here’s what resulted:
.
So, better, unless that’s attributable to the shorter time. We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow morning. The wound itself is still the same, if ever so very slightly deeper, which is expected. Not to worry! 
Just a thought: At the moment I have insurance. If the SCOTUS doesn’t overturn the POSTUS’ abortion insurance mandate, I’ll have to go without. And if I there’s a need to go to a doctor and I have no insurance, what then? Well, we all have to die sometime. If it has to be a bit earlier just because Obama acts against all of us in odium fidei, in hatred of the faith, so be it. I hope that there is no one who would pay for such insurance. As for me — How to say it? — over my dead body. And that might well be the case.
1 June evening: Still going, but I think the Sawyers Extractor really did the trick. The glops of rotted flesh that came out also contained the poison, so the poison diminished with each session of Extraction. Now it’s almost totally gone. I expect complete healing to take place very, very soon. This was an unexpected success, since I waited way to long to start. Yet, that might have helped so that the rotted bit just came right out right away, and wasn’t still clinging to the wound. So, there we have it. Tonight’s picture:
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
Praying for U, Father.
Prayers from me too. Is there nothing you can smear on to deter these horrible creatures from biting you? Do you use a mosquito net at night? You are getting all your readers worried!
Good grief, Father! Take care of yourself! Prayers for healing and God bless you, Liz
I have been googling around and learn that these spiders hate anything citrus. They also dislike eucalyptus leaves – if you have any readers in Australia perhaps they could send you some! Sticky pads have been recommended by several people and other suggestions have mentioned to wipe surfaces with kerosene though surely this would be a fire risk?
White vinegar will kill them on contact and as their fangs are small they can’t bite through clothes so wearing a space suit might be recommended! Any friends with NASA?!
I have been surprised to learn how common these are in the US and horrified at people mentioning they have hundreds in their house. One mother put the feet of her baby’s crib in glass jars as they can’t climb glass. Perhaps you could do this with your chair or bed.
On one site it says ‘PLEASE seek medical assistance as soon as possible’ after being bitten. God does give us doctors for a purpose …
Have you ever seen predator spiders jump? They can easily hop five to eight feet, like lightning, in a nanosecond. Glass jars?
Maybe for some spiders… That is, if they don’t crawl on the ceiling and then drop on you! Hah!
Or, here in the forest, walk by one of the gazillion branches and have a spider walk right on to you!
If you stand still in this rain forest, and look just by your feet, you’ll start to see just how many spiders, and big spiders, predator spiders that there are.
I’m happy to have the chickens. They’re incredible spider consuming machines. Totally cool.
And, anyway, I think I’m now the world expert on Brown Recluse bites! Doctors don’t do anything except gape at the wounds and go, “Wow!” and then, “Let’s let it go for a few weeks. Don’t do anything to it.” And then you go back and they schedule you for an amputation and (and now I’m being very bad and evil)… and then schedule you for a meeting with a mechanical limb company which, of course, gives them a kick-back. O.K. That was very cynical. Sorry.
If it all of a sudden gets horribly worse, I’ll see a doctor. I did, I admit, make the mistake of letting it go for a number of days. That’s the worst thing one can do. But it was the first bite of the season (even though I had already killed five of the beasts).
Conclusion: Yikes!
Oh Father George…if worst comes to worst, a home remedy that has shown miracles is lather the wounded area and skin with plenty of honey and wrap and leave it to do it’s work. I too am praying mightily for you Father. God bless…
Thank you very much for the prayers! I can always use those, especially if I am ever in denial in any way for having crucified the Son of the Living God with my sins!
Anyway, the last thing to do is worry. I had so many of these bites last year. I think this must be the Brown Recluse capital of the world. It’s just a distraction letting me know that we are all so very mortal, so very vulnerable. And that’s not a bad instruction at all!
So, praise the Lord and pass the bandaids!
I just did some online research. Obviously the hermitage is supporting a large population of these spiders, and these spiders are very tolerant of large populations of their own species, as long as there is enough prey to go around. They are nocturnal hunters. There was a good abstract by an entomologist, Richard Vetter, at dermatology.cdlib.org. “Identifying and misidentifying the brown recluse spider.”
Okay, offering today up for you. I am glad the only spiders I generally have to deal with are the little tan ones. I had a welcoming committee in the shower one morning shortly after I moved to my new apartment.
Thanks, Carolyn. I went there and found this, which is more useful than all the research I did last year:
The antivenom is no longer being tested for brown recluse spider bites at Vanderbilt. Since the late 1980s the standard therapy for bites are early and agressive
Rest
Ice
Elevation
The venom is a an enzyme, lysophospholipase D, that does not function when cooled. Ice probably works better than anything for early bites.
We also treated early bites with antibiotics (cephalosporin, erythromycin).
For necrotic bites, dapsone has been and continues to be used despite double blinded studies. In chronic bites, anti-neutrophil therapy is used. Generally a combination of multiple therapies. Trey Truett, MD
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My comment: No ice in the hermitage! Also, that’s a bit useless since the venom starts working when you remove the ice. So, keep the ice up for a lifetime?
Rest, I suppose, to slow down any blood transference? Never noticed a difference. The “rest” is probably to aid the person in keeping ice on the wound.
Elevation: well, it’s on the shoulder, so that’s covered!
Dapsone: proven not to work but they use it anyway? They’re really grasping at straws there… That indicates something.
anti-neutrophil therapy: see dapsone!
A great article can be found here:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PDG/is_4_4/ai_n14790812/
Just to say: The description of the wounds in that linked article rarely come my way, since, the Extractor really vacuums are the crud right out. I did have a couple of severe bites last year, with very many bites one next to the other. Those started to get some discoloration, and one in particular that threatened to get out of control.
It seems that the worst bit is the risk of infection, as it is an open wound. So, we’ll try to avoid infection. As always. I’m using Triadine right now. A bit messy, but I don’t care about that!
Hey Father, please take care of yourself! I just found you and I don’t want to loose my new friend! Seriously, I have had spider bites too and they aren’t a lot fo fun. Since the spiders like to crawl under clothing maybe you should consider some form of “garter” on your sleeves and pant legs in the future.
My prayers are with you.
Good Grief Fr. George! You have my prayers and please seek medical attention if this gets worse! Keep us posted on how you are doing.
I too had to check out the web but from a different angle (biochemistry). The venom is lysophospholipase D which attacks lipid groups (fats). It may be why the wound rapidly deteriorates as it dissolves cell membranes. The same enzyme is being studied in many places for its role in the metastasis of tumors. So it is the focus of intense interest by many.
I tried to find “inhibitors” of the enzyme which might be rather uncomplicated. I found one neat paper done on extracts of sesame seeds & sunflowers seeds and the extracts were amazingly effective. However, when I tried to find if the ubiquitous “sesame oil” was effective, I could find nothing definitive. Apparently there are many studies being done on simple compounds which can act as inhibitors. This is clearly focused on the receptor tie ins for the byproducts.
You might wish to contact this man by email:
Utah Researcher. He is one of the experts on this enzyme and may give you advice on simple compounds that will stop enzyme activity locally. Finally, as for your one comment, there ARE ice packs that can be used by crushing the contents. The reactions give off cold and that could at least be applied for a time. These are used for sports injuries and the like and remain at room temperature until use. It could be a help in the early stages when you suspect a bite.
In the meantime, the extractor seems to be the best bet, but please realize that the risk of infection will go up dramatically with the extent of the area involved!
God bless!
D.v.
Oh dear,dear Father!
praying for you .. may God keep you safe and protected. if eucalyptus really will help.. surely we can find some at a craft store.
I have some eucalyptus essence or whatever, that someone sent in. That’s fine. Not to worry! Also, that stuff is extremely flammable. Hey! Maybe I can burn it out! Just kidding. Hah.
Yikes. If I didn’t have enough arachnophobia before, I do now. I am going to be totally “environmentally incorrect” and say if you aren’t sure about correct identification of a spider, “killem all and let God sort ‘em out”! What is the natural prey of these little devils that they need so much horrible venom? Hope you are well soon.
Father… is the wound healing alright?
I’ll try to put up a few more pics later tonight. Better!
I’m glad you are healing!
Thanks, Elizabeth!
i too am glad to hear you are doing better! thanks for the update!
brown recluse are evil “up to no good” spiders. What kind of spider doesn’t make a web? What kind of spider has an evil devil face like that and an accompanying guitar or violin shaped head? Face the music,,,the evils of life created this animal. I like the faces of those jumping spiders that crawl around during the day time catching flies and moths and such,,,they actually have a good motive and they do it while the sun is up,,,if you ever get one of them on you dont worry they wont bite you but they will jump to get away,,try to look at their face real good and you will not see the evil spirit you do on the face of the recluse.