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: ➞ Continue reading
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. 
