I hate spiders...

The first time I was bitten by a spider was during the summer of 2003, on the back of my left hand. My hand.. within 45 minutes blew up to the size of half of a tennis ball. So.. around an inch growth. Yeah. THe pain was thick in my arm and even up to my chest. I was a bit disoriented.

THat was how I learned I'm allergic to spider bites :)

The second time.. same city (Baltimore), was 2005... Again, my hand, but this time my right and on my middle or ring finger. I had to get out of my drawing class. I am right handed, after all. My hand swelled up to the point that when I made a fist it still looked like my hand was just open flat. Again, the pain took up the entire arm and half of the chest. Sigh....

THIS TIME... and it took me a few days to realize that the source of my intense pain and discomfort was a result of two bites from a single spider on my left side. In the beginning, I thought it was from carrying Poochie with my left arm... she isn't the lightest thing in the world, so of course one would think her ribs were aching from 12 lbs of dense flesh pressed up against them. The puzzling thing was when my entire left side from front to my back started itching a lot... my insides even hurt. Imagine the worst heartburn and slap that on the surface of your entire left side... throw in some itching and then muscle/bone aches in the surrounding areas. That was when my mom noticed that I had a couple of bites on my ribs. THe whole left side of my abdomen is also swollen. SO with the itching, visible bites, and the kind of burning, aching pain I was having... I concluded that it was the fault of an obnoxious spider.

I .. don't like spiders. I really don't. Been seeing a lot of them lately.