My spider bite did not respond to any of the treatments applied, so on August 31 I was sent to Dr. Snyder, purported to be the best at these types of things, to have it “I & D’d”.
This simple, in office procedure became much more when the doctor actually saw the bite. He quickly set into motion an entrance to the hospital and a surgery time for 3 p.m. that day. Three hospital stays in the last 4 months have put me on a first name basis with most of the staff, who cheerfully quipped, “What is it this time?”. Just kidding. I had little time to prepare for the surgery, just enough to have Carolyn bring me in her car to the hospital. Everything went smoothly and around 5 p.m. I was awake, groggy, but awake. Dr. Snyder decided to keep me in the hospital one night so I was able to appraise the hospital cuisine. When he came in the next morning it was to unwrap the arm and show me a hole where there once was a spider bite. It looked really bad. Now more than a week after the operation we can see the new skin starting to close the wound. Time will tell if it heals completely or will need a skin graft.