Topeka woman shares warning after suspected spider bite sends her to the ER
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Sharlene Cooper was just rolling out of bed in her Topeka home when she felt something brush across her face. To her surprise and alarm, it was a spider and it had already delivered a bite that would start a painful ordeal lasting for days.
KSNT 27 News spoke with Cooper about her miserable experience which started the morning of Saturday, June 8 in Topeka. She said she thought it was just her hair on her face at first but was shocked to find a spider was there. Her gut reaction was to swat it away though she quickly realized it had bitten the eyelid on her right eye.
"I felt a little tiny sting," Cooper said. "At first, it was so mild, I thought it was just my imagination. Then it started itching."
Cooper said she and her husband had been cleaning out the basement of their home earlier in the week and noticed the presence of brown recluses, a spider which can deliver a painful bite which sometimes results in a long road to recovery. Certain this was the type of arachnid that had bitten her, though she was unable to locate the specimen to confirm this suspicion, Cooper decided a trip to the emergency room was necessary.
"I went to the ER because I had been bitten by a brown recluse on my hand before and it blistered and I did not want that on my eye," Cooper said.
Doctors gave Cooper a steroid shot and antibiotics as her eye and right side of her face began to swell. By the following day, she was feeling a lot worse.
"Sunday June 9, my whole face was swollen and my head was pounding," Cooper said. "My nasal passages were so swollen I couldn't breathe out my nose. My throat was scratchy."
Cooper's doctors were concerned with the swelling and possible damage that could happen to her eye, including a chance for an infection to spread. She was kept in the hospital for days, eventually being released on Thursday, June 13.
"It was very, very painful," Cooper said. "It was the throbbing pain."
Though more than two weeks have gone by since the initial bite, Cooper is still feeling its impact. Pain remains in her face which may take days or even weeks to eventually fade away.
"My eye is sore to touch," Cooper said. "It feels like somebody punched me in my eye. It still itches. I'm doing a lot better now. I was surprised at how fast everything reacted and I'm glad I decided to go to the ER when I did."
While Cooper is moving past the hospital visits and the worst of the swelling issues, she is now trying to warn others of the dangers which come from possible spider bites like the one she has been forced to endure. She encourages people who even suspect they've been bitten by a spider, like a brown recluse, to take a trip to the hospital for a checkup.
"If someone was bitten or suspects they were bitten, they should go right away," Cooper said. "Brown recluse bites can wreak havoc on your body. I would just say, don't put it off. If you even suspect that it could be that, don't put it off."
KSNT 27 News reached out to Kansas State University Professor of Entomology Raymond Cloyd to get his comments on the situation. Cloyd said he doesn't believe a brown recluse was responsible for the bite, because there would have been tissue damage present and halo markings near the bite location.
Cloyd also emphasizes a visit to a doctor following a bite for treatment and examination. However, he did say most people on average shouldn't fear the presence of dangerous spiders like brown recluses in their homes as even if they bite you there is a chance there won't be any venom.
"Brown recluse spiders are not aggressive, they aren't out there looking for people to bite," Cloyd said. "You can be in a house with a brown recluse and not be bitten by not threatening them."
Brown recluse spiders can deliver a venomous bite that can lead to a bleeding, ulcerous wound which is slow to heal, according to Kansas State University. People who are bitten by brown recluses may have different reactions depending on factors like their health, spider size, bite location and so on. In rare instances, this bite can lead to a life-threatening systemic illness.
The spiders are found throughout Kansas and many other states in the Midwest and southern U.S. hiding in boxes, piles of paper or books and furniture. They are more common in older homes which have developed cracks that allow them to enter freely.
K-State recommends removing clutter from your home first in areas like the attic and basement to get rid of places for the spiders to hide. Frequent cleaning will help eliminate habitat, egg cases and prey for the spiders. Glue traps and insecticides are also an effective way to reduce or monitor brown recluse infestations.
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