Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Once Bitten, Twice Tried

Another mystery ailment for Mrs. HM! Two nights ago, I was shutting down New Delly and gathering up my stuff to move from my dark basement lair to my OPC (Old People Chair). It was early for me, before midnight. As I moved my yellow bubba cup of ice water over to the left side of my desk (it's two countertops mounted along the walls, and I sit in the V area at New Delly, having space on either side for my shenanigans)... I felt an itch on my left wrist.

The itch was maddening, really. I moved the band of my Garmin fitbitlike thingy, to see what was biting me. NOTHING! No critter was in sight. Nothing on my flesh, nothing flying away. I had not felt a moment when mandible or pincers broke flesh. You know, like with a mosquito, you notice the instant it happens, and swat at them. Somehow, this one crept up on me.


See it there? Just a tiny little bump. Barely even red the second day. Though it got plenty red that first night, because I couldn't stop scratching, and that histamine response spread a splotch over my entire wrist.


You might also notice that this critter did not bite all willy-nilly. He bit right over my vein! Uh huh! Some kind of vampirish critter, going for all the gusto, lining up for maximum bloodletting. I don't think he got through the skin, though. There's no little scab or pinpoint to show that blood actually leaked out. But then again, you don't see that with a mosquito, either, and in those creepy closeup videos of them, they are definitely sucking up blood through their straw-like proboscises.

It wasn't easy to get the picture one-handed. Took two tries. I was in no mood to take a picture of it right after it happened. I was too busy scratching.

4 comments:

  1. Check the inside of the fitbit band to see if there is a corresponding mark, you may have a reaction to something the band is constructed from. I sometimes get an itchy wrist if my watch band is too tight for too long so the skin can't breathe. The band is leather, but still gets sweaty on hot days.

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  2. River,
    The band is one-piece molded rubber. I've worn it every day since Christmas, taking it off at night. I looked at the slots where the thingy hooks in. That's the part against my skin. I didn't see anything lodged in there. Now the bite has shrunken to a tiny point, and doesn't itch. Maybe some miniscule critter got on there when I petted the dogs or cat, and waited a while to bite me.

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  3. OMG!! Call the exterminator!! Call the paramedics!! I hope you live!!

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  4. fishducky,
    I'm still kickin'. Didn't even have to use a tourniquet, or put my arm in a sling!

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