A strange thing happened last Saturday. I visited a friend who lives near the Caboolture River late in the afternoon.  Stayed for perhaps 30 minutes.  It may have been a little longer.  I didn’t check.

When I arrived home I started getting my evening meal.  I felt a strange sensation on my back.  Not a sting, or pain.  Just put my hand to my back and felt a huge blister.  I went to the bathroom and despite my attempts to get a look at it, I could not see it.  My neck is clearly far too short.  I need to be a giraffe!!

I was curious and wondered what to do.  Nothing I could think of…..  Later I went to bed and slept as usual.  In the morning I could feel that the blister had burst.  Living on one’s own means that there is no one there to check for me.  Later in the morning, after my shower, I took a bandage over to a neighbour across the road.  She owed me a favour or two, as I was the first person she called some months ago when she found a snake in her house.

Is it Shingles?

The Red Back Spider – a common poisonous Australian spider.

She looked at my now burst blister and though it looked like Shingles.  Eeek.  I have had Shingles before – and know it is not a good experience!!  She put the bandage on, and I returned home, pondering about seeing a doctor.   I made some phone calls and found that the Caboolture Super Clinic was open so I headed there.

Eventually, when the doctor inspected my back, he was curious.  I had no pain, no itch, but there were now about 13 blisters in the same area.  He took a swab – maybe it is Shingles, but with no other signs or symptoms, he was curious too.  He gave me some pills to take, and I have to wait for the lab results.

Was it a Red Back Spider?

A friend suggested it was a red back spider bite.  Could it be?  I checked on Dr Google.  Apparently, if such a spider had bitten me, it would have ben very painful.  That didn’t happen.  Wikipedia has an interesting story here.

The blisters have burst, and my skin is slightly itchy, and I think a little red.  (Need a long neck to see it closely).    Today, maybe I will find out the result of the swab.