Re: [gardeners] Wednesday

Allen and Judy Merten (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 24 Sep 1998 18:19:27 -0500 

Hi Barbara,
    What I meant about the Drs., is most don't have the experience the old doc's did.
My son #2 was bitten on the knee by a brown recluse spider at the Amoco Refinery in
Texas City when he put on his fire retardent coveralls. The doctors that he saw first
in the ER told him it looked like a fire ant bite. Son #2 had shown me the bite, I
recognized it as a Brown Recluse bite 'cause I have been bitten twice. So after I
came home from LL board meeting Judy and I took Tim back to the ER. I cussed and
fussed for about 3 hrs with the drs. before they admitted him. Bite was on the knee
and venom can cause tissue damage to the joint. The bite site didn't look like the
classic Brown Recluse bite, probably didn't get a full dose of venom. Two days after
the bite they decided it was indeed a BR bite and had to remove some tissue at the
bite site. Some ant bite!!
    I had Dengue Fever after Hurricane Debra in '58 in Galveston Co.,Tx. Not a
pleasant experience!
Allen
Bastrop Co.,Tx


Barbara J. Davis wrote:

> Hello Allen,
>
> Just this morning I was out in the damp grass looking over my newly
> planted salad seed beds---nothing coming up yet---and I noticed there
> were mosquitoes buzzing around.  I kept slapping until I hurried into
> the house.  That's one thing, I guess, we can be thankful for this
> summer.  The drought and excessive heat has discouraged mosquitoes.  I
> didn't know there was Dengue Fever in Texas, although with mosquitoes
> one can expect anything.  My husband and I both had Dengue Fever at the
> same time when we were in Laos.  We were hospitalized for over a week
> so I wouldn't think any doctor would consider it an inconsequential
> disease.  It took us a month to recuperate.
>
> Barbara Davis       zone 7/8       southwest of Fort Worth, TX
>
> Allen wrote to George:
>
> > Watch out for the mosquitos as well. Many times they can infect you with
> > Dengue(sp?) Fever. It was known by the old timers a "Break Bone Fever". The old
> > timers called it that because along with a fever came bone pain so bad it felt
> > like broken bones. Most of the younger Drs. don't realize the symptoms are
> > similar to a bad case of the flu, and don't diagnose it.
> >     Allen
> >     Bastrop Co.,Tx
> >     Zone 8