I AM CLUELESS-DOCTORS ARE CLUELESS

[WAHOONBOX]

ONE OF THE PONEYTAILS GIRLFRIENDS , A LOCAL VETERNARIAN, WAS RECENTLY SWIMMING IN THE SURF AT ATLANTIC BEACH NC.......THE EVENT I AM ABOUT TO DESCRIBE HAPPENED APPX 5 WEEKS AGO....

IT WAS A LAZY SMALL SURF....CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER.....VIRTUALLY NO BEACH BREEZE TO SPEAK OF

OUR FRIEND WHO I WILL ADDRESS AS "THE VET" , WAS SWIMMING WITH GIRLFRIENDS IN WASTE DEEP WATER....THEY ARE RELIGIOUS BEACH GOERS...

THE VET WAS JUST FLOATING ALONG ON HER BACK WITH ARMS EXTENDED OUT IN A RELAXING POSTURE.....WHEN....WITH NO WARNING...OUT OF THE SHALLOW BLUE.....KAPOWALAMA!!! HOLEY SHAMONDO!!! OWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!! she screamed!

SHE QUICKLY STOOD UP AND GRABBED HER UPPER BICEP ON HER RIGHT ARM..............IT BEGAN BURNING.....I MEAN REALLY BURNING.....BEING A VET WHO HANDLES ALL KINDS OF CRITTERS AND SUCH, SHE IMMEDIATELY BEGAN SEARCHING THE CLEAR BRINE FOR THE ATTACK CREATURE..............ZERO.............NANNA....NOTHING IN PLAIN SITE!


GEEEEZZZUS THIS MUTHA HURTS!!! SHE GOES TO THE BEACH CHAIRS ...HER GIRLFRIENDS GATHER AROUND.........OMG! IT'S WHELPING BAD.....IT IS STINGING VERY VERY BAD!!! SHE GOES TO A NEARBY CLINIC AND IS SENT HOME WITH SOME SORT OF "OINTMENT" ............NOW IT GETS WORSE.........


NOW BLISTERS ARE POPPING UP AWAY FROM THE "ATTACK AREA".......

THE NEXT MORNING......THE TWO "ATTACK STRIPES" LIKE YOU SEE IN THE PHOTO BELOW ARE NOW BLACK......THATS RIGHT....BLACK CUTS.....AND DEEP......AND FLESH IS MISSING....THE CUT IS AS WIDE AND DEEP AS THE THICKNESS OF A PENCIL

SHE SAYS SHE IS POSITVE NO PORTUGESE MAN-O-WAR WAS PRESENT FOR THEY IMMEDIATELY LOOKED WHILE IN THE WATER...

NOW IT'S BACK TO THE DOCTOR AGAIN.....NOW, SOME SERIOUS MEDS ARE BEING PRESCRIBED.....ANTI-BIOTICS TO THE MAX......DAYS GO BY AND THIS THING AIN'T GETTING BETTER......IT IS GETTING WORSE EVERYDAY....."THE FLESH APPEARED TO BE ROTTING" she explains.

.ANTIBIOTICS ARE ELEVATED TO THE MAX


THE ARM IS TWICE IT'S NORMAL SIZE NOW AND THIS GOES ON FOR 3 FREAKIN' WEEKS......IT BECOMES EVEN GROSS TO LOOK AT.....THIS WALLOP MAKES A BROWN RECLOUSE BITE LOOK LIKE A MOSQUITO BITE......

NOW FIVE WEEKS HAVE PASSED AND THE SLOW HEALING HAS FINALLY GAINED MOMENTUM AND IT LOOKS LIKE THIS STORY WILL END ON A POSITIVE STING....I MEAN NOTE!

IT HAS BEEN QUITE THE TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE FOR OUR FRIEND AND HAS SHE ALLOWED ME TO TAKE A COUPLE PICS YESTERDAY OF HER HEALING ARM


ANYONE HAVE A CLUE TO THIS STINGING BEAST? SO FAR.....WE ARE CLUELESS!.....WAS IT A BOX JELLYFISH SOMEONE JUST RECENTLY ASKED ?

I SWEAR... I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!

[floridadeckie]

very well could have been a box jelly. do a search for jellies who's sting cause necrosis.

[clt_capt]

Funny you should ask about Box Jellies. First week of October, I was working on the boat in my slip - there were a couple of folks detailing one of the other boats on S-Dock. As I walked by them, they asked me to look at what they had caught in a bucket - It was a box jelly - about 4" long and a smaller one - they had scooped it out of the water right next to the dock...

I think it is the first one I've seen up close - sure looked like something from the Discovery Channel...

I suggested that they take it over to the Duke Marine lab - I never heard back on that...

[sportfishingusa]

i dont know how possible this is..

but i have been stung by alot of floating tentacles.. is it possible that maybe some of the tentacles were just free floating and that is why "the vet" didnt see anything in the water after the sting!!?

that is really bad ands sorry to hear about that.. glad the recovery is going smooth so far!!

[Seth]

While the box is usually found in more tropical waters, they have been known to populate the waters off of NC. There are recent reports of these small jellies showing up in mass along NC beaches. These are killers. I feel bad for the poor girl.

[cravertosu]

Well and to think that my dive medical training wouldn't come into play while I was over here in Afghanistan!!
It is possible that it's a box jellyfish sting. And you can get tagged by a free floating tentacle.
Another "jellyfish" I've delt with down in Key West is called the Iricangi. Not sure how warm of water they need. Only been involved with them down in KW. They have AWFUL stings that really do last A LONG time! Plus they are TINY. Hard to see.
I was trying to find some info on them online but I just wasn't having anything pop up. Hopefully we have a marine biologist on here that can help out.
Hope that info helps!

Let her know I said I hope she feels better soon!

Tim

[La Gringa]

i have worked for emergency room doctors for nearly ten years....

'nuff said???

[rich]

I was watching a special not too long ago on the discovery channel and they had small jellyfish that were at the bulb or head on them was about the size of a thumbnail. They were highly toxic. For healthy people they would put them in the hospital for about a week. For the elderly or young they would be in their longer or would actually kill them. But they described the same basic effects as what you just did. I cannot come up with the name of them right now to save my life.

[Sea Frog]

Sounds gross, but next time if she pees on it the stinging will subside. Tell medical attention can be sought. Looks like a man-o-war sting to me. Tentacles can be very long.

[cravertosu]

Sounds gross, but next time if she pees on it the stinging will subside. Tell medical attention can be sought. Looks like a man-o-war sting to me. Tentacles can be very long.

No, no, no! NO peeing on jellyfish stings! That can work on sea urchins, not jellyfish.