QuestionHi Mr. Cusumano,
My brother (35years old and can not handle bug bites a bee sting almost does him in) was bitten for the second time by a black widow spider. I don't know what medications he is on -- but, he has been in ICU for 3 days now. My family lives on the east coast and my brother lives on the west coast --- His wife is not calling us with any information -- all she says is that he is stablized and doing better but still in ICU.
I am not asking you to tell me what is wrong with my brother!!
My question to you is this -- If a patient is in ICU -- that means they are in pretty bad shape -- correct? would a doctor keep someone in ICU who is stable and showing signs of improvement?
I have been doing some research on BW spider bites -- even though death is rare -- people still can go in and out of a coma -- have respiratory failure -- experience being parallized for a period of time and have debillating muscel spams -- for just a few of the syptoms.
Please let me know how ICU works --- I always thought that if some one is stable and showing signs of improvement they are moved out of ICU --- and BW spider bites only last for 24 hour period of time.
Thanks,
Meg
AnswerHi Meg,
You are essentially correct about ICU stays. In the case of a Black Widow bite, symptoms may not peak for a few days so I would suspect that the doctors are just being cautious. That said, I don't know just how serious this bite reaction was either. I'm not sure why you can't get more detailed information from your sister-in-law. Unfortunatetly under HIPPA laws, you won't be able to get any info from the hospital or doctor.
