Kerry--is that your hand? I had a similar issue last year (to the month) that kept me in the hospital for 10 days. Brown recluse was one possible guess, but it turned out to be a rare flesh eating virus I had most likely contacted from a fish in Bot's backyard. I missed having my finger amputated by several hours before they arrested the virus (78 bags of IV). The bi -weekly debridements during recovery are the fun part. I did escape having to have any reconstructive surgery though. Hope that's not you. If so, I'll pm you some of my lovely pics.