A venomous spider bite has left a mum unable to hug her kids and at risk of cancer. Jenna Allen, 28, was volunteering in her hometown, Donald, Victoria, Australia, after severe floods ravaged the area in November 2014.
She reached into a box to get a pair of shoes when she was bitten by a highly venomous Redback spider - also known as the Australian black widow - on her left arm. Instantly her skin reacted, and Jenna had goose bumps up her left arm, stomach cramps and vomiting.
The local hospital didn’t have any antivenom and Jenna had to travel an hour to another hospital - where she was given two doses and admitted to intensive care. Jenna was transferred to the Bendigo Hospital, Victoria, for two months where she had a skin graft.
This worked for a year but then a mosquito bite sized pinprick resurfaced which burst. Her unhealed wound now causes her horrendous pain and has to be constantly bandaged.
The dance teacher is petrified she will get cancer as medics have detected pre-cancerous cells in the wound. Jenna has health insurance provided by medicare but because her condition is so exceptional, not all of the sky-high costs aren't covered.
She is left out of pocket by over $1.3K a week for things like bandages and dressings. She said: "I am constantly worried about how I'm going to afford my next bandage.
"I have even re-washed and re-used a bandage before because I didn't know how I would afford my next one. All of my bandages get put on a payment plan, so I am constantly in debt."
She said: “I just want to be able to cuddle my children and to find a cure for my bite. I have been to countless doctors and medics, and no one has any answers.
“It is taking a huge emotional mental and emotional toll on my family and loved ones. I just want to be able to hold my children and give them hugs. I used to pass out and have convulsions when the dressing was changed because it hurt so much, I had to be put under anaesthetic.”
After a decade of suffering, Jenna is now used to the pain so can re-dress her own bandages. But once every week she has to travel a seven hour round trip to get It re-dressed at the Swan Hill Medical Centre, Victoria, Australia.
None of the bandages Jenna has to use are subsidised by Medicare - the national health service in Australia - as unlike the NHS, it doesn’t cover all costs of healthcare. As Jenna’s bandages are applied in a GP’s office, or at home, and not in a hospital, the costs are not covered.
Four times a year, the mum-of-two has to have a deep skin biopsy and it has recently detected pre-cancerous cells in the wound. Doctors hope to give Jenna another skin graft, but this might be possible because the wound fluctuates in size - if the wound stretches all the way around her arm another skin graft wouldn’t be possible.
As a dance teacher, Jenna often struggles to do her job because she is in agony and she struggles to be sociable because of the pain she is in. “I am really running out of options, and I am so thankful to those who donate but so much of the costs I have to cover myself," she said.
“I hope one day to train to be a paramedic so I can help others in need. Going through this has opened my eyes as I have experienced so much, and it has made me a better person.”
Jenna’s friend is helping her ‘beat the bite’ through her GoFundMe page.
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