Life: It's a roller coaster. One day, you're a contestant on The Voice, the next, you're battling a vicious spider bite. At least, that's how the story goes for former contestant Meghan Linsey, who appeared on the NBC program in 2015. The 31-year-old recently shared on her personal Instagram that she is recovering from a serious spider bite.
"It has been confirmed that I was bit by a brown recluse spider, one of two of the most poisonous spiders in the US," Linsey wrote in a lengthy caption. "I am still dealing with the wound on my face, but I finally found the right meds to control the nerve pain. I know I'm not out of the woods on this yet, but I am so incredibly grateful for my health and I will never take it for granted again. "
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The post itself is a collage of four very telling photos. There's a photo of Linsey's swollen face, a couple close-ups on her healing wound, and photographic evidence of the spider itself. Her tale is fairly harrowing, so buckle up. In February, Linsey woke to discover a dying spider in her hand. Her face was stinging. Shortly after, she began experiencing symptoms associated with the bite of a brown recluse.
"From excruciating nerve pain in my face, muscle spasms, full body rash, extreme swelling... etc," Linsey listed. The Mayo Clinic lists "fever, chills, and body aches" as symptoms of the bite, which is known to be one of two serious spider bites. (The majority of spider bites are innocuous and often go unnoticed.) In some cases, the bite develops into an open sore, which is precisely what happened to Linsey.
The Louisiana native did what anyone else would do in the situation: She took to WebMD. WebMD has a reputation for fearmongering — look up your symptoms, and in most cases you'll find something that makes you think you're going to die.
"They tell people to not look up things on WebMD, and I had looked up everything on WebMD and I had every symptom. Every day was another thing," Linsey told People in an exclusive interview. The "sore" effect is actually necrosis — when the dead dermis begins to rot.
Linsey continued, “I was supposed to be getting better, but I was getting worse – up until day nine, which is when the symptoms stopped happening and the necrosis started on my face.”
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Linsey isn't shy about sharing photos of the experience on Instagram. She admitted that her makeup routine is a little more involved these days, but she doesn't mind the extra work — she's happy to be alive. According to her Instagram, all of the "dead tissue" on her face is gone, and she seems to be healing well. The singer is back at the mic, too; she'll be performing in Panama City on April 22.
Linsey got her start as half of a country duo called Steel Magnolias. On The Voice, however, Linsey competed as a solo act and has been performing on her own ever since. In July of 2015, she released the album Believer. According to her Instagram feed, she is working on a new record now.