I Survived Being Stung!

     Yes, yes, it is true, I have survived (so far) being stung by what I have to assume was a hornet. I say that I have to assume, because I didn't see it! I really didn't see the damn thing when it stung me. I don't know how one misses a huge flying monster coming directly toward them, but there I was, not seeing it. I had gone outside to feed the birds - something I do every day. I usually feed the birds, put out the flag, and check my mail, but today it was a different routine.

    I fed the birds, checked my mail, and then decided to make biscuits. I went back outside to put out the flag, when my eye caught a big rooted stem of what Laura and I call "the weed". It's massive, but since she had cut it down at one point sometime this summer, it wasn't as hard to handle. I went back inside the house and retrieved something to cover my hands. I know sometimes that weeds can be sticky, prickly, etc. I grabbed an oven mitt and proceeded to try to uproot the thing.

    It's not in the ground, but in a planter on the porch; a very deep planter, I will add. I'm over there pushing, pulling, twisting, and not getting anywhere because the roots of the thing are probably swirled around the base of the planter. While giving it a good heave, my knee was suddenly attacked! I did not see it! I only felt it. I knew, of course, what it was, but I never saw or heard it. Makes me think of the Americans in their fancy schmancy machines up around the skies somewhere and how they show up out of nowhere and hit their mark.

    I don't mind being warned, I would have run into the house screaming, trying my best to get away. As it was, I ran into the house screaming and knew I'd been hit! I let Laura know immediately, because I needed baking soda rather quickly. I knew she had some in her bathroom, but was hoping I could find a box in the refrigerator being used to soak up smells, or in the cabinet waiting to be used. I was out of luck. I did remember instantly, however, that when the Kroger delivery truck stops by today, I had actually ordered another box. 

    The bathroom box had to work. We use it to help clean toilets, but I put some in my bath as well. It's a wonderful additive; just so you know. I made a paste of the stuff using a little water, and slapped that thing right over the new red hole in my leg - the one starting the rumble, doing its best to change the landscape of my kneecap from its pastey whiteness to the heated red top that I could see forming. 

    When I hobbled back to the kitchen, I asked Laura for the liquid Benedryl, you know, the one I keep around just in case I get stung!  I haven't been stung in over 30 years, but I still keep the stuff around -- and I'm glad I did. I'm sleepy now, but I'll survive that too. It's imperative that you keep an ice pack in the fridge for these purposes; be prepared.

    I sat on the couch with my ice pack, the baking soda paste covering my knee, and every dog and cat in the house wondering what was happening. They were there for moral support, of course, but absolutely in my way mostly. There, on the couch, I rested. I let the dogs know I was in pain, but I also thanked them for their caring gestures. Kiba licked the baking soda that fell to the floor - but he wasn't all that happy about it.

    We waited the requisite 30 minutes to an hour before saying that I had survived; but I did read one article that says I'm not out of the woods just yet. Apparently, some of the symptoms can show up a day later; diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness are the most common. I know why my head is swimming a bit right now, but that was self-inflicted. I gulped down a good swig of Benedryl! (well, CVS brand, but still) Laura and I know a lady who, after being bitten by some exotic bug her body wasn't immune to, died! This isn't that. The thing is probably very native to my home state.

    After being bitten by killer insects as a kid, I still remember the baking soda and ice pack thing. I wasn't stung that many times, but I remember one or two of those times, and the old remedy still works. I'll keep an eye out for anything other than the redness, puffiness around the sting area, and so forth. I've removed the ice pack and as my knee returns to its normal temperature, I am feeling little tingling in the red spot, but nothing too intense.

    AAHHHH...I guess I can garner a lot of little lessons from this. (a) keep baking soda handy at all times (b) keep an anti-allergy drug in liquid form (c) don't pull up roots that you haven't Googled for things that may call them home, and of course, how very grateful I am for my daughter and animals who immediately jumped into action to assist. I am blessed.

    If I do see one of those flying beasts, I'm taking my revenge.

Photo Credit: Oklahoma Magazine.