Sting Labour

Today was an interesting day. I worked for half the day, then in the afternoon I had planned to go on a family bike ride with Sue and the kids. I ate lunch, cleaned up a bit, then took the compost out. As I was walking to the pile (with no shoes on), I felt a sharp pain in my foot. I thought I had stepped on a thorn, but when I went to extract it, I saw a wasp.

The sting was on the underside of the big toe on my right foot, right on the joint. I swore a bit, and hobbled back into the house. I sat down and inspected the damage, but didn’t see any stinger.

Sue came back in and got me some childrens benadryl (all we had, and OMG so sickly sweet). She was on the phone to the nurses line, when I started to not feel so hot. I was wondering if it was my imagination, but it got a little worse. I mentioned to Sue that I wasn’t feeling very good. She was on hold to the nurses line, and suddenly I got very hot and light headed. I was fading quickly, so I told sue to call 911. From there I started sweating profusely, and was fighting to stay conscious.

I could hear everything happening around me, but was not able to respond without a lot of effort. I distinctly remember that I was not having any troubles with breathing. The 911 operator got me to lay on the floor, which was difficult. I was now very weak, still sweating, and still fighting to not pass out.

Then I heard the sirens. Phew. Elliot brought me a pillow, Amy watched over me, and Elliot ran outside to flag down the firefighters. I don’t know how many guys came tromping into the house (with Heart in her crate barking at them – Elliot apparently got her into her crate too), but they starting taking vitals and got me going on some oxygen.

By this point I was feeling a little better, but still weak, still sweating, and still a little light headed. The ambulance crew arrived and took over my care. They got me on a chair, checked me over (apparently my blood pressure was very low; I heard them talking 80 over something), then prepped me for a ride to the hospital. They gave me an epi shot, some more benadryl, and got an IV going while on route.

At the hospital they checked me in, and got me settled on a bed in the ER. An intern came by and took my history and informed me on what to expect. My blood pressure was taken a few more times throughout the afternoon, but for the most part I just had to lay there doing nothing.

Sue arrived and brought my phone, wallet, and some shoes. Both her and the phone were good distractions and helped pass the time. I finally sent her off when her parking time ran out. Sure enough the doctor came by soon after, finished making sure I was fine, then said I would be discharged soon. I texted Sue and she came back.

I’ve been stung a few times before, and never had a reaction. The doc pointed out that allergies can develop later, and sometimes can even disappear. They gave me a steroid to help with any symptoms tonight, and a prescription for an epi-pen (already filled). He also mentioned that they like to keep patients under observation for at least three hours post last dose of epi, in case symptoms recurr after the epi wears off. Gotta say, epi is nasty. Gave me the jitters, and a bad headache.

Sue came and picked me up, took me home, and that was my labour day. Not at all what we had planned.