The Wasp in the Garden

The one thing I hate about where we live is the huge number of wasps that build nests behind every rosemary bush, above every window, under every piece of wood and even in holes in the ground every summer.  So far all of us, except Gavin, have been stung at least once every summer.  Two days ago Brae and I were both stung.  She is pretty immune to wasp venom so after a couple hours she was running around on her stung foot with no problems.  My reaction was a little different this time.

So remember a couple years ago how Brae and I were attacked by a wasp swarm?  Well apparently those 5 or 6 stings I received did a lot to increase my wasp allergies.  Of course I didn’t know this the other day.

It had been a somewhat stressful afternoon and had just sat down in the garden to take a quick kid free break when BAM a wasp came out of no where, stung me on my ring finger and took off so fast I hardly had time to see what had actually happened.  Pain coursed through my finger and I jumped up screaming a long and very loud list of colorful curse words at the escaping wasp and rushed to the front yard to find Tom.  Within minutes my whole arm began to itch and hives spread across my skin.  That had never happened before so I quickly took a Tylenol and a Claritin, and in 10 minutes the hives were gone, but the swelling and burning gradually increased overnight.

By the next morning most of my hand was swollen, red hot and my finger felt like it was going to burst from the pressure.  By mid day, my finger was turning white and I could feel pain radiating up my arm along the bone.  Not good.  I dropped the kids off at a neighbors and headed to urgent care.

Usually I dread urgent care centers, but then again Ive never been there with a potentially life threatening injury before.  I expected a long agonzing wait but the nurse took one look at my hand, asked if I was having trouble breathing, which thankfully I wasnt, and took me right into a room.  Three hours and a Benedryl shot in the butt later the swelling and itching had become bearable and I was back home with strict instructions to see my regular doctor about an epi pin.  Just in case.

After all that drama, I really needed some happy time.  I headed back out to the garden to begin our very first Summer veggie harvest.  It was small, but so exciting to finally have a homegrown veggie for dinner.

I’ve continued taking the Benedryl every 4 hours and I woke up this morning with much less swelling and itching which makes for a much happier Mama.