Well, I now know that I'm no longer deathly allergic to bee venim. Yesterday while biking home, very fast to get home before the storms hit, a bee flew in behind my sunglasses. I frantically tried to get the glasses off but was not fast enough. Just as I pulled the glasses away from my face I felt the stinger. I stopped my bike, got out a mirror to take a closer look and there it was a big lump growing just below my eye. The last time I got stung I ended up in the hospital so for years, until about 12 or 14 years ago, I carried an anakit (which consisted of a hypodermic, epinephrine and diphenhydramine) but got tired of spending the money each year for a new one. I haven't been again until yesterday. I called a friend who was very kind and came to get me and my bike and take me to the hospital... just in case. No anaphylaxis but I did swell up, my face went numb (like when the dentist freezes you) and a few minutes later I was extremely sleepy. There were irregularly sharp, stabbing pains at the site of the stinger and down the side of my face and into my neck. The nurse who saw me at the hospital warned me that there would be a 4 hour wait so after about an hour had passed after the sting I decided to go home and take a couple of diphenhydramine. At the hospital my BP was 148/80 which is quite high for me but under the circumstances not out of the ordinary. If I was going to have an anaphylactic reaction it would have happened within 5-20 minutes so I felt out of danger. The same friend picked me up again, we stopped at a drug store to get pills (just in case I didn't have any) and she dropped me and the bike off at home. I took another pill a couple of hours later and went to sleep. I slept for about 9 hours. Was late for work today and had to leave early.
Now I still have the lump and stretched skin under my eye and it is still a little tender. And I feel a bit 'hungover' from the diphenhydramine but otherwise I survived quite well. So, now I know... no need to panic if I ever get stung again. Thanks to Michele for being there when I needed her help.
I have two more volunteer shifts, Thursday and Friday nights, for ChamberFest. The vlounteer appreciation BBQ is this Sunday afternoon but I've not decided whether or not I'll go. I'll be going to the party on the 25th which is for a specific group of volunteers that Gaye and Bob worked with. That is, I'll be there if I'm not on vacation.
Bed time now. Good Night all.
Posted by gailene at August 3, 2005 10:29 PM