Remember my sting of a couple of weeks ago? Well yesterday it happened again!
I was mowing the front lawn, as before, and mowed over a ground nest of yellow jackets. Almost instantly a large (many dozens) swarm of wasps engulfed the mower, as I hastily fled the area. I observed them from a distance for a few moments and then – foolishly I’ll concede – ‘hop-ran’ in to get the mower away from them. It was then I was stung again. I strongly believe I was actually stung twice, possibly by the same wasp, although a later investigation seemed to show only one spot (there were definitely two yesterday).
The pain was as before, possibly even slightly higher, but as the day continued I was relieved that the swelling and irritation seemed less previously. During this time I went out and did my best to eradicate the nest with a hand held can of bug spray. I must have killed fifty or more of the suckers, mostly single-targeting them down. The chemical, whatever it is, is positively evil – a fine mist is enough to knock a wasp out of the air and kill it in seconds. I saturated the entrance of the nest as well, killing many wasps as they tried to flee. I was at my most alert during this extermination since I strongly didn’t want to be stung again. Happily, I succeeded without further incident.
By the evening, although I could still feel the burn of the sting, it wasn’t all encompassing and I was mostly able to ignore it. Furthermore, the swelling had mostly subsided. However when we went to bed the pain began to return and soon became difficult to ignore. I had trouble getting to sleep, and going back to sleep when I woke a few times during the night.
This morning I felt dizzy and nauseous, and noticed pronounced swelling at the point of the sting. I called my doctor who said I had to come see him as soon as possible. By the time I arrived at my doctor the swelling – on the right side of my left calf – was as big as my outstretched hand, very pink, hard and warm to the touch. It turns out I had an allergic reaction. Very likely the first sting sensitized my body to the wasp venom, making the second sting much more potent.
I have been prescribed steroids for five days and have been given 2 Epi-Pens to use in case I get stung again. Disturbingly, the suggestion is I may have to keep these things handy forever since now I’ve had a reaction to the venom the risk of anaphylactic shock. I’m trying not to think about the reality of that right now.
Very few people develop allergies like this (less than 2% according to the doctor) so I’m simply unlucky. That said, my doctor says I was lucky the reaction wasn’t more serious. Because of my sensitivity I now have to avoid yellow jackets and bees, especially for the next few weeks.
Somewhere, the ghost of a wasp is enjoying his Pyrrhic victory.
That’s truly awful luck, mate, and I hope you never have to endure such an ordeal again.
As a teenager, I was once stung several times on the back by what were probably paper wasps, although my memory is of them being wholly black with no yellow.
Walking my dog through bushland, I came upon a busted nest on the ground and an angry swarm. (Wouldn’t be surprised if the mutt had somehow knocked it off the branch.)
I bolted, but they got in a few good jabs.
The next thing I remember is sitting on the back verandah, my T-shirt off, as Mum applied ointment. Can’t confirm or deny whether I was crying 🙂