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.
