Stung

I got stung by a bee.  I know this probably isn’t that big of a deal to most people.  Kylee got stung on her foot last summer and though I know it hurt a lot, she was fine after 10 minutes.  Not me.  My dad has a serious bee allergy, and growing up I was stung multiple times and each time seemed to get worse and worse.  I haven’t been stung in like, 20 years.

I thought the bees and I had an understanding.  I invited them into my yard with my flowers and my raspberries.  They came and did their work, never bothering me or my family much.  The wasps are more annoying and bothersome, but the honeybees were just fine.  I’ve told my kids many times that we need bees, that the bees won’t hurt them if they leave them alone.

Bull.  I hate bees now.  I mean, I know we need them a lot.  I’m not going to go on a killing rampage or anything.  But a part of me is kind of scared to be outside now.

Last Sunday I went on a walk with the kids.  I had Kaden in the belly-carrier and the kids had their scooters.  The walk was fun for the first half, but then Sadie didn’t want her scooter and the kids traded and then there were fights and tantrums and it was kind of a nightmare by the end of it.  We came inside and I put Kaden in his toy, took off the belly carrier, and sat down on my bed untying my shoes.  That’s when I got stung.  In my house!  In my room.  The bee somehow got stuck on my clothes and came inside with me.  I’m just thankful Kaden didn’t get stung because I imagine the bee was really close to him.  He stung me on my wrist, the same place I remember vividly getting stung in 5^th grade.

Here’s the culprit after I flicked him off me and slammed my shoe on him.  I just don’t get the whole sting-and-then-die thing.  What’s the point of stinging??  Other than protecting the nest.  Why sting if you feel threatened?  Do they know they will die?  So pointless. 

I was ticked.  I knew that it was going to be miserable, but I was even nervous that I would react worse.  My eyes and nose started running bad, my throat started itching, I sneezed like three times in a couple minutes.  I quickly googled bee stings and scrolled through the list of treatments and settled on ice.  Then I called my mom.

She told me how my dad used to react, tongue swollen, incoherent.  That wasn’t happening to me.  So I figured I would be okay, just annoyed.

I remember in 5^th grade with my bee sting, my whole wrist swelled up and I could barely bend it.  I remember this because we were playing this game in PE where we were supposed to do crab-walks (and keep the giant ball in the circle by kicking it) and I tried to lean back on my wrist and it hurt SO bad!  Thinking back on that I’ve always thought I was being kind of a wuss, but after having it happen again I totally get it!  It hurts!  A LOT!  My arm hurt so bad I couldn’t carry Kaden on my arm.  It continued to spread throughout the day.

Monday morning my arm was swollen nice and big. 

And later that day is when the itching started.  Ugh.  Sunday was just a lot of pain.  The itching is probably worse.  Monday night I was itching so bad at bedtime that I couldn’t sleep.  I smeared toothpaste all over my arm.  Surprisingly it helped a lot.  Messy, but whatever.

I tried ice a lot on Tuesday, and a little Benadryl cream.  I can’t take antihistamines while breastfeeding so I didn’t consider taking anything.

Then it started to get better.  Slowly.  It still itches even now, especially at the sting mark.  Stupid bee.  I didn’t even go anywhere near where bees should be.  I’ve lost my faith in them.  They are buzzing ALL OVER my raspberries right now.  And I’m just staying away.  It seems we don’t have a shortage of bees in this particular area right now. 

Now that I’m talking about it, it’s itching like crazy.  Seriously.

I'm still nervous that my reaction will get worse.  I could be full on allergic with anaphylaxis and what-not.  But I'm not sure I want to deal with an epi-pen or anything.  The only time I worry is if we are out hiking or camping, far away from a hospital.  I may have to buy some liquid benadryl to keep in the car just in case.