A Birthday Scorpion

Birthdays come and go - Unknown

Last Saturday, we spent the day  hiking in our area for my Birthday.
After a few miles, we started to head back out.
Unfortunately, that was when I got stung on my finger by what they think was a scorpion.

I was stung around 4 and I took the stinger out and squeezed out a lot of venom.  The stinger was red with a black venom sac. I never saw the insect. My finger was really red and white with in a minute. It swelled up a good bit too.

Thinking nothing of it, we went to dinner at our favorite local Crab Shack Restaurant. While there my hand began to go numb. By 6 o'clock my hand and lower arm was tingling and beginning to hurt and I was not able to hold my dinner glass well.  By 7:30 I was having pain in my upper arm and slight tightening in my chest. It appeared the tingling and pain was traveling up my arm.

So, we went to the ER and this is where I spent the rest of the day.

Benadryl -- at first to see if that would stop the initial swelling.

Then, the ER did Blood Work and treated me with Antibiotics and Steroids.

 

 

 I spent a day or two of being sick after the Doctors fixed me up!

 I still have numbing in my arm every now and then.

 Also,  it is occasionally itchy.

Strange.

 

You know what I like about stories like these... The "What Ifs?!"
Yes, truly!  Praise the Lord, if anyone had to get stung, at least it was me.
I am not allergic to stinging insects unlike some in my family. So, I am thankful we didn't have to deal with a child or Beloved going into immediate shock!  Plus, there is no way any of the children would have been able to articulate the pain from the stinging later on! The only outside sign my body showed was the swelling in the finger.  If I wasn't able to articulate what was going on in my body there is no telling when anyone would have figured out that my body was going through shock.  

 

Well, although I didn't eat all day Sunday, by Monday night I was well enough to eat a piece of Birthday Cake that Beloved made me! 

 

Red Velvet!

 

Maybe turning 40 will be more fun?!