Writing in the Corner

Thursday night, right before cub scouts started, something apparently bit me under my arm. It itched like crazy, but it didn’t seem unusual. We have lots of bugs here, and fat people get mosquito bites, even this early in the summer.

About 45 minutes later, on the way home, I started itching all over. Everywhere. My ears, my scalp, my chest, my other arm, my back. I thought I was going to go nuts. I got home and told my husband what was happening. I took a Benadryl and got in the shower. He turned to the internet for research.

The shower didn’t seem to help much. I got out and I had red blotches all over. My ears were bright red. I had welts all over my arms. I called DD, R.N. She stated that the appropriate dose of Benadryl under those circumstances was 50 mg (2 pills), not 25. She also said if I had trouble breathing I should go to the ER immediately. She told me to put on a long sleeved shirt so I wouldn’t tear my skin up and get an infection from scratching.

I put on the clothing she suggested (natural fabrics, long sleeved shirt). She called back while I was dressing, and told my husband that they could make me feel a lot better in the ER, very quickly, with no trouble at all.

I put off going until I started having trouble catching my breath, and then I panicked. We found a friend to take care of The Kid, dropped him off, and DH took me to the hospital. They pulled me in to triage right away and gave me the first empty bed. They put me ahead of a mid-60’s fellow with chest pains. “She’s airway,” the triage nurse said to the care nurse.

I got into a gown and the doctor came within minutes. He asked if I had taken anything. “Fifty mg of Benadryl.”

“Good! Good! Excellent!” the MD responded. He practically applauded. He looked at my arms, may face and my torso. He looked in my mouth and shook his head slightly. “Start an IV. Give her xxxx Benadryl, xxxx epinephrine, xxxxx solu-medrol and xxxx of Pepcid.”

The nurse put in the IV port, and then started giving me injections. He hooked up the Pepcid IV. I was better within minutes, if a bit loopy from the Benadryl. Right before I left, the nurse was asking how my more “personal” parts were. “How’s your chest?” he asked.

“My chest is always great,” I replied. Yep, definitely loopy.

Within two hours I was on my way home.

Scared the hell out of me.

The next morning I was perfectly fine. My arm itched at the site of the bite, but other than that it was like it had never happened.