Three down; two to go

Yesterday everything was on target for working on the Trail of Terror.  It drizzled a little bit in the morning, but by afternoon the weather was pretty good, and after sunset the moon and some stars were visible.  However, Mark and I viewed the night sky on our way home from the Salisaw Hospital.

Yesterday afternoon I worked alone most of the afternoon while Mark, Kathy and Sherry were working the pumpkin patch.  When Kathy and Sherry’s part was over they came back to help in the Activity Center and the weather was mild enough that they propped the doors open for some fresh air.  I was going around with the cart that we use to take paint to people who have ceramics.  I had just poured some paint for some folks at a table and I put my hand on the towel that covers the bar we hold onto when we push the cart around.  I wasn’t looking where I put my hand, but I sure looked when I felt intense pain in my left hand.  There was a bee sitting on the towel.

The last time I got stung was when I was raking the yard in sandals when I was in high school.  A bee stung my heel, and the heel swelled up and turned black.  I had two red streaks running up my leg.  I couldn’t walk on that heel for several days after that.  Since then I’ve been phobic about bees.

When I realized I’d been stung this time, I tried to call Mark on the radio, but he was on the wrong frequency for the radio I had.  Then I called and asked anyone who had channel two to call him and ask him to come to Activities.  No one responded.  A couple minutes later I called and asked anyone to find him and tell him to come to Activities.  No response.  Finally I called and said there was an emergency in Activities and I needed someone to have Mark come.

That raised a couple other guys and they came down.  Pam in the office called Mark and told him there was an emergency in Activities and apparently he was the only person that could answer it.  When Steve pulled up outside Activities I told him I’d been stung by a bee and I’m allergic.  He reassured me that Mark had been called and he was on his way.

When Mark came and heard what had happened, he took me first to Harps and got some Benadryl and water and had me take a couple pills.  Then he rushed me to the ER in Salisaw.  By the time we got there I was hyperventilating and they let me right in.  I couldn’t even speak so they had to ask Mark all the questions.  They took me into a room and laid me down and the respiratory doctor came to check me first.  He got my breathing back to normal, but I was so cold my teeth were chattering.  They put two blankets on me and I was still cold.  Finally the ER doctor came in and gave me a pill and a three day prescription for the bee sting.

By the time we got back it was too late to work the trail, and besides the Benadryl had kicked in and I was out for the night.  My hand still hurt today but not as bad as it had last night.  The swelling has gone down, too.  Rather than working the Trail of Terror last night, Mark and I had our own terror.  I hope to go another forty years before getting stung again!

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