Hey Debbie

Nice to meet you too!

Something that bothers me is, that in the past (the good old days),
I never would even 'flinch' when a "buzz"ard invaded my space. Now
I flap my wings and scream like a a, a girl'!!! :)
I've been trying to practice 'freezing'... and I tell myself, "Robin
you've never been stung while gardening", while doing the one thing I
love most.

Researching them "buzz"ards has helped! "They" tend to be
easily 'pissed off' in the months of Aug & Sep! and in my case, July.

Something else that I have found, Is a Blessing. My old yellow dog!
Max!
I think this was back in Oct 03. While sitting outside on the porch,
with Max, enjoying the coming evening. He was sitting in front of me,
letting me 'love' on him (I like kissing him behind his
ears)...Anyway, I was aware of a red wasp hanging around above us, I
was pretending I didn't care.
It happened so fast.....Dive bombing wasp headed right for me! and My
Max jumping up and 'chomp'. Max caught that wasp and ate it!
My Hero!! He got a lot more kisses!!! and some milkbones too!

How did you get stung? I hope it wasn't while doing what you love,
riding your motorcycle!

Take care,
:)
Robin



--- In insectstings@yahoogroups.com, "Debbie Fawcett" <acet@z...>
wrote:
> Hi Robin,
>
> Welcome to the club ! As always, sorry you got to join. It is
nice to hear from someone else that says "Ya'll". It really changes
your life when this happens. I finally made it thru to
the "maintenance club" after many months of venom therapy. Haven't
had my first maintenance jab yet, but will soon. The fear ??? I
don't know the answer. I do know that we don't go thru all these
months of agony to let the little "buzz"ards keep us down. I live in
Ohio and have had a few months of reprieve. There is always the
chance that one will wake from it's little winter nap and stick ya
before you know it. My passion is my motorcycle and my pets. This
week end was the first time since August 2003 that I have been out
riding my motorcycle in the DAYLIGHT with the temps over 50 degrees.
What do I see? A sleepy yellowjacket just floating passed me at a
stop sign.
> EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK ! Remaining calm on the outside, inside I
feel like I just met a grizzly bear in the outhouse !
>
> At least you know that you are not alone. It does seem to help
some. Like your not nuts or at least not the only one that is.
Please don't even feel like a wimp ! People that haven't been thru
this don't have a clue what's been going on with you.
>
> What do the rest of ya'll think about the fear thing. Prior to
getting to two stings I just tried my best to stay wherever "they"
were not. Now, I know they are not suppose to be able to kill me,
but they do still scare the you know what out of me. I think I heard
it here........time.
>
> Nice to meet you Robin
>
> Debbie
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: maxboots1
> To: insectstings@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2004 1:50 PM
> Subject: [insectstings] Hey Ya'll from Louisiana USA
>
>
> Hey Ya'll
> I'm so glad I've found You guys!
> I feel like I've been living in the 'twilight zone'. Like I'm all
> alone.
> True, I am by myself alot. My husband and I live in a rural area,
in
> NW LA., on 3 acres of land.(no close neighbors) My husband works
> fulltime, and I'm a fulltime homemaker, gardener and momma of an
old
> yellow dog and three ducks.
> I've always loved every part of nature, I feed the birds, have
> bluebird houses, and a purple martin house. I garden extensively,
and
> have always loved it......Until.
> 24 July 2003...I was pushmowing around our pond, when extreme
pain
> hit me. I knew what it was because I had been stung on the back
of
> the hand the month before while pushmowing in that same area.
> This time however I knew something was Wrong.
> Yellow Jackets!
> They got me on the back of each hand(thru my gloves) and on the
back
> of each leg(on the calf, thru my jeans).They were on my shoes. I
> stopped the mower, and slowly walked away. Trying to stay calm, I
> leaned against the fence and took one foot, then the other, to
> sweep/crush them off my shoes.
> The pain, something was so wrong. My hands and feet were hurting
and
> then the itching started, everywhere! My eyes and top lip started
> swelling. The itching started feeling like more stings! I Ran to
the
> house. I was about a football field away. I got there and in a
panic
> started taking off all my clothes. I thought for sure 'they' were
> still on me. They were no longer on me but I had broken out into
> hives Every where.
> Swelling up everywhere, I figured I better call my DH at work and
see
> if he could come home to help me. I asked him to stop at the
> pharmacy, for some benadryl(I knew my Mom took it for stings).
> Dumb me, I didn't go to the doctor until the next day.(course, I
> never did fall asleep, I think I was to scared)
> Thank God, I never did have trouble breathing! My Internal
medicine
> doctor told me I was extremely lucky. He gave me shots of some
kind
> in my hip. Gave me a 'scrip' for 2 epi pens, and advise me to
Never
> get stung again! How nice of him!
> Thanks to the internet, I knew about venom immunotherapy, so I
got a
> referral. Boy, I failed that skin test big time, the doc had all
> those vials ready and I only made it thru one round! The honeybee
was
> my only friend!
> Sixteen weeks of a shot of wasp in the left arm, a fire ant in
the
> left arm; and in the right arm is a 'cocktail' of yellow jacket,
gold
> hornet and white hornet. Then we skipped one week, then two
weeks,
> then three weeks, now I'm at once a month....Except for the fire
ant.
> I'm on my 23rd weekly fire ant, and I still have 12 more weeklys.
> Early in the weekly therapy, every time there was an increase in
> venom I would get bad reactions. So the doc said 'we' would take
it
> slow.
> Sorry this is so long.
> How do I deal with the Fear! I Have to be outside, but I find
myself
> doing more 'house' work than ever before. Gardening season really
> never comes to an 'end' down here. I am behind in alot of outside
> work. It will be grass mowing time in March. I'm scared, and I
really
> shouldn't be. There's not much of a 'winter' here. On sunny days,
the
> honeybees and wasp come out, their kind of half a sleep and will
land
> on you. You don't even hear them. I just 'freak' out.
> I'm up two stings in my therapy, so these guys can not kill me!
> Do I just need more time? It helps to 'hear' what ya'll have been
> through. I feel like such a 'wimp'.
> It just seems so unfair! I had no idea something like this could
> happen. I'm so mad but so stupidly scared.
> I will get through this. I Will!
> Thanks, Ya'll for being Here! Glad I found someone to talk to!
> Sincerely, Robin
>
>
>
>
>
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