From: maxboots1

To: insectstings@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, March 01, 2004 4:12 PM

Subject: [insectstings] Re: Hey Ya'll from Louisiana USA

Hey Sarah

Nice to meet you!

Those red wasp are so mean! A few years ago one of those guys swooped
right down and stung me on the back of the neck(this was in my tool
shed). There's a bunch of them around here. I do try to keep them
from nesting around the house, I even spray in the attic. They've
been known to come into the house during the colder months, which
never bothered me to much before. I would just get them on to a piece
of paper and take them outside. Now I kill them when I find them in
the house.  I know thats mean of me. :(

I'll ask my doc tomorrow about the Claratin, I'll be going in for my
weekly fire ant. 
Does taking Claratin help make the possible sting not hurt so much?

It's been raining alot here and it's been warm the last few days. 
The wild flowers are popping up every where! If the ground wasn't so
wet I'd like to think I would be out there 'playing' in the dirt! My
three ducks have been enjoying the water puddles, turning them in
to 'mud' puddles!

I'm glad the shots are working for us!

:)
Robin




--- In insectstings@yahoogroups.com, XArmyGirl@c... wrote:
> Welcome Robin,
>
>    My name is Sarah, 33 , Chicago and I am new to this group too. I
was stung in August of 2003 in Chattanooga TN on vacation. I went
into anaphylaxis and then had cardic arrest, all from a red wasp. I
am extremely lucky because The doctor said he did not think I was
going to make it. I am getting the shots too and know what your going
through. Like you, I am a gardener ( with much less land :) )  I am
afraid what it will be like but my doctor has me taking a Claratin
every morning when bee season starts along with carring the epi's.
You should ask your doctor about taking something like that too if he
has not already prescribed it. Good luck to you.
>
> Sarah
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 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