Community Chat

[Stella Dallas]

Oh my gosh...earlier today I noticed a small-ish bug squirming around on the dining room floor right next to the open sliding glass door. I went to kick it outside with my toe and it took several tries.

As it FLEW AWAY, I realized that it was a WASP, and nearly had a heart attack. I'm so allergic to bees, wasps, etc., that I have an Epi Pen, just in case my next allergic reaction is the BIG one. Even if stings don't send me into anaphylactic shock, they are excruciatingly painful as the stung area swells up to several times its normal size (I once looked like I had a 2nd head growing out of my calf). I guess God really was protecting me from myself. Have you ever had a similar experience?

[scotttie]

I know someone who didn't have their glasses on and picked at what they thought was a fuzz/lint from the carpet....it was a little scorpion and stung her. Didn't do a lot of damage but not a good experience.

[Topaz Gem]

Thankfully if I had a bug on the floor, one or both of my cats would be hovering around it, trying to bat it around, LOL. I can't imagine accidentally picking up a scorpion!

[croemer]

Yikes...I have been stung by many wasp's and it hurts.

[MickD]

When my brother was little he stepped in a wasps' or something nest in the woods.....terrifying... Oh and I jogged over a rattlesnake today while on a trail....freaked me out....thought it was a tire tread until I was right over it.....don't do bugs or reptiles.....

[LucyGoose]

I probably have lots of these. The only thing I can remember right now is one morning while I was sitting on the couch, watching the news and drinking my coffee. I must have been so intense in watching the news, because when I looked down, I realized I was using my coffee cup that I was drinking out of as an ash tray, also.

[kittymomNC]

I can identify with your story, Stella. A couple of years ago, I was stung three times on the back of my leg just behind my knee by a yellow jacket. Those little buggers' stings hurt like crazy, and they can sting more than once because they don't leave the stinger in the first time. It took 3 weeks before the reaction finally went away.

The next year, I was cutting the grass and saw some little bugs flying around out of one of my planting beds. When I pushed the mower back up to the edge of the bed, I realized they were yellow jackets, in a completely different place. One stung me on my ring finger, only once. But my finger swelled considerably and was red and hot, so I went to the Urgent Care. They gave me a 6-day course of Prednisone, and by the time I had taken the first day's doses, my whole hand was swollen and looked terrible. The second day I had an allergic reaction to the Prednisone and had to go back to the Urgent Care! They told me to stop the Prednisone, and hopefully I got enough to knock back the allergic reaction to the sting. It did finally start getting better, and when I mentioned it to my regular doctor, she said I probably should get an EpiPen... but I haven't followed through on that.

So thanks for posting your story, because it has reminded me that spring is coming and I will be outside. I need to get that EpiPen!

[Slate]

Well at least you didn't think a raccoon was your kitty.

[Toppers]

I am so glad that you weren't hurt, Stella. That must have been a really scary experience.

Nothing like what happened to you, ever happened to me, but I did accidentally step on a wasp when I was younger. I used to go barefoot outside when I was younger, and I didn't see it in the grass, and stepped on it.

My ankle swelled up where it had stung me, but I luckily didn't have any life-threatening allergic reaction to it.

By the way, if you are reading my post, some of us posted Bread Pudding recipes for you in the Kitchen Forum.

[blackhole99]

I believe in G-d, but I believe G-d's a spirit and doesn't operate the way we think. I believe you were lucky.