Wasp sting adventure!

On Friday as usual I biked to work with Rick, my boss. Good day for biking, pleasantly cool weather. For lunch we walked to the nearby strip mall, had some soup, visited the excellent running store TC Running at which Rick bought his next pair of running shoes. Then back to work, walking around the small lake behind the strip mall. As we strode along I suddenly felt an intense pain in my wrist and immediately knew what it was - wasp sting! I yelled and flailed my arms, transferring the wasp to my neck, and from there it bounced into Rick's hair. Neither of us actually saw the wasp but I know a sting when I feel one, and boy did it hurt. I wasn't having any immediate intense reaction but I was concerned about the possibility, so he ran back to work to get my epi-pen, and I walked. We met up in the parking lot - I was still OK, but within the next twenty minutes I started to get hives on my opposite wrist and on my back so thus began the search for benadryl. I had some in my bag, but it had been expired for over a year. I called Park Nicollet and spoke to a nurse who told me to get some new benadryl and take 50 mg right away. Rick and I checked around at work; no benadryl in the medicine cabinet and no one had any. People came by offering me claritin, benadryl ointment, etc... all of which would have no effect on a systemic reaction. Finally Bridget offered to go get some. She came back with benadryl "allergy and cold", which loaded up the benadryl with aspirin and nasal decongestant. I took some anyway. The hives gradually faded.

By the time we left work the hives were gone but my wrist and hand had started swelling; there was a significant red lump covering the back of my hand. The bike ride home went smoothly, though. Once home Ross and I settled in for a quiet evening of pasta and a movie. "In Bruges" - if you haven't seen it, DO! But despite the benadryl my swelling increased - much of my forearm and hand. I ran over to Byerly's before bed to get some "real" benadryl, regretting the decision to not go to urgent care right after work. Got through the night, went to urgent care in the morning. They gave me Prednisolone (steroids) and the doctor said that in the future I should go ahead and use the epi-pen... I'm still not completely clear on whether the benadryl or the epi-pen is the first line of defense. I have the vague impression that the pen is for genuine breathing difficulty, which I never had.

So. A weekend of swollen, painful hand, drugs, tiredness. I really need to avoid wasps! But this one really came out of nowhere. And I've had remarkable luck avoiding them at the cliffs this year, even when climbing near them. They seem to be more irritable at this time of year.