It’s been such a strange, and at times, very emotionally dark week. Perhaps that’s why my body reacted so violently as it did? A way to show it’s unsavoury disharmony, reminding me that this life as we know it isn’t a dress rehearsal, and in a moment, life could be gone or turned upside down forever.

I ended up in the hospital on Thursday night, stuck with a saline IV and steroidal drip, waiting for the itching to stop. You see, I was stung by a yellow-jacket, as we were travelling in the truck from Brantford to Oakville. When we left the dropzone to pick up our tonneau cover for our Dodge, I heard a buzzing sound, as if coming from the dashboard. Couldn’t find the culprit, so we made our way in the darkness to pick up the cap we’ve been searching a whole year for … Kijiji is awesome!  The topper fitted our needs, so after fitting it snuggly on it’s new home, we made our way in to Toronto, helping out some friends who are switching modes and joining the RV lifestyle. And our services were needed, transporting their giant Great Dane {Bender} and baggage to a transitioning point. Such is the beauty for having an enclosed truck bed — perfect luggage storage for us and others :).

We had stopped at a MacDonalds to take an important phone call, and whilst slaDE was on the phone, I decided to stick my crock shoes back on and dash in to use the restrooms. It was at that very moment when foot was inserted in to plastic that the little yellow bugger zapped me on the toe (3 times looking at the puncture marks). Man did that ever hurt. And about 2 minutes after the sting started to subside, my scalp starting itching like crazy and my body went in to an intense heat flash of itchy messiness. I ran in to ask where the closest pharmacy was (the staff looked at me with fear in their eyes — I was a red blotchy mess).

Of course, the Pharmacist was on a long-winded phone call with a client, and patiently I danced silently on the spot waiting for her advice, inaudibly pleading for her to hurry uP. Benadryl it was, 2 capsules per dose, max 8 in 24 hours. Would that be enough to stop the storm ravaging my body? I fervently prayed that the medicine would be an instant relief from the crazy swarming welts driving my nervous system crazy with needlepoint pain and itch. And with positive thoughts I breathed “No worries, this will be under control in no time”. I could beat this! Yet 1/2 hour later, making our way in to the city, my throat started to feel funny, as if a whole chip were lodged deeply within my windpipe and I was trying to swallow it whole. A sign to me that over-the-counter allergy medication alone could not quell the venom writhing through my body. I knew that this was indeed serious. My throat acting up, headache and raspy voice was indeed far more serious.

Funny odd {rather than funny haHa :)} how the GPS was ineffective when needed most! Oakville Hospital must have moved since the last database update on our TomTom. So after flagging a policeman down, we finally found the hospital and I was ushered quite rapidly in to Emergency, hooked up immediately to the IV and dosed with steroids. Relief was slow to come, but I was grateful to be under medical attention, knowing that if anything more serious happened, I was in good hands. Three hours later, I was released. Fingers crossed, all would be okay. 4am arrival at our friend’s locked down apartment building, dozing in the truck, waiting for someone to enter / exit the building with a security pass is what we longed for. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long, and a couch awaited us for some much-needed sleep. Unfortunately, I wasn’t told until I refilled my prescription that the steroids given to me in hospital would inhibit sleep. Fabulous! Itchy, dead-tired and in pain. Not the best case scenario, but at least I was alive. Seems like I need an Epi-pen just in case of any possible future incidents. Amazing how something this small can change your life and outlook on what you do and how you do it. Now I understand what my nephew goes through, with his potentially fatal peanut allergy. Life changing indeed. All day today I’ve been researching the possibilities of immunotherapy. An interesting but costly option. At least I have options! And this indeed is a glorious eye-opener!