Skip to main content

Fire ants!


How can something so little hurt so much? I've asked myself that question a thousand times and always in regard to some tiny, evil, red devils properly named FIRE ANTS! If you've ever encountered any of these wretched insects, you know what I'm talking about! Their potent venom can inflict so much pain. 

On a hike, about a week ago, my husband and I stopped to have lunch. There was a concrete picnic table in the state park and we decided to have lunch there. As always, I looked under the table before sitting down. (I've learned in the past, creepy crawlers like to hide and nest there.) When I looked, I didn't see anything but decomposing leaves, so flinging one leg then the other over the concrete bench, sat down to enjoy a sandwich. After lunch, we drove home thinking about the perfectly beautiful day we'd had. 

But...

About an hour into our ride home, I began to itch. That's when I realized I'd been attacked. 

As soon as we got home, I pulled off my pants and saw the damage, about 30 bites covered my legs. They were flame red and welted up. I recognized those bites from past attacks. Pulling out the Benadryl, I coated my legs but got little relief. 

For the next several days, I itched and scratched. I slathered myself in hydrocortisone cream and alternated with Benadryl, I even took oral Benadryl hoping the medication would quell the antihistamine roaring through my body, but nothing worked. 

It's a good thing I keep my nails short, or I would have been bleeding all over the place! Even with short nails, I did some damage as I was scratching, but try as I might, I had to do it. It wasn't until I scratched off the top layer of skin that I got some relief and then, a friend told me to try Lavender essential oil. That was the only thing that helped. 

I don't know why God invented some of His creatures, like flies, mosquitoes, and ants but I'm sure He had a reason. 

Fire ants could be a weapon of mass destruction, or at least feel like it! 

 If you see any of those little red devils, BEWARE! They don't play! They are seriously equipped to inflict pain and can even cause anaphylaxis. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out

Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out, especially when I read a friend's blog post and I just can't wrap my head around it. This morning, I was reading a post from a fellow breast cancer survivor. She said her cancer has returned and is growing in her spine. As soon as I read the words, I burst into tears. I just didn't understand! We'd been diagnosed with the same type of cancer in the same year. How could it be that her cancer had returned and mine had not? And what made it even more difficult to understand and accept was the fact that she'd chosen to go the traditional treatment route. I'd opted not to do that. She'd endured chemotherapy, radiation, and the anti-hormone therapy afterward. I'd refused chemo, had done 28 rounds of radiation, and had only taken the anti-hormone drugs for a couple of months. It just didn't compute and it certainly didn't seem fair. But that's what sucks about cancer. It doesn't follow the rules.
Post a Comment
Read more

Cancer the gift that keeps on giving - the high cost of cancer

There's a basket of bills sitting in the corner of my bedroom. I try not to look at it as I enter the room but I know it's there. Its contents spill out onto the floor whenever my husband stuffs another bill into the basket. Usually, when the mail comes, he gets it first so he can filter what I see and what I don't see. Since he's the only one working, he takes care of our financial responsibilities and while I'm thankful for that, I'm not ignorant about our mounting bills. Cancer is expensive. Even if you've reached maintenance phase, it's costly. There are always tests to be run, blood to be taken, doctors to see. It never ends. Just knowing this will be a continual process for the rest of my life frustrates me and the alternative, death, will be my only way out. It would be nice to know that cancer could be a once and done kind of thing but that's only wishful thinking. Everyone knows cancer is a long and very involved illness. I had no id
Post a Comment
Read more

Incoming!

 When I was a kid, I remember listening to my Daddy occasionally talk about being in the service. Those occasions were very rare so whenever he'd talk, I'd really listen. Once he told about being outside a bunker in Japan. He said planes were flying overhead and he heard a guy yell, "Incoming!" They knew that meant it was imperative to take cover and they did, but some of the soldiers weren't fast enough. They lost their lives in a split second.  That one word was a very serious warning and one I never forgot. I think my eyes bugged out of my head when he first said it although he didn't say it in a frightening way. I imagined the sounds of aircraft overhead as the warning went out. And imagined how I'd have felt if I'd been right there with him. I'd have been petrified, probably unable to move. No wonder so many soldiers came back from war with post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). And when they were freshly home, it didn't take much to set t
Post a Comment
Read more