Woodland Acres Farm
Active Member
I was just reading WCR’s post about her heart attack experience. I am very glad that everything turned out well for her. I got to thinking about what happened with my husband last month and decided to share it with you as it may save someone’s life someday.
On July 6th my husband came into the house and said he had just been bit by a wasp. He was running his arm under water to make it feel better and just seemed to be put out that he had gotten bit by a wasp. He said that he was going to go get some wasp spray and get rid of them. I told him to go look in the barn because I thought we had some left in there. He went outside and came back in the house about 2 minutes later. He told me there wasn’t any in the barn and he was going to go to the hardware store to get some. But first he ran his arm under cold water one more time. While he was doing that he said his hand and arm started to tingle. I said maybe you should take some Benadryl and started to look for some. He then said he was feeling funny and his legs were starting to tingle and that maybe we should go to the Emergency Room. We went out the door right away and got in our vehicle. By the time I got to the end of our driveway, he was unconscious. We are exactly 1.5 miles from the hospital. I started to panic and started yelling at him and hitting him, telling him to stay with me. I am now driving 80mph, but it is not fast enough as you cannot seem to get there fast enough when something like this happens.
When I arrived at the ER he was not breathing. His airway was totally closed.They got him in and immediately called a Code Blue. The first thing they did I think was give him two Epi Pens (epinephrine). They were going to intubate him, but he started to breathe again. It took them quite a while before he was stable. He has heart issues so they really had to watch him because of all the epinephrine that he had. He stayed in the hospital that day and part of the next day as well. I went home and sprayed wasp nests for what seemed like hours.
The doctor told me that I had just gotten him there within seconds of being too late. Had I called 911 for the ambulance he would have died before they got to our house. Had he passed out before we got in the car, he would be dead. He told me afterwards that he almost got in the truck to drive to the hardware store to go get the wasp spray, had he done so he would be dead. I had almost left for the day to do some shopping, but for some reason stayed home. Had he been home alone he would be dead. NOW here is the important part: from the time the wasp bit him, to the time he passed out was about 10 minutes or less, it was 2-3 more minutes before they had him on the table in the ER. You have no time to wait.
I thank God everyday that things turned out as they did because it could have been much different.
I want people to know that just because you have been bitten before by a bee or a wasp with no reaction, this time may be different. My husband was bitten last year 3 times with no big reaction, only a little pain and minimal swelling. He was bitten the year before also. The doctor told us that you become sensitized to the bee /wasp venom. Also, some reactions show up externally such as swelling, but the worst ones take place on the inside of the body, such as what happened with my husband.
We really didn’t want to, but they asked us to do an interview for the newspaper, radio and TV - but as they said our story may help save a life sometime. My husband has to carry two Epi Pens with him at all times. We have them all over the place now, in our cars, house, at work, barn, etc. If he gets bit again, he has to use both Epi Pens and then get to an Emergency Room ASAP.
If you get bitten and you don’t feel quite right, get help ASAP, you may have but minutes to get the help you need.
Thanks for listening.
Jeanne
On July 6th my husband came into the house and said he had just been bit by a wasp. He was running his arm under water to make it feel better and just seemed to be put out that he had gotten bit by a wasp. He said that he was going to go get some wasp spray and get rid of them. I told him to go look in the barn because I thought we had some left in there. He went outside and came back in the house about 2 minutes later. He told me there wasn’t any in the barn and he was going to go to the hardware store to get some. But first he ran his arm under cold water one more time. While he was doing that he said his hand and arm started to tingle. I said maybe you should take some Benadryl and started to look for some. He then said he was feeling funny and his legs were starting to tingle and that maybe we should go to the Emergency Room. We went out the door right away and got in our vehicle. By the time I got to the end of our driveway, he was unconscious. We are exactly 1.5 miles from the hospital. I started to panic and started yelling at him and hitting him, telling him to stay with me. I am now driving 80mph, but it is not fast enough as you cannot seem to get there fast enough when something like this happens.
When I arrived at the ER he was not breathing. His airway was totally closed.They got him in and immediately called a Code Blue. The first thing they did I think was give him two Epi Pens (epinephrine). They were going to intubate him, but he started to breathe again. It took them quite a while before he was stable. He has heart issues so they really had to watch him because of all the epinephrine that he had. He stayed in the hospital that day and part of the next day as well. I went home and sprayed wasp nests for what seemed like hours.
The doctor told me that I had just gotten him there within seconds of being too late. Had I called 911 for the ambulance he would have died before they got to our house. Had he passed out before we got in the car, he would be dead. He told me afterwards that he almost got in the truck to drive to the hardware store to go get the wasp spray, had he done so he would be dead. I had almost left for the day to do some shopping, but for some reason stayed home. Had he been home alone he would be dead. NOW here is the important part: from the time the wasp bit him, to the time he passed out was about 10 minutes or less, it was 2-3 more minutes before they had him on the table in the ER. You have no time to wait.
I thank God everyday that things turned out as they did because it could have been much different.
I want people to know that just because you have been bitten before by a bee or a wasp with no reaction, this time may be different. My husband was bitten last year 3 times with no big reaction, only a little pain and minimal swelling. He was bitten the year before also. The doctor told us that you become sensitized to the bee /wasp venom. Also, some reactions show up externally such as swelling, but the worst ones take place on the inside of the body, such as what happened with my husband.
We really didn’t want to, but they asked us to do an interview for the newspaper, radio and TV - but as they said our story may help save a life sometime. My husband has to carry two Epi Pens with him at all times. We have them all over the place now, in our cars, house, at work, barn, etc. If he gets bit again, he has to use both Epi Pens and then get to an Emergency Room ASAP.
If you get bitten and you don’t feel quite right, get help ASAP, you may have but minutes to get the help you need.
Thanks for listening.
Jeanne