Craziest thing today. It’s about 2pm and I stop at one of my worksites to monitor progress and make sure the guys are going to be able to finish their job by end of day so we are free to go to a new job tomorrow. So I’m talking to my one operator and all of a sudden I feel a sting on my left bicep. I say “Oh shit” and lift up my sleeve. Me and my operator are staring at this little bastard wasp still gyrating his rear end into me like it was giving my arm a deluxe lap dance. No big deal, I just picked it off and continued talking to our guy. I bid the crew farewell and walked to my truck.

All of a sudden I start feeling just…..weird. My entire body starts itching, my neck starts swelling, and even my eardrums start feel like they are inflating like little balloons.

I instantly put two and two together that I was having an allergic reaction. So I wheel around to the nearest corner store to see if they have any Benadryl, and by some miracle they did. I dropped two tabs and continued north to my next estimate.

I got about 3 miles north of town and the itching and ear pressure is getting worse, and I could tell the lymph nodes in my neck were really swollen. Then slowly I start feeling this pressure in my chest as I continued driving.

Having been a first responder and first aid attendant years ago, I immediately knew this was the onset of anaphylaxis. My skin was getting clammy, the hairs on my arms were standing on end, and I felt a distinct chill.

I’ve been stung by countless wasps and insects over the years, and have never experienced anything beyond a little localized swelling.

So I decided what the heck, I might as well take advantage of the fact that I’m not in severe cardiac or respiratory distress and go to Emerg.

So here I am now, two shots of epinephrine, one shot of methylprednisolone, a bag of saline and a cautionary EKG later, waiting while the doctor monitors me for a few more hours. I feel like I could have left long ago, but they just want to make sure I’m not going to need another shot of epi. My arm kind of looks like a balloon though. Hard to believe all this from a wasp that was only half an inch long at most.

It looks like I’m going to want to pack an epi pen with me when I’m in the bush from now on.