Projo Offbeat Blog

I felt like a sissy going to the emergency room for a couple of bee stings, especially since my 5-year-old son was also stung and was home recovering on the couch as if nothing had happened.

It didn't help when the emergency room doctor told me I should "come up with a better story, something involving a swarm of bees."

He was kidding -- I think.

Almost two hours earlier, I was playing outside with two of my sons when my son Tommy started screaming. He'd been stung. A bee or yellow jacket was still pursuing him when I went to help. I was stung on the hand and the leg.

I hurried the boys home, worried that Tommy, like me, was allergic. I had been stung as a kid, broke out in hives and had to go to a hospital. I worried that he might have inherited my allergy.

I figured I'd be okay, since it had been a long time since I'd been stung, and I'm much bigger now than I was then, but I wanted to keep an eye on Tommy. With a little ice, some pain-killing spray and a decent television show, Tommy seemed to recover pretty quickly. (For the record, he was stung once and I was stung twice.)

Then I noticed a hive on my arm. Sure enough, hives broke out on other parts of my body. My skin turned red in areas and got itchy. Still, I thought, how bad could it be?

Then I recalled this tidbit of information: More people die each year from bee stings than shark bites. That thought usually brings comfort when I've ventured a little farther off shore than usual, but it wasn't making me feel good right then.

So I turned to the Internet. It didn't make me feel any better.

The information on one Web site reported that 40 people die from bee stings annually. (I've since read higher estimates.) I learned that an allergic reaction can lead to a dangerous drop in blood pressure, swelling in the throat. In strong language, I read that people showing symptoms like mine should seek medical attention. (The story mentioned other symptoms, but I couldn't tell if I was starting to imagine them or really suffering from them.)

I thought of the people of Galveston, Texas, warned to flee before Hurricane Ike or "face certain death."

Still, I wondered if I was being wimpy, paranoid, a hypochondriac.

When my wife, Susie, got home a short time later, we updated her on the afternoon's events.

Research has shown that married men live longer than single men. I guess that's because marriage is the only way some of us acquire a common sense gene.

"You should get checked," she said.

I wavered.

She called the hospital and then I called my doctor, reaching him through an answering service since it was after hours. Then I went to the hospital.

The emergency room doctor's (apparent) kidding aside, they took my case seriously. They hooked me up to a bunch of monitors, gave me drugs intravenously and watched me for a couple of hours. Before I left, the doctor gave me several prescriptions, including one for a shot that could prove to be a life saver in the case of a severe reaction.

Looking back and knowing what I know now, I'd advise anyone who has an allergic reaction to a bee or wasp sting to get medical attention immediately. I know I will if it happens again. But I just might come up with a better story -- maybe something involving a swarm of sharks.

 Tags  bee stings sharks

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