Adding to the Excitement

I am allergic to bee stings, and on the advice of my physician, I carry an epipen at all times, just in case. But that allergy hasn't normally included yellowjackets--only honey bees.

But a month ago, the day before we were to begin our grand trip with the kids to Yellowstone etc. I was stung by a Yellowjacket on the back of my neck. And the result was a massive swelling that actually affected my range of motion for my head. I took Benadryl and Zyrtek--as advised for bee stings--and after about three days the swelling went down and I was fine.

All well and good, but in the back of my mind, I was remembering how my reactions to bee stings got worse with every sting.

So when I was stung by another Yellowjacket at 10,000 feet near Gibbs Lake, it was worrying. Especially because it was late in the evening, and we were four miles up and not very well defined trail. Hmmmm. So I took the meds and made sure we both knew where the epipen was. It was not a restful night.

Happily, my hand did just what me neck did. It got swollen for a couple of days, and then slowly went back to normal.

I'm checking in with my doc about next steps. And I am trying like hell to keep my distance from anything with a stinger.