Tuesday 17 December 2013

Stung into Action

Last Saturday (14th December) I did a small sale at a friend's house. I just took a few things...

Little table

Left table

These pictures were taken at the end - when I finally remembered and had sold a fair bit of stuff...

But I do have an excuse for forgetting to take pictures earlier - I was stung by a wasp!  A small, black wasp, but one with quite a sting. Actually, now I come to look for the kind of wasp it was, it appears it may have been a small hornet, which accounts for the virulence of its sting!  It looked a lot like the picture below, although I didn't get a really good look at it as my friend came over and squashed it with her shoe!



My friend who was hosting the sale gave me a piece of kitchen roll soaked in vinegar which took away the sting and all seemed to be OK.  But, by the next day the finger (did I mention it was on a finger?) had swollen like a sausage and was very itchy. I treated it with Tea Tree oil which helped, but when I woke up on Monday morning it was no better and the swelling and redness had spread over half of my hand.

Nothing for it but to go to the doctor - an expensive business!

After a 4-hour wait (no appointments for this doctor) I got a prescription for some antihistamine tablets, some hydro-cortisone cream and some antibiotics to take if the other two treatments didn't work!

The pharmacy, by this time, was closed for lunch so I had to come back later to get the prescription and start the treatment.

So, all, in all, I wasted a whole day just because of a little black wasp (or hornet)!

You'll be pleased to hear that the antihistamine and cortisone treatments are working and that today the finger is much less swollen and I can partially bend it.  At least my fears about blood poisoning have been put to rest (us old folks always think of the worst) and I will live to fight another day!

By the way, I sold one of my knitted sheep...

Sheep in the clover

 ...to a French lady who was delighted and went off down the street hugging it to her like a child with a teddy bear. It's lovely when someone really likes your creations!

4 comments:

Elizabethd said...

French hornets are quite dangerous things, I believe. Hope you are recovered now.
Love the sheep!

Judith said...

Ouch! That does sound painful ~ glad you are getting over it now. Your crafting work is beautiful, esp. the sheep ... J

Marigold Jam said...

Glad you are on the mend. What is it with French insects? I got stung by an ant and my ankle swelled and reddened for over a week. They are all lethal!

Sharon said...

Oooh that's not nice, not nice at all.....I'm glad to hear that your hand is feeling better though. I've never seen a hornet like that, it's very unusual looking....I hope I'll not come across one like it either to be honest.
Big hugs Sharon xxx