Monday, July 6, 2009

A Nightmare Come True

I had a very scary night on the 4th of July. We were tired after a long Independence Day, and we crashed into bed as soon as the kids were in bed. Kailey woke me up at 3am so she could eat and I had fallen back asleep with her lying next to me in our bed. At 4am I woke up again with a searing pain in my right arm. It was like a fire inside my arm and went all of the way up to my shoulder. Jake says he woke to me moaning and he thought I was having a nightmare. I wasn't fully awake, and I wasn't sure if I was dreaming the pain or if it was real. Then I felt a terrible pain in my right leg as well. That woke me all of the way up. I could feel that there was something in the bed but I didn't know what it was. I was thrashing around shrieking from the pain and trying to get away from whatever it was. Jake grabbed me because he thought I was having a bad dream and he was trying to wake me up. I can't relate what happened next because everything was just a reaction, there was no thought involved. All I remember is that the next thing I knew I was on the floor holding Kailey and was in terrible pain and Jake standing over the bed ready to kill the culprit with a shoe.
He had discovered a large Arizona Bark Scorpion in our bed.
For the first couple of hours I only felt the burning pain at the two sights I was stung: my right upper under arm and my right thigh. Jake got me some ice and we called the poison control center. They told me that I should only go to the hospital if I start having severe muscle spasms or siezures. I was hurting and feeling funny, but I was told that I just had to wait it out and it would pass in a couple of days. There was no way we could go back to sleep. We were so paranoid and I was hurting a lot. We checked all of the kids beds and started researching on the internet about what we could do. When I finally fell asleep again I kept waking up feeling like someone was trying to smother me with a pillow. I called poison control again and she said it's very normal for my throat to swell from a scorpion sting and it could be causing the trouble with breathing. She said I shouldn't go to the hospital unless I start wheezing because they wouldn't do anything for me until that point. I only had the trouble breathing when I was asleep. So I just gave up on sleeping and went out to watch TV and get my mind off of things.
After the kids got up I got them some cereal, but I found that I couldn't stand for more than a minute without getting really dizzy and light headed. Then my entire face went numb like I had just gotten out of the dentist office. I couldn't taste hardly anything and had a difficult time swallowing due to my swollen throat. When
Kailey woke up I found that I had no milk to give her. My body had stopped making breast milk (or was making very little milk) and Kailey reluctantly had to take a bottle.
I lay on the couch for the rest of the morning, drifting in and out of sleep and feeling very delirious. I knew that I was awake, but at times my vision was cloudy and I was light headed so it seemed like I was dreaming. We don't have church until 1:00, and at that time I was feeling okay after laying down all morning. I still had a lot of pain in my arm and leg, and I was still pretty numb in my face, but otherwise okay. When I was in the shower the hot water on the two stings hurt so bad. I felt a creeping sensation underneath my skin in those two places. And when I got out of the shower I had a patch of goosebumps just on those spots. It was weird. We went to church, but during sacrament meeting I went into a cold sweat and started feeling very dizzy. So we ended up getting someone to help give me a blessing and then leaving. After laying around and drinking water all day I felt much better that evening, though my milk still hadn't returned for Kailey.
Now aside from being very paranoid I am doing pretty good. My milk came back in today and Kailey was so happy it was funny. I keep looking all over the house and under beds. I had a very hard time falling asleep last night. It is crazy that something that small could have so much power. We are so grateful that it was me who was stung and not Kailey. She was laying on my right side in between the two places where I was stung. The scorpion would have had to go right past her to sting me again. I feel like she was protected and that night we immediately had to pray to God and give thanks that Kailey was not harmed. Scorpion stings can be fatal to small children. It makes me scared because I feel so vulnerable. We already get the house sprayed regularly and we don't know what more we can do. It certainly was a scary experience, but all is well. I am just left today with a little numbness, some tingling and two big itchy red spots.

10 comments:

Liana Brooks said...

*hugs and prayers for you*

Call pest control.

Whitnée said...

Holy smokes!!! Thats so scary! I'm so glad you and Kailey are okay!

KAT said...

Wow, that's scary and painful. I'm so glad that Kailey is safe and that you're on the mend.

brianandruth said...

Holy cow thats so aweful! I am glad your ok and kailey was too.

Katy Rose said...

I am so glad you are okay!!! That is really scary.

Amber said...

That is so scary!! I'm so glad that you're okay now and that Kailey was safe. I know that if you use a black light you can find scorpions because they glow.

Maria said...

Scorpions glow? That's freaky! Glad all is going well and your milk is back (but bet Kailey is happier).

Hope said...

I just got caught up on my reading. You have definitely had some adventures! I miss you guys so much. I hope things work out the right way so we get to meet Kailey! I have found more pictures of you guys and added them to the album that McKayla and Lyla made the covers for. I think I will buy more of those little albums and have all the grandchildren who come draw and color covers for them. I hope we have the time for that sort of thing!

Jessica said...

Oh my! I cannot believe it! Luke says you won't have to worry about scorpions in Tooele! Thank goodness Kailey was safe!

Anonymous said...

I'm an equal arachnid hater... so, this is truly frightening to me! I'm so glad that Kailey is ok, and that you will heal. I found myself irrationally checking my bed for arachnids last night after reading this yesterday!
Aunt Heather