Leo likes to thoroughly inspect a pool area before diving in, so to speak. He wants to be aware of all options and potential pitfalls. And so he’d walked around the pool deck, dipped into water in several spots, inspected the slide. He then wanted to take a look at the splash zone, where a maze of interesting things squirt water. He liked it in there. He was having a good time, running between a couple spraying thingies, when all of a sudden he went down. Looked at me horrified, but silent, for a moment. And then screamed bloody murder.
“BEE! BEE!! BEEEEEEE!!!!!”
“Where?! Where is it?!” asked I.
And he showed me the bottom of his foot. To which was attached, yes, a bee. Know what? They really do die when they sting. I know now, because I grabbed a leaf off the ground to shoo the bee away, and it just fell off. Leaving behind its stinger. In my baby’s foot.
FYI, I’m good to have around in an emergency. Because I go into instant paramedic mode and freak out later. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I remembered “never pull the stinger out, scrape with a credit card.” No credit card, but I did have our room keys with me and I quickly scraped the stinger up and out.
That made Leo scream louder.
My next mental sense of alert was this: “I’m allergic to bee stings. I’m also allergic to mosquito and fire ant bites. Leo’s allergic to mosquito and fire ant bites. Could he also be allergic to bee stings? I need to get a lifeguard.”
There are no lifeguards on that side of the pool complex, so I helped Leo hobble over to the other side and grabbed the attention of the wonderful Kevin. I explained quickly and concisely what happened and Kevin asked “Is he allergic?” I told him that I didn’t know.
Kevin rocked my world. First, he started talking to Leo. I mean really talking to him. I later found out that he was trying to keep Leo from going into shock, in case he was allergic. Shock just makes things even worse. While talking, Kevin alerted another lifeguard that he was handling an emergency, cracked open an ice pack, and readied anti-sting swabs and a cell phone, just in case.
~sigh~ Kevin took one look at the bottom of Leo’s foot, which was now five times its normal size, purple-red and hot to the touch, and said “Yep, he’s allergic.” Kevin knows what he’s talking about. See, Kevin just found out that
he’s allergic to bee stings. The same way. He stepped on a bee at work a month before our trip, and experienced the same type of reaction. His manager sent him to the Dr., who confirmed that Kevin was having an allergic reaction.
I’m so grateful that Kevin happened to be on duty, in that particular lifeguard chair, that day. He asked if I had antihistamine – I did, but up in the room. Kevin didn’t want Leo going that far yet because Kevin could have an ambulance there in seconds, whereas it would take longer if I called from my room. And we just didn’t know at that time if Leo’s reaction would be localized or systemic. Kevin had an antihistamine in his first aid kit, and the dose would be fine for Leo, but he’d have to swallow the pill, not chew it.
Between Kevin and I, we encouraged and cajoled until Leo somehow managed to get it down. We waited another 5-10 minutes and nothing more seemed to be happening. Kevin went back to his post, asking that we stay put another 15 minutes, right there behind his chair. We did, and nothing more happened, so we got the go ahead from Kevin and headed back to the room.
At that point, we’d still not gone grocery shopping and it was lunch time. Leo was in no condition to go in search of food; all he wanted was to lie down in the room and he couldn’t really walk well. We wound up in Kidani’s gift shop, where I grabbed some kind of Oscar Meyer lunch pack and a Mickey ice cream bar for Leo, and we went back to the villa to eat.
By the time we were done, Leo was nodding off. The antihistamine was hitting him hard. So I tucked him under his three blankets and wondered what to do with myself.
Know what I hadn’t done at all yet on the trip? Work out. And I was feeling it. Yes, we’d had plenty of walking, but my back and shoulders were tight. Made tighter by the whole bee sting situation, too, I’m sure. Some yoga was just what I needed while Leo slept.
So I got out my laptop, popped in my Body by Bethenny DVD and yoga’d it out. At the end, laying in relaxation pose, the tears started. Then the sobs. Like I said, I’m good in an emergency, but I freak out later. It was time to release, apparently. The bee sting scared the crap out of me. Because, as a person with major allergies, I know how it goes; what triggers a localized reaction the first time can easily result in a systemic reaction the next. You just never know. And that’s just plain scary.
Still, Leo was okay. And now we know.
So I finally pulled myself back up, grabbed a shower and got back in gear. Though I still wasn’t sure what the rest of the day might hold. We had plans for the night, big plans. Plans that involved leaving my allergy-ridden baby in the care of strangers while I lived it up with my grown-up friends.
Would I be able to leave Leo? Would he even want to go? Was my favorite dress destined to stay in the closet until our return home?
Stay tuned.
. I hope Leo ended up being OK throughout the rest of the day. That is terrifying. You just don't know how they will react. My DD4 hasn't been stung yet and am always very nervous.
But I've been thinking of getting her DVD - do you like it?
Funny you should say that - a pool person came over whil;e we were waiting it out and asked where Leo's beens tung, because they planned on "spraying" that night. I had no idea you even could spray for bees!
I'd love to return there. You know, when I have points available again. 
I think I'm so jaded by our weird reactions to things that I wouldn't have realized it even was an allergic reaction, though my response is always to throw Benadryl at it, lol!
Yep, I'm just a bit north and west of you. Thanks for joining in, and... GO GATORS!!! 
