Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

And - she did it again today! It's like she's discovered her power, lol!

We had a threatening thunder storm so I ran out and fed early. Was peeling hay offa round bale when I felt a terrible pain in the palm of my left hand. At first I thought it was some thorn in the hay - when it was, in fact, a red hornet. OUCH! Nothing in my history of insect stings has hurt worse than that (except the bite of a copperhead). Honey bees aren't horrible, yellow jackets a bit worse but still not bad. A red wasp is ouchy - but a hornet - oh dang! My left hand is almost twice the size of my right hand. Can't see any of the bones on the back of my hand and my palm is so swollen I can't even begin to close my fingers. Took Benadryl and Ibuprofen and it's a bit better but still not great. As a consequence - still didn't finish the tiny little bit I need to do to complete the quail cage.

 

[baymule]

Oh dear! Hornets HURT! I am so sorry that you are dealing with this, besides the swelling and pain, you can't use that hand and must sit and think about all the things you could be doing! GRRRRR

You need some Arnicare pills. I give them to the dogs when they get bit by copperheads for the pain. They also get Benadryl and a baby aspirin, every 4 hours. We take the Arnicare pills and use the cream rub on. That stuff is awesome. When BJ had open heart surgery, his chest hurt so bad, that I VERY gently rubbed Arnicare along the incision, taking care not to get it on the incision. Everyone that has a farm needs Arnicare!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

My fat hand- gross!

 

[baymule]

Wow. that looks like it hurts!

 

[flowerbug]

i'm not sure if ice would have helped or not, but that looks swollen enough i'd be starting to look into getting an epi-pen, because if one of those got you in the neck or face it could be a mess.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Hulk smash hand! Seriously, though, wow

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks ya'll. Gotta admit I was being very cognizant and aware of what was going on with my body yesterday! At one point I was a bit nauseous - not sure if it was from the pain or the poison. But, happy to report that it's sooooo much better this morning! Swelling is about 85 percent reduced and except for some tightness - no more pain. My DH - the nurse - also brought up the subject of an epi pen. I am so thankful it didn't get me anywhere above the shoulders....wouldn't have been pretty!

Back to normal activities today!

 

[baymule]

If you need to get rid of hornets and yellow jackets, mix Frontline in a small can of catfood. Put out a fresh one daily. They will take it back to the nest, feed it to developing larva and kill the whole nest.

 

[flowerbug]

instead of poisoining multiple nests (where many of them are not doing any harm) you can go out at night when it is cool and remove the specific nests that are a bother. they are useful creatures for a garden.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I generally leave them alone UNLESS they become a nuisance. I had a yellow jacket nest in my feed trailer all year - they behaved so they lived, lol. This guy surprised me totally. I have a round bale that I generally keep covered with a tarp but because the weather was nice I had left it off overnight. The wasp was under the hay...weird. And, I was really glad he didn't have any friends around! But, I have to admit - he got a smack or 12 with my shoe...