A Cautionary Tale...

Did you know an Epi-pen is spring loaded?  It's meant to be stabbed through clothing into the large thigh muscle if one has a severe allergic reaction to something.  It's only supposed to be used in an emergency...not to CREATE one!  Let me back up...the boy carries an Epi-pen with him when he plays golf as he is allergic to bee, wasp, hornet stings.  He discovered his Epi-pen had expired and asked me how to dispose of it...so I took the thing from him, explaining that it needed to be taken apart, and just as I was about to tell him to make sure NOT to push the top, the thing went off like Mt. St. Helens into my thumb!  The needle, which could easily be mistaken for a knitting needle because it's SO big, forced it's way through the back of my thumb until it hit the BACK of my acrylic nail - breaking it! (Notice how the needle is bent...my nail stopped the needle but the force with which it hit caused the needle to bend...making it's REMOVAL a bit difficult!) I screamed, the boy laughed and the mister remained stationary in front of the TV.  Within a nano-second 0.3 mg (the equivilent of a vat) of epinephrine was racing through my veins, making my heart beat faster than ever before and my head immediately felt like it had been put in a vise...of course, my blood sugar went sky high, vision was blurry and I felt like I was going to pass out...and if my heart hadn't been pounding so hard that I thought it would burst between my breasts and take flight I just might have!  Fortunately I got Nurse Julie on the line and she told me I would live...the mister looked up just long enough from the TV screen to acknowledge that fact - disturbing as it was, and then Nurse Julie told me the effects would only last about 15 tp 20 minutes.  And she was right...everything went back to normal except my blood sugar - of course - anything to trip up my nightly Hallmark Channel viewing...oh, and my thumb - which stayed sore and swollen and it throbbed all night long.  Woe is me.

Comments

[Nedra]

Yeooowwwww! Scary. I hope all is well now and that your thumb is healing.
On a positive note, your blog now updates on my sidebar. Not sure why it is miraculously updating, but I'm happy because it's now easier to leave comments.

[Jen]

I'm so glad you survived! I just cringe looking at that needle!

[stephanie]

Oh my heck! What a terrible adventure!! (Glad you'll be okay!!!)

[Chris]

The opening sentence told me all that I needed to know. Holy OW that hurt. The bent needle too.....GAK!

Glad you're okay.

[nanette]

Oh my gosh Nan. Something like that would only happen to me, or you! Why is that? ANyway I'm sorry. I even ask the dentist for no epinephrine in my shots when I get dental work done. It extends the life of Novocaine. But I hate how it makes me feel! That heart racing is so scary. Sheesh this was a nightmare for you.

[Danielle Wheeler]

OUCH!

[Ursula]

owwwww!!!! you poor thing! i feel sick just thinking about it. i'm so glad you're feeling better now.

[peggyann]

oh dear. like everyone say, ouch! you poor thing and but I'm glad you're ok. guess the contents were still viable huh?

[Tracy M]

Holy COW Nan! That's insane.

[Cindy]

Oh geeze! I can't believe that happened. Getting stuck in the thumb would of sent enough adrenaline through me without the shot of epi too! Yikes Nan! At the end of the school year I eject all of the left over epi-pens into a big pad in the sink, they are powerful!

[McdanielShelley26]

I strictly recommend not to wait until you get big sum of money to buy goods! You can get the loans or just credit loan and feel free