In early September, clusters of kids and their parents wait for the school buses by driveways along Greenhaven Road. It’s time for families to change from vacation to school schedules.
Labor Day also ends my flower season. I shift away from a summer garden schedule with its daily care of plants and toward other types of house and farm work. Everyone in the neighborhood is compelled by the season to change. But none more than myself ... for a very serious reason.
Several years ago, while doing fall weeding on hands and knees. I shoved my trowel into a nest of ground-bees. Not happy with the intrusion, an angry swarm flew up to sting me around my face and neck. I limited the damage to seven stings by running into the house. But this amount of venom was sufficient to cause anaphylactic shock. During the short drive to the Westerly Hospital Emergency Room, the soles of my feet began to feel like wet sponges, and large welts formed on the back of my neck. I announced to the triage nurse when I arrived, “I’ve been stung by bees and I don’t feel too good.”
A doctor ordered an intravenous drip of epinephrine. Nurses provided constant observation for the next forty-five minutes while my blood pressure stabilized.
Anaphylaxis is a severe reaction to an allergen, in my case, bee venom. The body reacts in several ways: hives, rapid heartbeat, acute drop in blood pressure, intense breathing problems. The symptoms are caused by chemical changes as the body releases histamine and other chemicals into the blood stream. Once an allergic reaction is established, a similar response is likely to recur with any new exposure.
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