This critter made my day - but not in a good way! After a day spent working on the presentation/class I'll be giving at the Satellite campuses of UTP week after next, and having a delightful Skype call with Sewellyn, I settled in to watch a movie and do a bit of beading to relax. I was quietly minding my own business when, about 9 am, it felt a sharp bite on my leg. I jumped up, and felt 2 more bites as I tried to shake whatever it was out of my pants and, since that wasn't being successful, stripping them off as fast as I could. Out crawled the able beastie.
Stomp. Die you! (wiggle wiggle) Stomp STOMP! (wiggle) Stomp STOMP STOMP (with vocals added and a couple of, well, let's just call them "R" rated words) Finally, no wiggles.
BUT I felt my tongue getting tingly. And maybe to swell? Panic!
I raced into the bathroom and grabbed an Alavert - 10 mg of Loratadine in a Fresh mint flavored disintegrating tablet. The welts on my leg were getting bigger and bigger and I felt panic! Here I am in Panama, with minimal Spanish and a numb tongue! What to do?
Luckily, one of the wonderful people at Balboa Union Church, Emily Maduro, is a doctor. I quickly grabbed my phone and "What's App'ed" her. And, doubly luckily, she answered! We had a back and forth conversation where I told her what had happened, and what was going on now. At first, it seemed like I should go to an ER - fast! I was afraid! How to get there? (Cab) What about my bad Spanish? (She said that a private hospital should have English speakers so not to worry about the issue of language.) But I was really scared. I think that made me feel tightness in the chest - but then, the welts started to go down and the pain eased, while the numbness of the tongue started to lessen as well. I can't say it's totally gone now - but perhaps that's from something else. Emily stayed with me until it seemed that the crisis had passed. I am so incredibly grateful!
Whew!
Another lucky moment! Thank you so much, Dr. Emily!
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