Melissa Jones

On Sunday my son got attacked by bees. Though these were definitely bees, fuzzy head and body, fuzzy bee-like legs, etc., but they were very agressive and stung him five times total. (After his father disturbed them while clearing the deck) We caught two of them, one who had definitely stung him, and they both appear to still have their stingers intact (as they sit frozen in the freezer). They stung him once on the lip, twice on the forehead, and one flew into his shirt and he had two small stings (or bites?) on his chest.

He calmed down pretty quickly after the pain subsided and I put baking soda glop on the stings. I checked his skin for stingers but there were none (though they could have been brushed off when they took off his shirt). I also gave him two doses of benadryl. 90 minutes later one side of his face started swelling, and his skin turned an angry red color, so I took him into the instacare doctor. She checked for signs of breathing problems and whatnot, then gave him a dose of zyrtec. He was totally himself, personality-wise, all this time. She wrote out a prescription for prednisone ("Pediapred" how's that for a drug name? Kind of funny considering the problems with prednisone and how I feel about that drug). After seeing the zyrtec work to bring down the swelling and redness she said he probably didn't need the prednisone unless he started getting worse again.

I continued giving him benadry and zyrtec, and went to the health food store yesterday for more advice. His eyes were very puffy the day after, and we were still concerned about him. They recommended a few things including bromelain, quercetin, vitamin C, a homeopathic remedy, and mixing Bach Rescue Remedy with lotion or skin oil, and rubbing it on the affected skin. Of all the advice, and after as much of anything I could get him to take internally, the Rescue Remedy seemed to make the biggest difference. When I rubbed it on his face, with an olive oil-based baby oil, his color changed instantly, almost alarmingly, away from pale to blushed, and then within a couple hours the swelling had gone down further, and his color became normal...not too pale, but also not too red. I will keep some Bach Rescue Remedy in my medicine cabinet and first aid kit from now on!

He's not allergic to the stings, as this was his first exposure and a pretty normal reaction for the number and location of the stings. I will probably get him tested sometime for allergies after this abrupt first exposure. Those bees couldn't have been more confused, as he's the last person in the world to want to hurt them...he's friends with all creatures, even though he does have a healthy respect for all. He's pretty much over the shock of it now, and now has an imaginary friend that is a pet bee who follows him around.

I'm glad my 2 year old didn't go out with him and get stung too, though I wish I'd been the one to take the stings in his place.