What a day!

And it started out so nice, so ordinary.  JMM went out to do some watering in the garden and in the process of moving a hose, his hand brushed against an asp.  These are small little caterpillars of a moth which are covered with rather long beige hairs.  These hairs are barbed and contain a toxin that causes a really painful sting which generally lasts about 1-2 hours.  So when he came inside we did the recommended first aid - wash the area, use tape to try to remove any remaining hairs, Benadryl, ibuprofen, and ice.  We knew it would hurt for an hour or so and then that would be that. Only it wasn't. It was just the beginning. Over the next 3 hours, his hand turned red and swelled greatly. But that wasn't the worst of it. Instead of a burning, stinging sensation, he said it felt like the bones in his hand were being broken and the pain was all the way up to his armpit. At 3pm, I called the nurse at our doctor's office and she recommended taking him to the ER.  So off we went to the ER.  They gave him an injection of toradol and oral prednisone and Pepcid. When the pain didn't get any better, they gave him morphine.  Gradually the pain lessened somewhat and he was discharged with prescriptions for prednisone, Pepcid, and Norco. His sleep last night was rather broken but by morning the pain was gone and the swelling has slowly gone down today. We both think that the prednisone is what is clearing it up.  What a day we had!