The December from Heck Continues...

Last Friday I had just gotten home from work after a tiring day which included a house call doctor at the shop and an ambulance ride for Mrs. T. I kicked off my slippers (thongs, or sandals) and walked into the house to greet the kids. A few minutes later I walked back out on the lanai, slipped on my slippers and walked out to the car. I immediately felt a very sharp pain in the top of my foot. I looked down and saw, slithering away, a very large brown centipede. I made a leap at it and tried to crush it in revenge, but we were on the front lawn, and he got away. We don't have snakes in Hawaii, but we do have the tropical equivalent: Centipedes. We have little blue ones that pack a punch and large (four to six inches) brown ones that aren't quite so venomous. I got one of the big ones.

Now, for those of you who haven't been bitten by a centipede...hmmm how could I describe it? It's like a very bad bee sting, or wasp sting, or a burn from a cigarette. If it happens at night, you can kiss your sleep goodbye. If it happens during the day, you might as well call in sick.

I ran to the bathroom, washed my foot, stopped the bleeding, took a Benadryl and slathered the foot with antihistamine lotion. Over the next two days it became clear that I had at least three bites, and maybe more. The fang marks are a full 1/2" apart--that's a big mouth! My foot swelled to where I couldn't bend the ankle or the toes and blisters formed, broke, crusted over and formed again. It was pretty hideous. The swelling stopped about halfway up my calf, and for at least a day, I didn't have much feeling in the foot, other than at the wound site. Just about the time we were talking about another trip to the doctor, this time for me, the swelling started to go down and the itching and burning abated.

The best part about this whole experience was showing off the foot at the height of the swelling. On Sunday, the worst day, our house was full of teenage girls and I had good fun with the leperous limb.