Saturday, January 9, 2010

Our first scorpion sting!

Yesterday morning, while moving some boxes (as part of the unpacking process), Rachel encountered a scorpion. It was apparently on the box she picked up, and she was stung on the inside of her forearm, not far from her elbow. We have seen many scorpions on our property, and had been advised that the variety we have here isn't especially dangerous.

Thankfully, this indeed turned out to be the case. Rachel was in some significant pain for an hour or so, and the rest of the day her arm didn't feel right - she compared it to the after effects of a strong electrical shock (she shocked herself last year, on a damaged refrigerator cord, so she knows something about this). The actual sting was a tiny red mark, and her arm didn't swell at all.

We're grateful to know that the danger from these scorpions isn't great, since we have so many of them about!

Russell squashed the scorpion, so I don't have a picture to show you. Maybe next time?

7 comments:

Patty said...

I'm glad it wasn't any worse than it was. How did you treat it? As always, prayers are being said for you.

Trish said...

Thanks for the prayers, Patty! We just put a cool cloth on it (okay, it was a cloth wrapped around a pack of frozen cheese) and gave her ibuprofen. I wanted to give her benedryl, but I couldn't find it (still unpacking, you know, and the meds haven't made it to the top of the pile yet).

If things had gotten worse, I'd have googled for suggestions, but really, it was clear from pretty soon after the actual sting that there wasn't going to be any major reaction. Praise God for that - as I said in my post, we have LOTS of scorpions around here!

The Reader said...

Praising God with you that it wasn't worse, and also praying that maybe there won't be a next time. Think that's possible??? (well, you know, with God all things are possible, but how 'bout likely? Think it's likely???)

Trish said...

Well, Heather, I've seen 4 scorpions in or near the house in two weeks. I think we have scorpion stings in our destiny. But, who knows - our presence here (along with the dogs, cats, chickens, and cans of Raid) might decrease the population right around the houses. We can certainly hope!

Brad said...

Welcome Back!
We are glad to hear you are safe and moved in. So sorry Rachael, but what a good story you now have to tell. I am loving the dough enhancer, bless you for sending it my way with Faith.
Hugs to all and thank Boo for the call. Sammey loved hearing from her.
T

Anonymous said...

I know you guys don't use tobacco. But the traditional remedy is to get the tobacco from a cigarette and apply it to the sting area. I grew up in Gracias and that took care of the inflammation and pain in minutes.

Beth said...

Glad Rachel is okay! I'm thinking there will be fewer scorpions with more people around...
When I was a kid in Mexico they would come up the drain in the shower!! This explains why I seldom close my eyes in the shower!! No one in our family of six ever got stung and we were there almost five years.
Love you guys!