This:
plus this:
and this (notice her right ankle doesn’t exist due to swelling!—oh, and the leg picture was taken 24 hrs after the insult!):
leads to getting one of these to carry around:
Abriella had hives/angioedema/swelling from her head to her thighs from ant bites on Monday evening. She only got bitten on her hand and her ankle, but the results were impressive! Took her in today (about 48 hrs after the bites) and the doctor was quite impressed with the size of Abriella’s ankle swelling at this point. Then, I showed her the pictures that you see. Anyway, I figure we’ll be seeing the insides of an ER at some point due to all the fire ants that we have around here! The doctor told us the next time she got bitten by ants, to not even hesitate, and to get the EpiPen Jr, administer, and then get her to an ER! Lovely! She also put in a referral for Abs to see the Pediatric Allergist/Immunologist. Anybody in the family with a history of anaphylaxis? I’m not aware of any, but Abriella is on her way to it with her steadily increasing reactions to ant bites! Poor, sweet girl!
Addendum: To any that may be wondering, she did not have any respiratory issues this time, but the way the immune system works, her response can and likely will get worse with each insult—hence the reason the doctor said don’t even wait with the next bite—to give the epi immediately, because it may be true anaphylaxis next time! When we saw what was happening to her the other evening, we gave her benadryl ASAP and gave it to her for 24 hrs–even in the middle of the night. She never had any lip or tongue swelling that was noticeable, and she never had trouble breathing, thankfully!
That poor girl. I never knew fire ants were venomous. Amazingly, I went and read up on fire ant venom in the middle of posting this comment. I love the internet. It looks like Abriella also may be at risk to allergic reactions to bee and wasp venom too (you guys probably already knew that). The only case of anaphylaxis in our family that I can think of is when Mom had that bad reaction to an antibiotic (I think it was an antibiotic, but definitely a drug of some kind). Regardless, Abriella has my deepest sympathy. But I’m sure Stephen can give her some great lessons about how to avoid getting stung by insects. He’s a pro at it. Good luck living with two paranoid people Jennifer (although in this case it appears to be justified).
Matt’s comment cracks me up. Poor Abriella. Hope she’s feeling all better!
At least y’all are prepared for any future incidents! Hope she continues to improve–traumatic for a little one (and her parents!)