Zoe vs. The Bark Scorpion

Zoe at Cardon Children's Medical Center

Normally I don't write about the medical stuff going on with me or the kids beyond colds, etc.  However, with this, I feel compelled to share the story.

This past Wednesday Zoe was awakened at roughly 3am with what she described as a sharp pain in her cheek.  She did what any of my kids would have done...she ignored it and tried to go back to sleep.  About 3 hours later she was awakened again...this time she had excruciating pain in her upper right arm which then started to turn into numbness and tingling.   I had already left for work, so she went straight to her sister and dad for help.

Being that she had just woken up, John assumed she had slept on her arm wrong and it was "asleep".  However, as the minutes ticked by, she became more and more agitated.  Her throat began to swell up, she started to vomit, and her vision began to get blurry.  

At this point, none of us had any idea what was going on, but decided a trip to the ER was in order.  My mom came, picked her up and headed to the hospital so I could meet them upon arrival.

I could not believe what I was seeing when they arrived.  She couldn't walk properly.  She had nystagmus.  She was drooling.  She was so agitated that I could not calm her down at all.  You could hear how swollen her throat was when she spoke and she sounded like she was drunk.  She wasn't making an incredible amount of sense and her words were slurred. 
 I can honestly say that I have never felt so helpless or panicked in my entire life, and I truly hope that I never have to feel that way again. 

I mentioned to the intake nurses that Baylee had found a scorpion in her bathroom after Zoe and my mom had left the house....but these amazing nurses didn't need that information to know what was happening.  She had been stung by a bark scorpion...not once...but three times and was having one hell of a reaction. 
 

Zoe's arch nemesis...the bark scorpion

Some fun facts about bark scorpions that I knew nothing about:
1.  They eat bugs, and sometimes eat each other.
2.  They are the most venomous type of scorpion in Arizona.
3.  They are avid climbers, which means they can pretty much get anywhere they want.
4.  They feed at night and hide during the day.

INFORMATION FROM THE MAYO CLINIC WHICH SOUNDS AMAZINGLY SIMILAR TO ZOE EH?

Children who have been stung by a bark scorpion might experience:

• Pain, which can be intense, numbness and tingling in the area around the sting, but little or no swelling
• Muscle twitching or thrashing
• Unusual head, neck and eye movements
• Drooling
• Sweating
• Restlessness or excitability and sometimes inconsolable crying

We had taken her to Cardon Children's Medical Center...this is important information because they are one of only a handful of ER's in the Valley that are running a clinical trial for the medication Anascorp.  It is an antivenom that has been used in Mexico for several years, but does not have FDA approval in the States yet.  

This medication is AMAZING!!!  30 minutes after receiving the Anascorp she was markedly better....1 hour later she was back to normal.  According to the physician that treated Zoe, these symptoms would have likely gotten worse and continued on for up to 12 hours before they would begin to taper off without the antivenom.

I am so thankful to the nurses, the doctor, and every one of you that encouraged me and calmed me down during this madness even though you were likely crapping your pants too.  I was able to do what I needed to do because of the strength I gained from your pep talks.  I am seriously surrounded by amazingness and I love you all so much!

Having read my blog before...you know that scorpions are not new to our house.  We have been co-habitating with them since we moved in.  Up until Wednesday, they were just annoying...Baylee was the only other person in the family to have been stung and her reaction was nothing but some pain and numbness.  John and I had discussed calling an exterminator, but simply had not gotten around to it yet....well we got around to it pretty friggin fast after Wednesday.  They came and sprayed on Friday.  According to the exterminator we will see them more for about a month but they will be dead or dying....in three months they should be pretty much gone from the house.


and if they aren't....we will be moving :-)

Illinois Tales....Chapter 4 :-)

Day 6!!


Oh my gosh the weather was SOOOOOO much improved!  I even went outside without my coat!!  Seeing as our bag was packed for our upcoming trip to Sullivan, we headed outside to enjoy the weather until Aunt Nancy showed up to get us.


Lonnie and Zoe started their day with a motorcycle ride, and then Zoe downgraded to Sharon's bicycle.  However, she found a way to make it sound like a real motorcycle.  You guessed it...cards in the spokes!!

I was content to sit on the porch with my coffee and watch for squirrels.  I even managed to get in a walk around the neighborhood :-)

Aunt Nancy arrived in the afternoon, and we were off to meet the cousins!  One little cousin, Maddux, was along for the ride and he talked and talked the whole way to Sullivan.  Who knew someone so little had so many words.  




When we arrived at Aunt Nancy's house, Jade (our other little cousin) was waiting for us.  Her and Zoe hit it off immediately!!!  Jordan (another little cousin) was late to the party due to a charity event :-)  The kids managed to get in some serious play time before the little ones had to head home, and we headed off to bed.  

 




Day 7!!

Jordan, Jade and Maddux were allowed to skip school and come hang with us all day!! We started off with a trip to Amish Country...otherwise known as Arthur, Illinois.  We really enjoyed this part of the trip.  I managed to pick up 2 jars of apple butter (ummm YUM!) and Amish fudge!!!  WOohoooOOooOOo!!!!!

After this we stopped by to visit Mim and Papa.  I sure do miss them both so, so much!  Grandpa would have sat outside all afternoon with me and watched the squirrels run around hiding their nuts....and grandma...well she would have said "no scuffling" more than once to be certain.

When we got back to Aunt Nancy's the kids were off to ride bikes the entire rest of the day and I managed to catch a quick nap :-)  It's amazing how cousins become the best of friends in such a short time...it brought back so many memories of being little and running wild around the neighborhood with Nicki.  So much fun!!!!

Me tickling little Maddux

Oh it was getting later and later in the day...and what does that mean???  Time to hit Dawson's Pub with Nicki, Jamie, Kurt, Tawyna and Shannon!  WOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!

Me and my rad cousin Nicki!

Tawyna, Nicki and Me!!!

This was an interesting part of my trip.  Unlike Springfield, the boys were nice and very polite, while the girls were crazy bitches.  Weird how that works.  At any rate, I got to toast another St. Patty's day with my favorite cousins in 
excellent fashion :-)

Illinois Tales....Chapter 3 :-)

Day four!  

This was, by far, the coldest day we spent in Illinois...well day five was pretty heinous weather wise too.  It actually snowed in St. Louis!  For us...only rain, rain and more rain...and of course a horribly biting wind. 

Zoe's annoying find at Cracker Barrel

 

Our day began with a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  Zoe was introduced to the triangle peg game.  That nearly drove her nuts, which of course, made us all smile.  After eating we headed into the shop for a look around, and Zoe found one of her most prized possessions from the trip...a pair of clacking teeth.  I freakin hate these teeth...just sayin. 

Next we were off to the new Lincoln Museum...and holy wow was it cool!  It is separated into two sections...Lincoln as a young man and lawyer, and then Lincoln as our President.  I don't have many pictures, unfortunately, because you are very restricted on where you can take them.

Three things of note...1.  They had a very graphic display of a slave auction that basically featured a family being torn apart.  Bravo to the designers for not holding back or sugar coating this horrid part of American history.  2.  The "ghosts of the past" movie is friggin amazing...that's all I am going to say on that.  You simply have to see it.  3.  The other movie...I think it's called Lincoln's eyes or something...was also very informative and entertaining.  I will NEVER forget how Lonnie thought the building was actually on fire...hahahaha :-)

So happy we had an opportunity to stop in and explore!!!!!! 

After our travels back through time we headed to Lonnie and Sharon's house to warm up.  Sharon and I sat back and enjoyed the finale of the Bachelor while Zoe and Lonnie got in some target practice.  It was an amazing end to a great day :-) 


Day five!!!!

Oh my goodness...it was doom and gloom the entire day!  It rained...the wind blew...and it was so overcast it was depressing.  Zoe, Lonnie and I headed to an amazing outdoorsy kind of store called Gander Mountain.  I don't think we have those here in Arizona..but holy crap...they are full of everything you'll ever need to survive in the wild.   

Zoe and Lonnie spent the better part of their time looking at the vast collection of killing machines.  Zoe was in heaven!  I, of course, just stood and shook my head "no" a lot.  We finally decided on a pair of binoculars of her very own (she had been packing Lonnie's binoculars all over the state up to this point).

The rest of Zoe's afternoon was spent riding Sharon's bike up and down the street 8 million times.  I stayed inside where it was warm and watched out the window...I am totally a desert dwelling girl :-)

It was great having a day of doing absolutely nothing...and it was a good thing we rested up...we were headed to Sullivan to meet up with our cousins and Aunt Nancy that very next afternoon....

Illinois Tales....Chapter 2 :-)

Let us begin with day 3.  It was cold, overcast, and I seriously felt like vomiting for the first several hours of my day...thanks Kim :-)  I had no choice but to ignore my nausea because today was the day we were to travel to Pere Marquette and Grafton!  

Riding the ferry...FUN!!!

We began our trip with a ferry ride over the Illinois River...my stomach really loved this...again...thanks Kim!

Pere Marquette

We traveled on to our destination and I have to say, Pere Marquette is one of the most absolutely beautiful places I've seen.  I bet it is even more stunning in the dead of winter or summer.  We spent some time exploring, looking for eagles, and laughing at a very curious and ugly possum. It was definitely hard to saddle up and leave this place.

Zoe is hunting for bald eagles

and BINGO...that is bald eagle right there!

Our table side fish tank :-)

Now it was time to head to Grafton.  We decided to have lunch at a little restaurant known as Finn Inn.  It was amazingly cool!  The restaurant has aquariums that line the walls of the entire place.  At every booth, you are seated next to your very own fish tank!  Ours had several little fish and one very large and very lazy snapping turtle.  Zoe was then introduced to down home cuisine...namely...frog legs :-)  I did get a picture of that...hahahahahaha

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoe trying her very first frog leg

Next we headed to the Loading Dock Bar and Grill in Grafton, Illinois for a drink and a little rest.  This place would be an ideal vacation destination in the middle of summer.  It has a beach feel and that means I, of course, LOVED it!!

Our bellies full and thirst quinched we headed toward home for a good nights sleep...we were to take on the Lincoln Museum in the morning :-)
 

Illinois Tales....Chapter 1 :-)

As most of you are aware, Zoe and I have just spent the last 8 days in Illinois, and boy did we have fun!  We visited museums and historical sites, chased down squirrels, froze to death, and partied it up with our family.


Day one consisted of TONS of travel time.  It is a 3 hour flight from Phoenix to St. Louis, and then a 1 and half hour drive from St. Louis to Virden.  Needless to say, we accomplished eating at DiCarlo's for lunch (YUMMY), having supper in Carlinville at Ryan's Pub, and a trip to Walmart for a coat....yup...totally forgot a friggin coat...and it was so cold that I was more than ok with buying one at Walmart.  Zoe and Lonnie also managed to squeeze in some target practice and a motorcycle ride, but we were in bed snoozing away by 8:00pm.

I so wish daddy could see this picture

Day two we were up early and ready to begin our adventure.  We started by heading to Lincoln's Tomb.  I absolutely love it there.  It is beautiful and peaceful, and it's the only graveyard I can go in without getting major anxiety.   This place reminds me so much of my daddy, and there is nothing wrong with that :-)

Zoe in New Salem

Next we traveled over to New Salem.  Now this place is full of memories for me, and I was so happy to add a trip there with Zoe to my files.  I so wish I had a picture of her face when Lonnie explained why there were corncobs in the outhouse :-)

Zoe and I were then introduced to Steak and Shake for an early supper.  It's definitely not my favorite, but it also didn't make me barf.  I will say that they make wicked big shakes, and offer you a very large "to go" cup of soda when you leave.  Nothing like porking up middle America :-)  Thanks for keeping me in business Steak and Shake.

And now...this is where I leave Zoe with Lonzo for an adult night on the town with Kim...

We headed to downtown Springfield for some early St. Patty's day celebrations.  I have two things to report...1. it was CRAZY hot in the bar and CRAZY cold outside which left me wondering how in the hell you function in a place where coats are necessary every time you step outside.  I finally opted to leave the coat in the car and haul ass back to the bar (this really, really sucked)....and 2. boys in Springfield are just as annoying as boys in Arizona, however, the girls in Springfield...praise be to ya ladies...you are super nice and full of class to be certain!!  I really had an outstanding time!



Stay tuned for more stories from the dark farm readers...day three here we come! 

 

Happy happy joy joy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So let me just say....I felt just like this when I left work at 7pm today....

It was so amazing!  I came home to dinner....already made...kids were awake and happy to see me...and the husband was full of words about his day :-)  Yeah....I even did the dishes!...and didn't complain!

After this I talked to the kids about their days...harrassed Sarah :-)...and now I have time to write a blog bit before bed :-)

I can totally get used to this!

Nurses are amazing people :-)

With all of the crazy soul searching I've been doing lately, obviously the topic of my job has come up.  I have switched departments, switched hospitals, and even switched shifts...and still, at times, I am left wondering if I made the right choice in my profession.  

I mean, come on...I wipe butts, I deliver bad news..and then deliver the lifesaving, yet, more often than not, painful treatments.  I get to interact with people at their absolute worst.  They feel horrid, they are scared, and they see me as the ultimate target of release.  I get to leave my family at home to take care of others while they yell at me, puke on me, poop on me, and curse my name.

Clearly, you can see my dilemma here.  What I thought being a nurse was...and what it actually is....are two totally different animals.

  

 And yet...I totally love it.  I love the rare times when a patient or their family member scoops me up in a big hug to say thank you.  I love when little old ladies give me "notes" that make no sense whatsoever, but it is PARAMOUNT to them that I receive it.  I love that crazy old man who tries to dance with me when we transfer from bed to wheelchair.  I love my fellow nurses, who understand the way my brain works in a way that no non-nurse could.  

So, that being said, bravo to myself for the most perfect career choice I could have made.  What do you  know...I actually did something just right :-)