Mr Uphilldowndale went out on his bike on Sunday morning to buy a newspaper, its a bit of an expedition from where are staying, which ever way you go, this part of Devon is quite isolated, by road at any rate.
He arrived back with the paper and a thick lower lip, having had a head on collision on what he thinks was a bee, what ever it was, it stung him.
Oooohhhh I thought don’t like the look of that and dosed him with antihistamine, he went off for a shower, when he re-emerged I liked the look of him even less, it was much more swollen . Fortuitously, just then, our friend Mrs Doctor stuck her head around the door, in search of her boy. She liked the look of Mr Uhdd less than I did, and said she thought it would be wise if we were to drive him in the direction of a hospital; advising me, out of Mr Uhdd’s earshot, if the swelling starts to affect his voice pull over and call an ambulance.
So off we went squeezing through the Devon lanes against the tidal flow of traffic heading for the beach. ‘You’re driving faster than you normally do’ observed Mr Uhdd. Correct.
When, after 40 minutes (and only a modest eight miles) we arrived a the local cottage hospital, with a minor injury unit: the nurse liked the look of Mr Uhdd even less (the swelling had now spread into his jaw) she advised me, out of Mr Uhdd’s earshot, ‘I don’t want to concern your husband, but I’m going to give him an injection of adrenaline and I’ve called an ambulance in case we need to get him to a main hospital.’ Fortuitously the ambulance was parked up right next door, so the paramedics arrived in the blink of an eye. There was then a intense few moments of injection and medical stuff, checking of pulse rate (Mr Uhdd being a fell runner has a tick over heart rate of 40 beats per min) blood pressure etc etc, then the nurse, two paramedics and I stood back to see what happened next. I don’t have a photo of Mr Uhdd at his most swollen, two reasons for this, one given the evident urgency of things, I didn’t even think about it and secondly, it would have been a rubbish photo because my hands were trembling.
I’m pleased to say the swelling stopped and soon started to go down (although he went through a shaky, not looking very well at all phase.) After an hour it was decreed that everyone liked the look of him now, and he didn’t need to be transferred So we waved a cheery and grateful goodbye to the paramedics. We stayed another hour at the cottage hospital for observation, just be on the safe side, where we read the Sunday papers…
It is usually Joe and I that have a rough time with insect bites and stings, this has never happened to Mr Uhdd before. Not pleasant at all, and all a bit close on the heels on the Mr Muscle incident back to a relaxing holiday.
Uphilldowndale 
The other half inhaled a bee while laughing last year and it was a touchy evening while we waited to see if it would close his throat completely or not – in the end at the worst point he couldn’t swallow but he could breathe. Rang NHS direct & they sent an ambulance and a fast response vehicle – very promptly. Not pleasant and I quite sympathise with Mr UHDD, especially as the one who does the paper-fetching-by-bike in this household
That sounds very nasty indeed
I’m glad he didn’t need a blue light trip in the nee-naw – these things can go from “ha ha, look at you” to “call 999” fairly quickly. Make sure he sees his GP for a follow-up when you’re back home. Allergic reactions aren’t to be fooled with. Take it from one who knows (and who learned the hard way).
In hindsight, had Mrs Dr not been around, I think I would have stared at him for a further 10 min and then called an ambulance. (I did think of getting him on a boat for the short hop across the estuary, the roads are much easier and nearer the hospital
A drama that you, and more especially Mr UHDD, could have done without at any time let alone when you’re on holiday! xx
What a nightmare. I carry a few packets of commercially available Piriton, this works in a triple dose as an emergency treatment to get any swelling down and as a bonus….. it also works on dogs (give the child’s dose).
I’m the same, I’ve packets of Piriton everywhere, at one time I had a collection of antihistamine cream from all over the globe (I got bitten by sea lice in the South China Sea and closer to home I got what can only be politely described as ‘bikini line’ bites when staying in a friends spare bed, unbeknownst his cat had set up a bit of an infestation under the duvet!! ) In the car we have a ‘first aid bag’ and a wallet of over the counter medicines that we always seem to need when away from home.
An option was for Mr Uhdd to have an industrial sized dose of antihistamine from the paramedics, but they reckoned that would knock him out and then they would have to transfer him, so it was kept in reserve and thankfully not needed
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