When I took immunology in college (which going into the final, I was not passing, along with most of the class), one of the topics that really interested me was anaphylaxis. That does not mean I wanted to learn what anaphylaxis is like on a personal basis.
I was, really, helping out a friend which I guess this ties it to that irritating old adage of “no good deed goes unpunished.” I was also helping out a farmer who just happens to produce one of my favorite fruits which happens to need bees— watermelons. We had gone through a series of hives, most of which were doing bad (which means they were dead) and we moved to a set of lively and quite mean bees. After the fourth hive we checked, I was thinking lunch would be a good idea to let the bees calm down. There were just a few more left so I wanted to finish it.
We were working the last hive in that yard, a real mean one. I got tagged on the ear through the vail. Right on my left ear lobe. I could feel it begin to swell but I couldn’t check it out. The bees got more aggressive then and I had a feeling one was in my suit but I was assured it was not. We found the queen and by that time that hive of screaming bee BIATCHES were spraying alarm pheromone like crazy. We buttoned up the hive (and one of my partners got stung on the neck) and moved away.
It is just my luck that I get hit hard by a bee when I stop working the hive. Somehow, a bee managed to worm its way through the zipper attaching the vail to my bee suit. It then hit me on the tip of the nose. Of course, it could have been a lot worse. Like in my nose. Had that happened it would have been a no brainer. Get to a hospital ASAP. The bee was still in my suit, and I think there might have been a second one too. We evacuated even further and as I rode out of trouble, I pulled my gloves off to the get the bee out and to get the stinger out. Of course, that’s when I got stung again on the wrist. I managed to get the stingers out.
I popped a benadryl and we took a break and I alternated between taking off my gear and icing the stings. I was doing ok but I could feel the skin pulling tight on my face as the stings on my ear and nose swelled. It was uncomfortable. As I started to feel warm and itchy, I decided I need to go so we got moving. As we talked, briefly, to the farmer, I noticed my arms were breaking out in hives, swelling, and becoming sensitive to the touch. We moved on toward the nearest hospital.
Chris and I chatted as we drove. I was cataloging all the changes my body was undergoing. The rash was spreading, but it was heavier on my left arm, which I thought was odd since I did not get much of a dose of venom to my left ear lobe. My breathing was getting difficult. I could feel the swelling. It was beginning to feel like I had heartburn, which I knew was the venom. "It’s odd,” I thought to myself, "my heart isn’t beating as fast as other times I’ve been stung by bees and I didn’t have an allergic reaction. Here all I wanted to do was help Chris out; now I need a new plan. How much is this going to cost. Probably more than I would have made. My vacation and furlough days are all sucking. I'm sure glad Chris isn’t panicking."
We chatted about different stuff as Chris drove. I even thought to myself, "I think this is the most someone has ever driven my car. Chris should feel special. I don’t think I would have let Adam drive my car if I was with Adam when this happened. No, I would but I would have tried to drive at first." I tried to call home to tell them I was headed to the hospital but of course, I could not reach my family.
My vision started blurring so I turned to Chris and said, “my vision is blurring. I think I better call 911.”
“I think you should too.”
I dialed. By that time I knew we were pretty close to the hospital. I was answering their questions but I couldn’t focus. My vision was blacking out and tunneling. I recall telling the dispatcher that. I know he asked a question about where I was but I couldn’t see enough to say. It was so black. I know I thought, "Why doesn’t sleep come as easy as this. But you shouldn’t sleep. Passing out would be bad-- what is he saying now?" That was when I felt the phone get heavy and I dropped it and lost consciousness.
I woke up again and we were slowing down by the stadium.
“Did I pass out?”
“Yeah you did. How are you feeling.”
“Better. I feel better. Where are we going?”
“To meet the ambulance.” I shut up-- Chris was on the phone and I figured I should let him talk to whoever it was he was talking to. My chest BURNED. I was having difficulty breathing so I focused on trying to keep it slow, to calm my heart and slow it down, to try and picture the venom being stopped in my system, to see it expunged. I could feel myself improve by increments.
We parked at Aiea Elementary. Chris said he was going to park the car and leave the AC on to keep me comfortable while he talked with his wife. I sat there and I meditated, slipping myself into a trance. Wow, it’s never this easy. But it was. I wondered, briefly, if I should be worried about the anaphylaxis. I dismissed it. Things I needed to do flashed through my mind. Then it was replaced by a firm belief and faith and it rolled away. I controlled my breath and I decided I would not take this passively. I would control my body and myself I thought. I stood up, got out of the car and Chris and I started talking. I know we chatted about the benadryl. It was about long enough that the benadryl should have been working.
The fire department came then. They started talking with me, asking questions; Chris helped. They placed an oxygen mask on me. I was feeling itchy, swollen, skin burning, a searing heart burn like feeling, dizzy, and I kept thinking, THIS IS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT ANAPHYLAXIS WOULD FEEL LIKE.
The EMTs came. They couldn’t get my vitals. They made me recline, then lie down and I knew at that point that I could let loose the rigid control. I was inside the ambulance and more of my preconceived notions were dispelled. I wanted to look more at the stuff inside. I was curious, like I am any time I go into anyone’s car I haven’t been in before, I look at the nooks and crannies, the controls and gadgets but they had me on the gurney and were wiring me up. As they set me up with an IV and the epinephrine, they kept apologizing before doing anything. “I’m sorry, this is going to hurt,” they’d tell me.
They never apologize when they draw blood or do anything until you wince or make a face in the hospitals. I think I like EMTs better. “Is it SOP to apologize first before doing anything and be all polite because you know it won’t matter to me because you’re saving my life.”
“Damn, it collapsed. This is really going to hurt. I'm sorry” the senior EMT said as my vein collapsed around the catheter.
“No, we’re only nice to the patients that are nice to us.”
“Yeah, OK… why you put the IV way up there?”
“Just reach for it.”
“I'm not a giraffe like you! You like me fall on him?”
“Eh where you guys taking him? Pali Momi said they no can take.”
“What hospital you live closest to?”
“Kuakini.”
“Kuakini or HMC East, which one you like?”
“Kuakini, my cousin is over there.”
The ambulance began moving and the giraffe was in back with me. She almost fell on me as we lurched into motion. The sirens went on and I said, “somehow I thought this would be louder. All my preconceptions are being burst.”
“Like what?”
“I though anaphylaxis would hurt more.” Really. Maybe if I had gone further along, I would have felt more pain but seriously, it was pretty EASY.
Giraffe (I remembered her name for a bit but no more) told dispatch they were coming. At which point dispatch said the grid was full. “They’re re-routing us to HMC East… what they want to reroute us to Queens now… No we’re not re-routing to Queens we’re going to HMC.” I looked out the window. I thought we’re approaching the Like Like off ramp. I craned my neck and confirmed my suspicions. “No, we’re not going to Queens. We are going to HMC East. Patient is at level 6… lost consciousness… epi… is now at level 6…”
"I wonder if Chris knows were HMC is,” I thought, "I bet he doesn’t. I wonder if I should call him. I think I’ll get in the way. At least Chris isn’t directionally challenged like Adam is. Wait, Adam knows where HMC is, Kris has a doctor there… Hey we’re at Lanakila, Coco Puffs! We’re almost there."
“Any questions? ETA in one minute.”
The doors burst open and bright light stuns my eyes. Can I put my shades on? “Sorry Mr. Oishi for the bumpy ride… Eh what is this, an EMT convention (There are six EMTs there).” They start joking in rapid fire fashion.
“Run in with bees... yeah, they were bees, he’s an entomologist… why you futting around over here for…” there are fist bumps going on. I want to prop myself and do a fist bump too, you know, for getting myself stung while trying to help people out.
They close a curtain around me. A nurse is there. I climb from the gurney into the hospital bed. “This is so much more comfortable.”
Giraffe rattles off EMT-doctor speak and I think to myself she probably went to private school as her pidgin isn’t as pronounced as the senior EMT. Giraffe lingers. “You’re going to be OK Mr. Oishi.” I tried to memorize her name so I could remember and thank them but my vision blurred. She said something else which I didn’t catch as pain shot through my arm.
The doctor stopped by, barraging me with questions, calm, “You’ve had an epi, self administered benadryl… we’ll give you steroids an IV. We’re going to have to hold you for at least three hours. Is that OK.”
I called my family and Chris. They arrived. The medicine started to knock me out and they left. I don’t want to be in a hospital. I just got over a staph infection. I don’t want to get MRSA!…
It been a few hours now since it all unfolded. Its funny, what I think about. I'm allergic to bees and bees, quite frankly, have given me an incredible amount of headaches at work. There’s a part of me that sees this as an opportunity to step back and let go of the bee problem in Hawaii. I know I won’t though, I'm just not like that.
I'm thankful too, for Chris watching out for me and getting me to the hospital and all. The EMTs, fire department and emergency staff for everything they did. There’s a swirl of thoughts now but mostly the thought is simple: rest.
