The devil vs The exorcist

The devil
vs. the exorcist

and the victim.

Or I could title this post "Nightmare on Harwell Rd."

Yesterday morning, Weston decided to take a bath as I was getting Zane and Sierra out the door for school. I told him to wait a minute as I tried to get the big kids going. I hear the bath water turn on....he can't wait, so he's doing it himself.

Next thing we hear, was a high pitched, horrible scream. Zane and I went running back in to Wes. He was standing outside of the tub, crying that a scorpian got him. Sure enough, there was a big bark scorpian swimming around in his tub water. Now, Wes has been stung THREE previous times so I wasn't stressing too much. I mean ....I knew it hurt, but I didn't think it was a big deal. So, I comforted him. I sent the bigs kids on their way. I got Wes dressed and put on some cartoons. He even stopped crying....just fussing a little. I tried to get his mind off it and I thought everything was okay now.

Well, twenty or so minutes later, he comes to me drooling, crying, and gagging like he was going to throw up. I asked him if he took a vitamin (pill?), but he said no. He continued to get worse. He was foaming out this slimy, bubbly saliva. Finally, it dawned on me....was this from the scorpain sting?! He wasn't calming down...it was getting worse by the minute.

I threw some clothes on, threw Wes in the car, and drove to the Urgent Care around the corner. I called Todd on the way and he met me there. It was getting worse by the second now. Wes' eyes started rolling and he was really crying now. I was so scared. I couldn't drive there fast enough.

I ran into Urgent Care and they immediately let us into the back as soon as they heard me say what was happening. Within a minute, they had called 911 and had informed me that an ambulance was coming to take him to the ER. Boy, was I losing it at this point. Wes was flailing and thrashing all around. He was crying and screaming. His eyes were rolling and he was foaming at the mouth. I couldn't believe what was happening.

Todd arrived at Urgent Care shortly after I did. Then, the paramedics arrived. Both the Urgent Care staff and the paramedics tried to put an IV in, but Wes was thrashing about way too much. Wes wanted Todd as they were getting him ready for the ambulance, so Todd drove with Wes in the ambulance. During the drive, they almost thought he was going to have a siezure because he was flailing about so much, but luckily he didn't. The ambulance took him to Gilbert Mercy Hospital for the "exorcism". It really did look like the poor kid was possessed. This is not an exaggeration!!! He was at stage four - the worse/highest reaction to the venom. The ER Dr. said this was one of the worst cases he had seen. After the longest TWO HOURS of our lives, he started calming down and coming back to us - after having recieved FIVE vials of anti-venom. (First, it took a while for them to do the paperwork and to get approval to use the anti-venom - since it's a study and not approved by the FDA yet...and then it also took a while for the stuff to start making a difference.) Poor Todd held him for the whole time...trying to contain Wes so he wouldn't hurt himself or pull out the IV. Todd said it was like wrestling with an alligator that was constantly trying to roll. Weston was just drenched in sweat. Those couple of hours seemed to last forever. Finally, by about 11:00am we were moved into another area because Wes was getting over it and the anit-venom was doing it's work. Cartoons were put on for Wes. It took a little while more for his eyes to stop fluttering... to even be able to work together and focus on the cartoons, but he eventually just laid there, exhausted as he watched Bob the Builder. We headed home about 12:15.

Talk about the worst experience that I have ever had!

All because this scorpian just put in more venom than the others. Wes could get stung tomorrow with a "normal" sting and be just fine...like his previous stings. It all depends on how much venom was put in.

What a nightmare!

On the way home, he said he wanted pizza though. Wes ate a slice and then we headed home. He then took a two hour nap at home. It was over and we were relieved.

Thanks to Gilbert Mercy Hospital. They were wonderful. Thanks to my parents who came and offered support. Thanks to my Dad and Todd for being able to give Wes a priesthood blessing during all of it. Thanks for the investigational study going on with this new anti-venom. It worked like a charm....well, it could've worked a little faster:). But, the other option is waiting it out in a hospital for a COUPLE OF DAYS with tons of drugs helping you to survive the pain. It really is supposed to be excruciating pain. Poor Wes. I'm glad it's over and I'm thrilled to have my happy boy back. May it NEVER happen again. I'll be real nervous, holding by breath, if one of my kids gets stung again...wondering how much venom was put in. And, thanks to Kelly and Megan for bringing in dinner. It was delicious!

**Note to anyone out there - make sure you get to a hospital that has anti-venom if such a thing happens to you or someone you're with. Not all hospitals have it! Of course, it's used for the more extreme cases - not just the pain and tingly one can get with the typical sting. But, I would hate for anyone to be "snowed" (as they call it) with a bunch of drugs as the patient just has to endure through the experience for a couple of days.