Fire Ants

When Thomas was 3 years old, he got 88 fire ant bites all over his legs . We had to take him to the little hospital in Crossett, Arkansas, where we were visiting my grandparents and other family. It was very scary. The doctor told us an adult could have died from that many bites. They gave him a shot of cortisone to relieve the itching and sent us home.

As a result of that incident, Thomas is now HIGHLY allergic to fire ants. One bite on his foot swells his foot so much that he can't even wear a shoe. So, I finally got him in to see the Allergist. I had to lather his arms in Lidocaine this morning in preparation for several sticks (similar to TB tests). They didn't want him to feel much since they might have to do several to determine how severe his allergy is.

Anyhow, the first thing they did was a little prick test. He had such a severe reaction to the prick, that they never did anything else. They didn't even need the Lidocaine! The doctor said he had never seen anyone react to fire ants like that!

He broke out in a rash all over his body. His face started swelling and got very red. The doctor was concerned enough to check his throat to be sure it wasn't closing up. They brought in some Benadryl and then gave him an epinephrine shot on top of that. He quickly returned to his normal coloring, but I was scared for a few minutes. They brought in 2 doctors and 3 nurses just to check him out!

Thomas did great the whole time. He was so brave. He got to go to Starbucks with daddy after school for some chocolate milk.

Amazingly they are able to reverse the allergy to fire ants. Can you believe that? The only problem is that Thomas will have to go in to the doctor once a week for SEVEN MONTHS to get a shot, and then he'll have to go once a month for 2-3 years. They will give him a small amount of the venom at a time trying to build up his immunity!

It is so amazing what is available to us - not only at this time in history but also in this country! I am so thankful for the doctors who have helped us through this issue in particular!