I have lived in Arizona my ENTIRE life and have never been stung by a scorpion before. ….Well, up until a few days ago, that is.
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 photo credit: Dyanna |
It was a Saturday afternoon like any other. (or so I thought)
I was sitting on the couch planning out my week ahead. My hubby and son were in the next room playing on our computers. I felt a little tickle inside the pant-leg of my blue jeans, just a few inches above my ankle followed by a weird burning feeling.
Uh-Oh!
At this point, I knew that something disgusting was on my leg other than 3 days worth of stubble. Without knowing exactly what I was up against, I proceeded to grab a wad of jeans in the area of the burning and hobbled away from the couch onto the tile floor. With one hand tightly clinched around the wad, I used the other to take off my jeans in the middle of my kitchen. (Which was no small feat!)
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| Scorpion Jeans |
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So, there I stood in my T-shirt and underwear, in the middle of my kitchen for all the world to see. I let go of the “wad”, stepped away, and out crawled my tiny attacker from the crumpled up denim…a 2 inch long, venomous bark scorpion.
And then the screaming began…
My husband came running, with a critter-killing-shoe in-hand and I sobbed my eyes out. He was killing the beast as I flung my leg into the kitchen sink to wash off the site of the sting. (still without my pants)… — It was a sight to behold indeed!
After my attacker was finally dead and flushed down the toilet, my sweet hubby handed me back my jeans and told me that I should probably put them back on. (Still sobbing) I put them on and proceeded to have what I called a “mini nervous break down” over the fact that one of my greatest fears had just been realized. I had been stung by a scorpion…in my own home…crawling up my pants!!!!
And then the pain began….
Whoever said that getting stung by a scorpion is like getting stung by a bee, LIED!!!
The only thing that really helped the searing, burning, stabbing pain was an ice pack, liquid Lidocaine, and left over pain killers from my back surgery a few years ago.
I was so fortunate that I didn’t have all of the life-threatening symptoms that the Mayo Clinic lists on their website. — Only the intense pain & inconsolable crying for me.
(And yes, I know that the “crying” symptom was only listed for children, BUT in my opinion, if the world renowned Mayo Clinic says that it’s a REAL symptom, I don’t care how hard my husband laughs at me!)
It’s been several days since my big attack and I’m finally feeling like my old self again.
I’ve been asking God why He made scary scorpions in the first place, but He hasn’t really gotten back to me yet.
My husband thinks that it might just have been so I would have something interesting to blog about.
Hmmmmm…….Naw!……. You think?
Surviving in AZ,
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Oh my word, Sue! I'm so sorry that happened to you. I do not make fun of crying, not even in grown ups. I would have been the same and then I would have put the house on the market to move to a non-scorpion infested place.
Argghhhh! I'm crying and I'm all the way over here in Scotland…with NO scorpions!You are brave to even 'visit' the incident again to write about it. I think I need therapy, and I only read your story
Hi Sue, I am in AZ with you and I have been stung twice. The first time I had just had a baby four days before and had a severe allergic reaction to the sting that resulted in poison control calling every hour to check on me and 24 hours of not being able to move my arms or see (scary). the second time the creepy crawly stung me on my finger. where was he?….wait for it…..in my KITCHEN SINK. (creep out meter 11 on a scale of 1-10). Scorpions are one of the main reasons my husband and I have a conversation at least twice a year about moving out of Arizona. Hope you feel better. I feel your pain! Love, katie
Oh my!! I am so very sorry. I'd be crying, too, and I think I'd STILL be incredibly freaked out!! Hoping and praying you NEVER experience anything like that again!
Oh my WORD!!!!! :O I hope you are feeling better?! That has always been one of my fears too if we visited the southwest. EEK! I am glad you lived to tell about it. Apparently this wasn't the lethal kind!Hmm,,,your hubby has an interesting theory! It sure got MY attention:D My theory is that all such creatures that sting, bite, spew venom, etc, all came after the Fall! That's what I always tell my children when they ask me why God created them. They do know that it's just a theory, but really, if Eden was perfect, then either they use to serve a wonderful purpose, or they came after?! Either way, I am so glad it wasn't the lethal kind!
Oh my word,then feel sorry for me My husband and sons keep pet tarantulas and scorpions!!!but the the non stinging type!
and the safely away in glass tanks far away from me!but we have to move soon so im wondering about transportation????ha ha
I was born and raised in AZ and we never had scorpions in our house. A friend that lived 5 streets up had them but they had fruit trees and we didn't. My brother just moved out of his house in Mesa because they had scorpions all the time. It was their nightly ritual to hunt them with the black light. Hope your leg feels better.
I LOVE that you remembered to take a picture of your jeans! LOL
I'm sorry! Really! I hope you feel better sooN!!!
oh that's just a horrible, horrible story…we don't even have scorpions here in the northeast and my skin is crawling in empathy…aren't they poisonous? eww, eww, eww. and i don't blame you for strippin down in plain sight…if it had been me i'd have skinned out of my britches quicker than skinny dipper on a hot summer's day.glad you're okay now!blessings,alisonstuff and nonsense
I'm so sorry. I lived in Az and Thank goodness never came across one. We had the multitude of black widows. Yuck! Glad you are feeling better! God Bless!
I am so sorry!!! I would still be crying and I probably wouldn't be able to wear the jeans again. The flashbacks!
I'm having a hard time breathing just *thinking* about a scorpion crawling up your leg. Ahh!I'd have cried with you, you poor dear.
That is so scary!!!!! I am so freaked out and cautious when I visit other states esp down south b/c here in Detroit there isn't anything like that. Hope you feel better!
eek! bless your heart!!i had no idea crying is really a symptom?!?! so glad the situation didn't turn out worse.God bless~
Oh.My.Goodness. Can't imagine!
And I thought cockroaches here in Florida were horrible…they don't seem quite so creepy at the moment. The next time I come across one in my house I'll be sure to be thankful that it's not a scorpion!!! Glad that you are okay!
I would be crying too and I probably would never wear those jeans again!!!!
ICKEEEEEE!!!! and I thought wood ticks were bad. What a horrible experience – and it sounds just like something my husband would say 'to have something to blog about.' You can slap him for me too! LOL glad to hear you're all better, but I'm sure that's an experience everyone can do without!
Okay, I read this earlier, but I was so creeped out that I couldn't comment. I'm glad you're all better. Scorpions are my big irrational (well, I don't think it's irrational) fear, too. Yuck!!!
I would have done the exact same thing..scream and run around without pants! Really. Oh how awful. No scorpions where we live and that is ok with me. Hope you don't see another one anytime soon. ouch!
I have never been stung by a scorpion, but I have been stung by bees and they hurt, so I don't even want to imagine. I have seen them though – at the local Bug Zoo. They are scary looking things. I really feel for you. Are you all healed up now?
Oh my goodness, that is so scary. I have fits over the occasional spider here at our house so I know I would have freaked out about that! I definitely would have been pants-less & screaming too, lol.
WHAT? I think I would have died. We almost moved to Arizona last year and my biggest reason for not wanted to move there were the scorpions!
That is really scary! We visited Arizona about 5 yrs. ago when we only had one child and I didn't think too much about scorpions being around. I think if we had to go back that's all I would be able to think of!! My brother was bitten by a black widow spider here in NC a few years ago and he was in the hospital for about a week with fever and chills, not able to sleep and we didn't know if he was going to make it….really? And do you know I have never seen a black widow spider until last summer at our house when I was outside with the kids. I was terrified!!
I feel your pain too! I live in Alabama and got stung several years back while sitting on my in-laws couch. I stuck my hand towards the back of the couch cushion to push off and POW! It got me! My hand hurt for a week. We have them in our basement occassionally and my 7 yr. old son got stung on the foot. He came running upstairs screaming….."I don't want to die! I don't want to die!". He said later that the pain was so bad, he thought he was going to die!! Evil creatures is all I have to say!!!
Ew ew ew ew ew! I'm so sorry that happened to you! EW! But it does make for some interesting blog material.
Oh my word! I am feeling like a complete baby now about my spider freak-out email earlier today
Love you.
Oh my, this just totally freaks me out reading about it! This is why I live in Alaska…no snakes, scorpions, or even fleas!!!! Granted we do freeze to death, but hey, it is the sacrifice you make! LOL
ok. SO SORRY first of all! About 6 years ago, my husband had a job offer in Az and I could not bear the thought of scorpions. { I think huge Fear Factor size tub fulls attacking me daily }. A friend said that you should put your baby crib in mason jars because scorpions couldn’t crawl up the glass. That was about it for me. I will stay here with my earthquakes in Ca.
Glad you are o.k.