cyclic

Last year around this time, to within a week, I was attacked by yellow jackets while doing some gardening (shhhh). Stung 4 times. Gina was away, biking of course, so I had to drive myself to the doctor's office after I discovered hives spreading throughout my body. Within a couple of hours I was in the ER. My circulation system was shutting down. My fingernails were turning blue from the lack of oxygen. I was in bad shape. Doc said I was probably an hour from the point of no return when they stuck me with a horse-sized dose of epinephrine. If I didn't get preventative treatment, the consequences from the next attack would be much worse.

Because of my newly discovered allergy I had to abandon my plans to do the SM100. I didn't want to chance getting stung miles/hours from any medical help (and people *were* getting stung last year). I went through a year's worth of allergy treatments and today I had a real world test of their effectiveness. I got attacked by yellow jackets again.

Funny how similar it all was to last year. It was a hot summer day only weeks before the SM100. Gina was away again, biking of course, and I was at home with the kid, gardening (shhhhh). They came out of nowhere and I got stung 3 times. This time, however, no hives, no breathing problems, nothing. I drove myself to the doctor's office just in case, but it wasn't necessary. SM100, here I come.