Scorpions are Evil...

Last night I put Ford to bed, part of Arizona is making sure you watch out for creepy crawlies... I checked his pack n play, making sure it was clear of uninvited guests. Put him to bed, I think he was relieved after our full day, not a peep came out of his mouth until 11:15. I was just laying down when he woke up crying; thinking he was simply having tooth pain from his LAST molar I had decided to pull him out and give him some tooth stuff and change his diaper. Then I noticed he had to two bumps on his hip, asking my grandma to look at them, we started tearing apart his bed and room to see what creature was responsible. Ford started shaking and crying hysterically so we decided the ER was the best option. He started having trouble breathing as his chest was tightening up and his crying wasn't helping. 

We got him to Oro Valley ER and they immediately let us into triage and didn't even get vitals or paperwork before having him admitted to the back because of his severe reaction, as soon as the RN saw him he knew what was going on and went to get the DR. She walked in, looked at him and said, "spot on, book symptoms for scorpion sting"... After an IV they gave him a muscle relaxer, trying to help ease the uncontrollable muscle spasms and flailing of his limbs. Having 6 people in a room working like crazy to help your child is both comforting and extremely scary!

I will tell you, straight up, the worst moment of my life was knowing that he was in the worst pain, he will probably EVER be in and I couldn't do anything but trust that the ER staff would make him comfortable and that as much as I was trying to comfort him, there wasn't anything I could do. 

Luckily, they had anti venom at the ER from a previous sting so it was a very fast process getting it. Normally they wouldn't even give it BUT because of Ford's reaction it was the best option. He ended up pulling out his IV and needing a new one, the RN's were so amazing with him during the whole process and I am so thankful that God blessed us with such a compassionate and trained staff. They gave him some pain medication as soon as the anti venom was done and immediately he became calmer and much more relaxed. We spent 2 hours being monitored to make sure everything was working correctly and without adverse affects. Then we were allowed to come home. 

I would not wish this experience on my worst enemy. There is nothing worse then watching helplessly as your child is suffering in agony, I thank The Lord that Ford was fast to recover and other then being obviously tired, he is back to his normal crazy self. 

When we got home we found the bark scorpion that had stung him, Grandma had her sandal off and smashed it before it knew what was coming!! We have turned the house upside down to make sure there aren't more (at least at the moment) and hopefully the rest of our vacation is BORING compared to the last 16 hours! 

After 2 rounds of muscle relaxers, anti venom and morphine, he was finally relaxed enough to rest a little. He could finally focus for a second or two at a time and got to pick out a stuffed animal, of course it was a giraffe (on the right partially under the blanket) 

This was him this afternoon, enjoying a semi-painless R&R session on the couch! 

I am excited for the rest of our vacation and hope it gets better from here!