It’s crazy what
one can learn from a bee sting.
Yes, it happened
to me yesterday, and it turned into a bit of an ordeal before it was all over.
Gail and I were riding down a backwoods road on our four-wheeler here in the
Ottawa National Forest of Michigan, and a wasp of some kind whacked me in my
helmet, or I whacked it – er, no, more accurately, we whacked each other – and
it then got stuck in my chinstrap, stinging me repeatedly on the cheek. Talk
about a bee in my bonnet! (I thought they could only sting once, but found later that that’s only
honeybees.) Yowza! Immediately, however, it seemed like no regular sting: I felt
light-headed, my lips started to swell and my underarms started to itch like
crazy (sorry, never thought I’d refer to armpits in my blog), and I seemed to
recall there were lymph nodes there…
Now, I’d just had
another bee sting three days before which played out as normal. You know the
drill – minor swelling at the site, a single welt, gripe a bit yet not a big
deal. But this reaction yesterday startled me, so we turned directly back to
the cabin and within a few minutes I was able to slap an icepack on my mug and take
some diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and acetaminophen (Tylenol). Still, the
symptoms worsened, and I began breaking into hives and my throat and chest
tightened. We quickly searched the Internet and found these all to be signs of
a possible anaphylactic reaction, and we knew people could die from that! But
how could this be? I’ve had bee stings all my life! Anyway, though the hospital
was nearly an hour away, we thought it best, me begrudgingly, to get to the ER
as quickly as possible. Soon after being hooked up to a heart monitor and
getting an IV port installed in my arm, all in the event my condition
deteriorated, the symptoms began to subside.
To make a long
story short, it was a mild reaction as such things can go and we were home in
several hours. Still, it was enough that I am now advised to carry an Epi-pen
nearby at all times. I hate that idea. Life is complicated enough without
having to think about that. But these things can get progressively worse, so I
am trying to be grateful rather than regretful.
That’s just the
backstory, however, and not the focus of my thoughts today. As usual, something
else occurs to my spirit.
In talking with
our Seattle son Jarrett about it this morning, who is a nurse, he described
what all happened and what part epinephrine plays when it is needed. Epinephrine
is nothing but adrenalin. No, actually, it’s the other way around – there is no
such thing medically as adrenalin. Something we call adrenalin is produced by our
bodies, as you likely know, to generate in us the capacity for the fight or
flight reflex. Adrenalin is essentially made up of three chemicals:
epinephrine, nor-epinephrine (sp?) and dopamine. So it is more rightly said
that adrenalin is nearly nothing but epinephrine. But here’s the cool thing: the
presence of these three chemicals slows down all immediately nonessential body
functions, things like digestion, urination, and pain/nerve impulse, and revs
up what is most essential at that key moment, the cardiovascular system.
‘Adrenalin’ dilates the lungs, increases blood pressure as well as heart and
breathing rates, affecting that part of the brain responsible for these latter
functions, all to provide maximum oxygen capacity and peak energy to fight or
flee. Amazing. In the case of a person experiencing anaphylactic reaction, a time
when lungs contract and air passages can swell shut, epinephrine maximizes the
ability of the body to simply oxygenate itself. Also amazing.
This is not the
first time our son has schooled us in the functions of this miracle machine we
call our bodies, and it won’t be the last. These things are incredibly
interesting to me.
How important it is that we be
receptive enough
at such times to give the
main thing the
opportunity to do its
critical work…
And today it has
gotten me thinking about the importance of keeping the main thing the main
thing, of attending to the right things in the right opportune times. There are
moments in our lives when something unique happens and God seems to throw open
a window, when his presence can seem more palpable, and a ‘thin place’ between
heaven and earth presents itself. I officiated a funeral recently, and shared
with the family that the death of a loved one is such a time, a time when we
can simply choose to stay only in our grief and turn in on ourselves, or
additionally, also open ourselves in that brief season to what God has to teach
us, or even for what God can be for us at such a time. These are
the kinds of moments in our spirit lives when nonessential functions are slowed
and the most critically important life functions are able to be enhanced for
our ultimate larger benefit.
Like a shot of
adrenalin during anaphylaxis, how important it is that we be receptive enough
at such times to give the main thing the opportunity to do its critical work.
God, through the
Prophet Isaiah, said to the people of Israel, “At an acceptable time I listened to you, in a day of salvation I
helped you (Isaiah 49:8).” The Apostle Paul picks up that same text and
expands on it in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, “…We
implore you also that you not receive the grace of God in vain. For God says,
‘At an acceptable time I listened to you, in a day of salvation I helped you.’”
Paul concludes, “Behold, now is the
acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Read verses one through ten of that passage later
today if you have the time. The whole excerpt is pretty awesome.
And by the way, I
got stung again a week later and things went as they had in the past. Go
figure…
~~ RGM, July 20, 2016
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