Oh say, can you See ?

Oh say, can you See ?

By the dawn’s early light, I could just make out the shape of a quarter of a peanut butter and honey sandwich I’d not eaten the night before. My pre-coffee, awake-but-not-alert, fuzzy mind thought it would make a tasty snack while I heated water for coffee. Something didn’t feel quite right as I popped it in my mouth and reached for the water pot. My hand never made it to the pot. Everything came to a dead stop, as my mind took a moment to parse the rather strong and very odd signals that were incoming. Shock. Fear. Confusion. Danger. PAIN. Burning. Itching. Small things moving in mouth and hands.

Yep. That tasty bite had been covered in the little “piss” ants that are my only serious insect nemesis here in Panama. I figure there were at least a couple hundred that made it inside my mouth. As they all gasped their last breath of Earthly air, they ALL made a point of simultaneously biting and injecting whatever toxin they inject. The net result was a sensation that was so new and novel, that it really did take a few seconds to figure it all out.

Luckily, my sub-conscious survival neurons were well ahead of that and instantly spun around, spat and turned on the water and rinsed like crazy. Even after maybe 5 rinses, I still thought something was moving. After my logical mind caught up and figured out what had happened, the pain really started to kick-in. It was a burning, hot itching pain that only seemed to get worse with cold water, or lemon or salt.

And then the swelling started. I don’t usually have big reactions to insect bites, but I think the sheer numbers did the trick in this case. It felt like my mouth had been hit with Novocain, especially the upper lip. I grabbed my handy Peace Corps medical kit and popped some Antihistamine while I called the PCMO hot line. Two rings and I had an MD on the line. She suggested (duh) antihistamine and an immediate visit to the Clinic in Torti. So, I took a fast shower and headed off to catch the bus, feeling a tad woozy. Also took 2 aspirin just for fun. The pain had gotten so bad that it actually felt numb.

Short story – 2 hours later, I was back home after a $6 Clinic visit. They sent me home with (duh) 2 antihistamines. I went to bed and slept for 3 hours.  It’s now been about 14 hours since the “incident” and swelling and pain are both pretty well subsided. PCMO called to check up on me, which was really nice. And I do have these swell photos that Marco took of me on the bus to remind me:

1)      Do not leave food out on the counter.

2)      If you violate #1, DO NOT eat said food.

3)      EVER.

Post script : I think what made this experience so intriguing for me was the novelty of it. I watched as my mind tried to match this sensation against other similar events in the database and come up blank. Then, it felt like a few seconds before a logical thesis was provided (Holy Shit, I just put a couple hundred ants in my mouth and they bit me) and verified. Fortunately, by that time, instinct had already acted to minimize damage. At my age, with my wealth of experiences, it is a real treat to enjoy that sensation of novelty. Even if it comes with a little (or a lot) of pain. It doesn’t happen as often as it did as a youngster. Kids get to have that feeling of  ”new and novel” many times a day. Maybe that means I get to savor it more.