Fun times, my foot!

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday. I was out doing interviews on a large building site for most of the day. That would suck normally, but yesterday it sucked even more than usual because on Monday evening I was stung on the soft part of the bottom of my left foot by... something (I thought it was a bee at first but the reaction has been too severe. I'm thinking wasp, TSC reckons small scorpion), and it's still giving me trouble.

I had gone outside to get some herbs from the veggie garden and stepped on something on the lawn on my way back in that sent fiery pain through my whole foot. After staggering into the kitchen, I examined the foot and found a stinger sticking out, which made me think it was a bee, although it could've been another insect whose stinger was pulled out when I stepped on it.

I've been stung by bees four or five times before and all those times it was sore at the time but quickly passed. With this sting I could literally feel the toxins flowing through my foot (I had tried to scrape the stinger out with a knife, but it hadn't worked, so in desperation and pain I resorted to pulling it out with my fingers, which probably squeezed more poison into my foot. Yes, I'm a dumbass, I know).

I hopped on one foot up the stairs and crashed onto the floor in the bathroom once I'd pulled our first aid box off the shelf. TSC was on the phone and came running when he heard me (poor man probably thought I'd fainted and fallen on something with all the noise I was making). I found some antihistamine cream and tried to rub it on the now violently red and painful-to-the-lightest-touch area.

After a couple of minutes the pain subsided a bit and I was able to hobble downstairs and make supper with TSC. My foot was a bit swollen, so before bed I put some anti-inflammatory gel on it and figured it would be better by morning.

Hah!

Yesterday I woke up to find my foot had swollen so much that I was barely able to fit it in my shoe. With a site visit up ahead, I had no option but to don closed shoes (and a safety helmet. So hot. Or not). Thankfully the interviews were conducted in the site's showroom, so I only had to pegleg my way to and from the parking lot and to the toilet. But after four or so hours, the foot was even more swollen from collected fluids thanks to gravity.

I drove myself home, made some two-minute noodles (they didn't feed us the whole day on site and I was starving). Then I collapsed on the bed with a pillow under my foot. And there I stayed for most of the evening, getting up only to make supper, call my mom (she's a doctor) and take a shower.

Following my mom's instructions, I took antihistamine and anti-inflammatory pills, applied some Voltaren to the swelling and got back into bed with my foot up high.

Today the foot looks just the same - grotesque. It's quite fascinating. In fact, I nearly took a photo. But then I realised nobody wants to see that ;-) I really wish the pain, itchiness and swelling would go away now. It makes walking, driving and normal life very difficult.

But anyway, on to more pleasant topics... Guess who found the camera cable?

So, at last, here are some pics...

The view from Sani Pass Hotel. The scenic views are one of the best things about this crumbling old place.

Flowers at the top of Sani Pass, near the Highest Pub In Africa

The mountains on the way to the pass itself

The bread baked by a Basotho woman we visited in Lesotho

TSC and I on horseback

The river at Sani Pass Hotel

The waterfalls at Sani Pass Hotel

My "baby" marrows when we arrived home (the furthest one to the left that you can hardly see is the size you normally find in stores)

A selection of veg picked from my garden

My parents' boat, which TSC and I got to experience for the first time at Bronkhorstspruit Dam during the holiday