What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when you bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen.
Henry David Thoreau
Using science to Explain
My scientific mind needs scientific answers lol and it keeps down playing the spiritual significance of what happened Sunday. It tells me it was just a large local reaction...the only reaction I have to stings is large and local. What happened as a child could have been a coincidence: I could have been having a severe large local reaction at the same time I was having a vasovagal response (dizzy, near fainting, vomiting) due to the shock and pain of the sting...therefore I am not anaphylactically allergic?? So when I got stung again...my hand just swelled up out of proportion indicating the same type of reaction. That is possible.
Also, it could have been a first exposure to another type of insect venom. Maybe what stung me had a different type of venom than what stung me as a child and much less of it. There was no cross sensitivity. What I had could have been a first exposure reaction which is never as severe as a second exposure.
Was it even systemic? The only signs I had that would support it was systemic yesterday was the sore throat and hoarse voice by the time I got to the car. But I have had problems with my throat now off and on for a few years...so I can not use that as a sign. There was no facial or mucous membrane swelling that would indicate angioedema which would be expected with a systemic reaction. No rash or hives! No respiratory difficulty. I was dizzy but I attribute that to the heart condition. I get dizzy all the time when I exert myself. Getting back to the car was not done with the slow leisurely pace with lots of breaks that took me to the lake so my heart was bound to act up. Hmmm? There were no absolute signs of a systemic reaction.
Is it possible to become desensitized over the years? What if I did have a severe allergic reaction as a child but somehow I have become desensitized over the course of 45 years? My memory cells vaguely membered the venom, maybe, because they are menopausal too. :)
Did the tourniquet cause the swelling? No it started around the sting site and spread to all the fingers, palms and the back of my hand from there. Besides it was a sweater sleeve I was using so it is very difficult to even make it tight enough to cause swelling. The swelling actually got worse when I remove the tourniquet anyway.
Fearing the Mystical
Here I am trying to wrap my mind around what happened...to explain it using thought and science....to demystify it when the mystery of it is part of the truth. Why do we do that? Why do we pull away from the mystical and unseen , use thought to explain the seen and practical. That is our biggest problem isn't it? We are afraid of the unseen and things that can not be explained. We can't explain it or understand it so we do whatever we can to veer away from it.
The truth is this...regardless of the science behind what the reaction was or wasn't.... My hand which was very, very swollen went down to absolutely normal within a 20 minute time frame without any intervention what so ever. I know science. I know pathophysiology and I can't explain that! There was no pain or no sign that I was even stung when twenty minutes previously there was so much swelling I could not even move the tips of my fingers. Most swelling from local reactions take days to subside!
Don't we have to call that a miracle?
Why can we not just learn to bring what lies within out into the world and revel in the magic that happens when we do, without the need to explain it away?
All is well in my world and I will get off this subject now.:)
No comments:
Post a Comment