Fire Ants

We were all playing in the backyard yesterday just as we usually do, and Dean was climbing over the lava rocks surrounding the patio back and forth into the yard. I was standing nearby watching him to make sure he didn't fall down on the uneven surface and assumed that was all he was doing when he bent down and caught himself with his hands. I walked toward him to help him across when I noticed ants swarming at his feet. Sure enough, the only ants around here that swarm like that are fire ants, so I grabbed Dean and called Devin over. By the time Devin ran over, we were swatting hundreds of ants off Dean's arm (the one he bent down with when his toes started being attacked). It was terrifying and I can honestly say, I have never seen anything like it. Dean's whole arm was covered and swarming - so much that you could not even see the flesh beneath the wall of ants until we swatted them all off. The other scary part is that, as many of you already know, Dean is a breath-holder to the point that he turns purple and passes out and all the while we were removing the ants, he was holding his breath. This was the worst I have ever seen him do it though and I started to worry he was having an immediate allergic reaction to the venom in the bites. Luckily, he started breathing (and screaming) when we got him inside.

Once inside, Devin poured vinegar all over the bites to neutralize the venom while I called the doctor. They said to watch for swelling as an indicator of serious allergic reaction and call 911 if that happens but thankfully, after a teaspoon of children's benedryl and some hydrocortizone cream, Dean did just fine. In fact, after an hour or so, he was back to his happy-little-self as if nothing ever happened - but as you can see in the pictures below, he still bears his battle wounds clear as day.