Milestones

10 stings this morning.  I feel as though I've reached a goal.  Well, maybe not a goal--more of a milestone.  From what I've read on the apitherapy forum, most people start truly benefiting from the therapy when they are applying between 10-20 stings per session.  Sam and I pushed a little bit to get there.

While I was in the reactionary phase right at the beginning, I was only applying 1 sting every other day in order to get my body used to the venom.  Plus, I was swelling and itching like hell, so I could really only deal with one sting at a time until that part passed.  It took 13 stings until I stopped itching although I was still swelling some.  Then I pushed it up to 2, then 3.  The swelling became milder and milder until somewhere around 28-33 stings.  Now I swell very little--pretty much only within the first hours of receiving a sting. I did several sessions with only three stings--that was before this flare cycle began. 

Then a few sessions of 4 and 5.  We did one with 6.  Then we skipped 7 and went straight to 8--that was the session before last.  Today we skipped 9 and went to 10.  I have a couple of reasons for this.  Primarily (and obviously), I want to stop any further damage to my joints, and I am OVER being in pain.  Enrollment at school was low this summer, so I didn't have many hours, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I've been laid up with the arthritis about 2 or 3 days a week for the past month.  But when the fall semester starts, I will be working more hours, and I need to be able to do it.

Secondly, for whatever reason, I find it easier to do the stings in a symmetrical fashion.  Not because they're any easier to take; it's just that I only have to choose half as many sting locations.  It is a bit like picking your own switch.  Also, rheumatoid arthritis often follows some bilateral symmetry, so this seems like a logical response on my part.

Our first two stings today were on my feet.  Next came my ankles. While there's an appeal to just doing all the stings quickly, I find that it can be a bit much, depending on the location of the sting.  So now that we're doing higher numbers of stings, I decided that four at a time with a little break in between is preferable to all at once.

Here's Samuel doing my feet!  See how he's also holding onto my ankle?  He usually squeezes me somewhere while doing the sting.  It's very comforting and distracts a little from the lacerating sensation of the venom.

 

...getting a bee out of the jar...

We use the screw-on part of the lid as a little corral for the bees so that he can get a better grip with the tweezers. 

...Nuggets, the cat, sleeping in the window behind me...

Sometimes we have to chase the escabees! 

Get it?  Escabees?  Instead of escapees?  

Hahahaha, I slay me.

Sounds sort of like scabees too.

 

Here's me waiting for the stings in my knees to subside.  Good times.

At least the view is peaceful.  Those green jars are a watering system for the bees.  The big cotton cords wick water out of the jugs, and they are placed near the hives.  Earl stopped using them though because he said it was more just a death trap for the bees.

 

Okay, okay.  I know this isn't exactly a flattering photo of me.  I look a little...let's be frank, shall we?  I *look* like a constipated four-year-old.  But in reality I'm riding out two stings on my lower spine, right above my very tender bottom. Owwww!! With all these stings below the waist, I expect that I might have a hard time moving around by this evening--ankles and knees can be touchy.  But hey--it's a good excuse not to clean the house, right?