A lesson I inadvertently learnt at church last Sunday is that it’s best not to swat t
he ‘fly’ that you think is buzzing round your head until you’ve actually verified its identity. The ‘fly’ in this case turned out to be either a wasp or hornet - I never did see it. Kenyan wasps and hornets look pretty nasty – and I can certainly confirm that it feels pretty nasty to be on the receiving end of a sting! Whilst I didn’t see it, other senses sprang into action: I was immediately very aware of a sharp and painful sensation in the fourth finger of my right hand. Thankfully, I was able to remove my ring before the swelling began. Amazingly this had receded in time for the concert that I was playing in with Nairobi Orchestra that afternoon, but came back with a vengeance as the concert ended. By the next morning, my 
entire hand was red, swollen, itchy, blistered..... and painful. Doing anything with it, let alone play the flute part of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite as I had the previous afternoon, was out of the question. Cellulitis had somehow set in – I guess that beastly bug hadn’t cleaned its stinger recently!! It’s perhaps a bit grisly to have a photo of my poor hand here (with the left one to show the contrast) but I figure that I’ve previously featured a very dirty foot, so why not this?! I’m very thankful to report that with the help of prayer, a cocktail of antihistamine, antibiotics and hydrocortisone cream, plus resting it as much as possible, the swelling is gradually starting to go down – and I can actually type this without too much discomfort!
he ‘fly’ that you think is buzzing round your head until you’ve actually verified its identity. The ‘fly’ in this case turned out to be either a wasp or hornet - I never did see it. Kenyan wasps and hornets look pretty nasty – and I can certainly confirm that it feels pretty nasty to be on the receiving end of a sting! Whilst I didn’t see it, other senses sprang into action: I was immediately very aware of a sharp and painful sensation in the fourth finger of my right hand. Thankfully, I was able to remove my ring before the swelling began. Amazingly this had receded in time for the concert that I was playing in with Nairobi Orchestra that afternoon, but came back with a vengeance as the concert ended. By the next morning, my 
entire hand was red, swollen, itchy, blistered..... and painful. Doing anything with it, let alone play the flute part of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite as I had the previous afternoon, was out of the question. Cellulitis had somehow set in – I guess that beastly bug hadn’t cleaned its stinger recently!! It’s perhaps a bit grisly to have a photo of my poor hand here (with the left one to show the contrast) but I figure that I’ve previously featured a very dirty foot, so why not this?! I’m very thankful to report that with the help of prayer, a cocktail of antihistamine, antibiotics and hydrocortisone cream, plus resting it as much as possible, the swelling is gradually starting to go down – and I can actually type this without too much discomfort! 
2 comments:
Oooh Claire, that looks very sore. Glad it's calming down now. An hour's practice on the flute is more than I could do even with my healthy hand!
wow, amazing!
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