While I was in the garden on Saturday, I got stung by something. I’m not sure what it was; I smacked it before I totally realized what was happening. I’m pretty sure it was a wasp or a hornet, though.

I was lucky in that I did not have an anaphylactic reaction. My leg swelled up a bit, but not in any way that seemed disproportionate to the situation. It stung, but didn’t even itch particularly.

However, while most people’s swelling would go down after a day or two, mine continued to get worse. Apparently that’s called a large local reaction. Essentially, my body really doesn’t like being stung or bitten by insects and overreacts to the entire thing. A large local reaction is like your body being a drama queen. I was never in any danger from the situation, but my body doesn’t want anyone to realize that. “I was STUNG, people! STUNG!” Every time my body thinks about it, the story gets bigger and more elaborate. So every time I unconsciously rubbed at or scratched my leg, my body added another layer of hysteria to the reaction.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had a large local reaction. It happens sometimes with mosquito bites, too, and I assume it’s the reason my doctor thought I was allergic to bee stings as a kid.

I’ve taken some Benadryl (which was its own ridiculous story) and have just recognized that my leg will be swollen for another few days and that I’ll simply have to live with the unattractive appearance and itchy feeling.

But, nope, I’m not allergic. Just a drama queen.