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Author Topic: Gardening can be dangerous...  (Read 6649 times)

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Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Gardening can be dangerous...
« on: June 19, 2010, 07:29:59 am »

hummer..





I have encountered several dangers in my attempts at gardening, from the plants, and the animals that call my outside domain their home.

I have been diligently carving these trees out of a wall of vines in the back of the yard. Health matters and the heat limit the time I spend doing yard work to a couple of hours a day. My routine begins with a walk around the fence line with some clippers cutting back any vines that have continued to grow during the night, and, it amazes me that they are so aggressive. I keep my tools in the basement and the other day, I entered the darkened coolness of the basement only to feel little little patterings on my head as though big heavy raindrops were dropping.

This was my first thought, which was dispelled immediately by sharp burning on both my elbows and behind my knees. I was being attacked by wasps. They had constructed their nest above the door and when I entered, had apparently ticked them off as they followed me into the basement and proceeded to teach me a lesson.

Well, I can give as good as I get, so I  ran to the garage and got a can of spray that shoots a stream for quite a good distance, and  I proceeded to saturate the door frame, and the bottom of the deck. After they flew off, I found and knocked the nest down and ground it into the grass.

I did not really hurt until later that evening, when after my shower, my elbow joints and knees started to ache painfully. My mind traveled in time back to September, when I had received a spider bite from a Brown Recluse and was hospitalized for three days after spending a week in denial as my arm and wrist kept swelling and turning red.

Fortunately, I did not react to the wasp stings as I did the spider bite, so I spent three days nursing my movements and today, I was able to go out and work with no pain after my lab appointment. I can hardly wait to see the lab results two weeks from today.
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline J.R.E.

  • Member
  • Posts: 8,207
  • Positive since 1985, joined forums 12/03
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2010, 07:54:51 am »

"Gardening can be dangerous" Yes it can be. Ouch  !! Bees, wasps hornets, yellow jackets,  I just hat these critters !!

Just a few weeks ago we had some guy in Tampa, get covered with them :


http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2010/5/28/624085.html

Two summers ago, they built a nest in the gate.  I never knew it was there.  Everytine the gate closed they manage to get me, at least two or three times.  And I also got one those long

Shooters and manages to get them.  They never came back, now I look around the house, and try to find them, before they get a good start.


Wishing you well/ be careful----Ray



Current Meds ; Viramune / Epzicom Eliquis, Diltiazem. Pravastatin 80mg, Ezetimibe. UPDATED 2/18/24
 Tested positive in 1985,.. In October of 2003, My t-cell count was 16, Viral load was over 500,000, Percentage at that time was 5%. I started on  HAART on October 24th, 2003.

 As of Oct 2nd, 2023, Viral load Undetectable.
CD 4 @676 /  CD4 % @ 18 %
Lymphocytes,absolute-3815 (within range)


72 YEARS YOUNG

Offline J.R.E.

  • Member
  • Posts: 8,207
  • Positive since 1985, joined forums 12/03
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2010, 08:04:03 am »


A couple of summers ago, Ed's mother asked, if we could get rid of a wasp nest that had formed in the shed, in the back of her property.  She didn't know how big this was, and either did we.

When we went around the back of the shed, I felt the blood drain out of me.  Here was this nest, about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide.  :o  We got out of there in a hurry.

She ended up calling an exterminator , and getting rid of them.


Ray
Current Meds ; Viramune / Epzicom Eliquis, Diltiazem. Pravastatin 80mg, Ezetimibe. UPDATED 2/18/24
 Tested positive in 1985,.. In October of 2003, My t-cell count was 16, Viral load was over 500,000, Percentage at that time was 5%. I started on  HAART on October 24th, 2003.

 As of Oct 2nd, 2023, Viral load Undetectable.
CD 4 @676 /  CD4 % @ 18 %
Lymphocytes,absolute-3815 (within range)


72 YEARS YOUNG

Offline aztecan

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2010, 11:44:02 am »
Two summers ago, I had hornet build a nest under the back eaves of the guest house.

It was about two feet across and about the same measurement deep. It was really quite a feat.

The hornets never bothered me and I left them alone. They eat the nasty bugs in the garden.

The birds did the rest. One day, in the fall, I found the birds had torn the nest apart and eaten all he larvae, etc., inside.

Haven't seen any hornet since.

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2010, 02:10:53 pm »
Ron
It just goes to show ya....you gotta dress for the part.  In age wisdom: now that I know how dangerous gardening can be, I always wear socks and shoes and long pants.   Those ground hornets got me a time or two!!!!

But on another note:  Its great that you can get out and do these little tasks.  Hows the diet this week???
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline weasel

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,906
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2010, 01:50:39 am »


         As I was resting on the porch this afternoon a  hornet got whacked by the fan  :o

          I found it  quite  amusing  :)

         I have more issues with  ticks !

         Glad you are able to garden , it does a body good   ;)

                                                                            Carl
" Live and let Live "

Offline BT65

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  • Member
  • Posts: 10,786
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2010, 06:05:56 am »
Ouch!  That sounds totally awful.  I've only been stung once in my life, and that was years ago when I stepped on a bee.  I've never gone barefoot outside since.  I hope your wounds continue to heal-
I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

Condom and Lube Info https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/safer-sex
Please check out our lessons on PEP and PrEP. https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/pep-prep

https://www.poz.com/basics/hiv-basics/treatmentasprevention-tasp

Offline lforsyth

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  • Member
  • Posts: 244
  • Instaurator Ruinae
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2010, 10:30:01 am »
I haven't had any problem with hornets (knock on wood) but I've had bee's.  Here in the SW the africanized ones are a problem.  We also have leaf cutter bee's.  I don't know if there dangerous but I found that they take the leaves and glue them into a cigar shape and live in the ground.

I'm finding yard work difficult and am just bouncing back from my Heart Attack in December. Glad you are able to enjoy it.

Best of luck. 
Tested POZ in 1986, knew there was something wrong in 1985. 04/2010 CD4: 975 Viral Load undetectable. Prezista, Norvir, Truvada, Acyclovir, Plavix, Lisinopril, Metoprolol and a bedtime snack of Lipitor (YUM)

Offline aztecan

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2010, 11:01:18 pm »
Hey Ron,

I did forget to mention I remember having a similar experience with wasps who had made a home in my clothesline pole.

I was pruning a nearby bush, kept hitting the pole and next thing you know, ouch!

I feel for ya.

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2010, 12:26:30 pm »
Mark, I remember that the clotheline poles were dangerous sites for all kinds of critters. Wasps, yes, and one year, this small sink hole appeared in the spring around one of the bases and as Spring approached, I decided to fix it. I put a shovel in the ground and all these baby snakes came wriggling out. I have no idea what kind they were as I only caught sight of the wriggling, my brain screamed, snakes, and my legs started pumping. I must have covered a good 30 feet in 3 seconds. (I was much younger then) 8)

iforsyth, I think I call those mud daubers or something to that effect. I don't know if they are dangerous either as I kill them on sight. (I have a healthy instinct for survival)  ::)

weasel, ticks are bad news. If it's a particularly hot summer, they will retreat into the house, setting up camp along the baseboards. That was in Arlington, and the house had hardwood floors, so I could see them easily. I also had a black miniature schnauzer, Onna, who I had to take the tweezers to after a hot needle Needless to say, she did not sit still for that very long. It was a horrible summer.

Betty, I have been stung before also, when I was 16, mowing the yard, and this huge crepe myrtle grew on the corner of the house and I pushed the lawn mower under the bottom bushy branches. Pulling it out, my arms were covered with wasps. The lawn mower went one way, as I went the other, flailing my arms like a wind mill and screaming for mama.(who was at work, so a neighbor woman came out and nursed me, after she calmed me down (I was in quite a state)

But Joel, it's so hot *pout* I have to wear shorts, or I'll die.  ::)

Ray, I'm so glad I didn't make the news.  :o 

It has been a week since I was traumatized by the wasps. At first,  I couldn't see anything where the burning was on my skin. Then, my elbows, knees, and wrists, started to ache something horrible. I would walk around whimpering and not really wanting to be moving around. That lasted a few days, and then the pain lessened and 'Dr Ron'  here self diagnosed that the worst was over, and I had survived yet another trial and tribulation.

The very next day after my famous proclamation, I woke up and the bend in my elbows and my knee caps were itching and on fire. I found myself in a loop of scratching, stopping myself, sitting on my hands, finding that I was scratching again (it felt sooo good) I finally had to get up and go cut my fingernails. It has been two days, and I am now only itching on my right knee cap, and left elbow, and they aren't too bad. Thankfully, there is no infection and no visible wounds.

We have lost another five pounds. I am now at 234 lbs, only 34 lbs left to reach my goal of 200 lbs. I have changed Katie's exercise routine up a bit, to surprise her muscles. I am mostly concentrating on her hips, and legs. I warned her last night that she was going to feel it in the morning, and I am waiting for her wake up to see if I was right. I know that I certainly feel the burn, as they say.

The crepe myrtles are blooming and I have a surprise. I must have some garden-gnome blood in my ancestry as the last time I trimmed the myrtles, I took some of the cuttings and stuck them in the planters on the front porch. Ever since I bought these planters, I have been put to the test to find something that will live in them, on a porch that faces West and gets real warm, I would even say hot, once the sun passes over the roof and then starts it descent. Well, I watered these twigs every day, and one of them has started to bloom. I am so pleased.



I can hardly wait for Sunday. I just love that new show on the Cartoon Network, 'Unnatural History'  I was real depressed that 'Grace' ended, and I couldn't be sad at the ending, as Earl had already told her that she was not long for this world.  I'm looking around for my Earl to show up.
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Gardening can be dangerous...
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2010, 02:35:30 pm »
Ron
Did you catch Betty White (I cant believe she is the last Golden Girl) in her new show on TVLND Channel? (TV LAND)  I think its Wed nite at 10pm.
Betty White is such a trooper, keeps on ticking...... etc.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

 


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