ER -vs- Craft Fair

It's the weekend after Labor Day.  That means its time for the Little Falls Craft Fair.

It was last minute plans to head Up North.  Mom was going to be home alone because Dad was heading "up to the 40" to do "yard work".  To translate, this means playing with big boy machinery in the woods.

We headed out early Saturday morning.  Our thoughts were to get there when it was still cool.  Ha...cool my @$$.  It was so hot you thought I just got done running a marathon.  And it was crowded.  By the end of 2 hours, I was done apologizing for running into or hitting other people.  Minnesota nice time was over.  And I didn't want to be apologized to either.  Just bump me and walk away.  I asked for it just be being present.

I didn't have anything specific in mind.  I did have a shopping list for a coworker which I was successful at completing.  One of the last booths we were at before heading to the car was dips and soups.  We dunked our pretzel sticks into various dips to sample them.  I had a soup sample....it's official...I'm not a soup person. 

But my mom must have had a reaction to something she ate because her lower lip got swollen.  First just a little puffy on her left side.  When we got to the car 15 minutes later, even more so and the right side just a little.  We headed to the Pizza Ranch....YUM!...for lunch and by the time we were done it was time to make the decision on whether to go home or to Urgent Care.  Her lip was now smooth and shiny and deep purple/red.  And her arms were itching with welts and her hairline from ear to ear looked like little mosquito bites.  The more she itched the bigger they got.

We thought as long as we were in town that we should just go.  You don't mess around with facial swelling.  If we had gone home, it'd be 20 minutes for the ambulance to get there, and then a 20 minute ride to the hospital back in Little Falls.  At least we right here and get it checked out before it got even worse.

Mom was admitted and we spent 2 1/2 hours there.  We had nothing better to do. 
Hives is what they thought so she got Benedryl and steroids.  But from what??  Medication reaction?  Food allergy?  Sun reaction?
The itching stopped and the swelling went down.  Still a little swollen this morning but tons better.

To make light of the situation, I told my mom that some women pay a lot of money to get plump lips.  She tried to smile, it didn't work so well.  And it was funny to hear her try to say words that started with b's or p's. 

Even though we took her condition seriously, there was someone a little worse off than us.  As they only let one person in the ER at a time, I switched with my sister and let her stay with my mom for a bit.  While I was waiting in a boring and dull lobby with no magazines and stupid football on the one and only TV, I eavesdropped on a dad talking to the police about his little girl (2 years old??).  She got bit by a dog on her head.  You could hear her crying and screaming from the lobby.  I can only assume she was either getting Novocaine and/or stitches.  Ouch!  They left minutes before my mom was discharged and she was all smiles.  Thank goodness she's okay.