jellyfish are bullies

Gordy has had a rough go these last few weeks... about two weeks ago, we were playing in the shore break at our beach when he jumped off the board and started grabbing at his legs and groin in pain.  I looked on the board and saw a jellyfish with four yellow tentacles writhing around.  We ran home, rinsed in the shower, dabbed him with vinegar and finally got him in the bath which was the only thing that stopped his crying.

His wounds finally started healing, so about one week later, we went for a "quick dip" in the ocean.  Gordy lagged in the water a big longer than I did and again I heard him start panicking and grabbing at this groin.  This time, he happened to have clothes on which made things worse because it took us time to get his shorts and sun-shirt off of him leaving more time for the jelly that was stuck inside to sting him.  Hoping to get him home quickly this time, I threw him on my hip and ran.  We made it home and into the tub, which again seemed to relieve a majority of the pain, but his wounds were more serious this time with actual burn markups on his stomach and in three places on his leg.

Today marks a week since his second sting and he's still taking antihistamines at least once a day.  He has something called "Delayed Allergic Reaction" which apparently means that his body is triggering an auto-immune response to continue to fight the venom.  The immune response makes him itch all other and gives him hives in random places all over his body including his head.  Not sure how long that is going to continue, but the good news is that his burns are somewhat healing and he seems to be in pretty in good spirits.

When asked about the incidents, his typical response is that "jellyfish are bullies"... it's hard to disagree.