Poison Ivy

Dear Mom,

I wasn’t able to make it to DeeJay Jay’s fundraiser for Joplin nor to the family reunion as I have a severe case of poison ivy or poison something. (Sorry Jason, hope you had a good turnout.)

I know I’m allergic to something in the garden and I normally wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt and gloves. I'd come in and immediately shower and for the most part contain any little spot.

Lately I’ve been having to wear my wrist support to keep from twisting my wrist the wrong way since that seems to go out more than I care. So this last time I went out to work in the garden, I remembered the wrist support but completely spaced out on the long pants and sleeves. That should teach me.

My initial remedy failed and this stuff spread like a wild fire in a dried up forest. Have you ever tried to keep yourself from scratching something that fiercely itches?

After five days of no signs of it letting up or feeling even slightly relieved, I made an appointment with a dermatologist—a sweet lady doctor that I’ve been to before for various moles and growths. It just so happened that someone cancelled that morning I called. Lucky me.

The doctor prescribed some meds and an expensive cream that I almost didn’t purchase because $65 seemed a bit steep for something I wasn’t sure was going to work—and that was after insurance paid its part. The pharmacist said they might have a smaller tube and maybe it’ll be less—would she like me to check?

“Please.”

“Yes, we have a smaller tube that’ll cost you $20.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

Even when I’m in the utmost irritable situation, I still hesitate when it comes to spending money (unless I’ve lost my mind completely and buy stuffed bunnies). With the way I felt, I wondered why I didn’t say, “Can I have two tubes?”

I’m using the small tube sparingly and it does work. After using Ivy Dry, Lemon Juice, Cutex Nail Polish Remover, Preparation H, Hydrogen Peroxide, Gold Bond, Cortisone Cream, Oatmeal paste, Echinacea and Calamine Lotion, I don’t understand why I hesitated because all that stuff probably added up to more than $65, although I had most of it already in the cabinet.

Guess the rest of the weeds will remain in the garden because I’m not likely to go through this again.

Here's a shot of one arm.

And then the arm with my - what I thought was going to be my cure - with the oatmeal paste. I think if anyone was just getting into theatrics, this would be a good way to make fake puke or if you let it dry (without the actual oatmeal flakes) makes it look like... well, something.

I did learn something from the doctor—although maybe you know this already. I thought I could spread this poison ivy—for instance, if I had some on one arm and touched my other arm, then boom, there it is. I was told that wherever that residue had touched my skin, it will appear at some point, sooner or later. It can’t be transferred once it’s been washed off with plain soap and water. That’s my understanding anyway. Made me feel better, and saved me from doing extra wash as I was changing the bedding every morning thinking I contaminated the sheets.

Chances are I could be allergic to something else. The doctor said she’s allergic to geranium leaves. When I told my husband this, who has felt I was allergic to something else besides poison ivy, I’m sure he wanted to say, “See I told ya!” But instead he suggested after this clears up, I should go out in the garden and pull a leaf from a plant, rub it on myself and wait to see if anything develops. And keep doing that until I find out what I might be allergic to. Do you know what I say to that brainy idea?