Joe was mortified that I'd be willing to show these to you. "Pam! Think about what you're doing!" He said.
But I figure, Hey, it's my blog... it's about me... my life. I may as well keep you apprised of what my week has revolved around. Right? Just consider yourself warned; it isn't pretty.
But if you stick with it till the end, I'll reward you with something really pretty!
Okay, here goes...
Careful now... I'm about to show you the result of Sunday's poisonous plant attack...
I'm making you scroll way down so that it doesn't immediately appear on your screen.
If you've scrolled this far, I can only assume you really do want to see it...
I knew curiosity would get the best of you!
This was Tuesday, the caterpillar stage.
At this point I went shopping for gauze and tape to wrap it because the weeping was starting to get pretty consistent. The ladies at the register thought I should go straight to the hospital and proceeded to tell me horror stories about their relatives' allergies.
Thanks, ladies, but I'm fine. My throat didn't close and my eyes didn't swell shut. I'm just itchy... and rather disgusting to look at.
This is today. The sub-dermis-alien-worm stage. It looks horrific, but I actually think it's improving. It doesn't itch as much, swelling has gone down, and the blisters have mostly flattened out.
They do still weep, however.
{{ Gasp. Gag. Cough. Sputter.}} ...I'm sorry. I told it was nasty!
Joe has already suggested I put cocoa butter on it... I'm thinking some vitamin E might also be in order, but I'm not doing that till they quit weeping. What I am doing is applying cool compresses, calamine lotion, and taking benedryl.
I'm fully confident that this will - in a few weeks' time - return to pretty, dainty, supple skin. I promise!
But, speaking of suggestions... Mountain-man Bob suggested I spray them with anti-perspirant. "It'll dry 'em right quick." (This is the same man who gave us tips on when to eat wild meat... "never eat meat that's been hit." Seriously... it came up; we had a discussion about it... remember the wild turkey that got hit out front?!)
Anyway, I actually bought anti-perspirant and sprayed it on my arms. I have to say, the skin seemed to pucker up a bit, and the itch/sting went away; they even had a shower-fresh smell! But, I don't think I'll do that again. It just doesn't seem right. I fear the weeping stopped simply because the spray clogged it up.
Nah, I'll stick with calamine...
Oh darn. I was at Ingles today and forgot to get Aveeno Oatmeal Bath... Piggly Wiggly didn't have it (of course).
Hmpf.
I also have the rash and smaller blisters on my other arm, my abdomen, behind my ear, on my neck, and under my chin! For me, this is a severe case of poison ivy and I was somewhat taken aback by it until I went to this site:
http://www.poison-ivy.org/
Whoa, Nellie! There's a link there called the Skin Rash Hall of Fame; now, those people suffered! They'd think I was a complete pansy if I submitted my pictures!
Regardless, the next time I tackle the yard, I'm wearing my garden armor!
Okay, I promised not to leave you with these disgusting images in your mind, and I have a reward for your sticking it out to the end...
Here's what I found when I was running errands today:
Scads of wildflowers in the median on the 4-lane (as the locals call it.) :-D
Now, isn't that better? Forget what you saw above...
Just focus on the pretty daisies. Think about the warm sunshine, the refreshing Spring breeze.
Ahhh....
4 comments:
Zowie! No one has ever shown me what poison ivy actually does to a body! Consider it a public service announcement.
And when I saw the field of daisies, my first thought was, "I wish I could just lay down there and look at the sky..."; then I thought there may be poison ivy amongst those daisies, and decided it was not a good day for that.
Hope you heal up, soon, dear. That is terrible. And wonderful. (the flowers, not the arm)
OHMYGOODNESS! I didn't realize it was that bad! Maybe a doctor visit wouldn't be a bad idea. Hope you feel better soon. From now on, you need to wear long sleeves tucked into your garden glove and then duct tape it closed! If you get it again...you just shouldn't be a rural gardener! Stick to veggies and flowers! :-) LOVE YOU!
You poor, poor, poor, poor thing! That's awful. I can't even imagine how miserable you were. I hope you're back to normal now. Youch!
DERN Pam, you weren't kidding about how nasty it got. Yeah, armor it is! At least you know what it looks like now so you can stand clear. Glad it's healing as nicely as I saw it. xo
Post a Comment