OUCH!
I've been doing some yard work and finally set myself to clear out a large patch of unattended growth along the side of my house last week. I spent about 40 minutes hacking and picking up scraps that had been growing unfettered for the last two years. It was a mess and still is as I haven't finished the work, but I had filled up my trash can and had to stop.
About two days later my legs looked like a war zone. Red, blistered, and itching. I have my suspicions that in my side yard there is a substantial amount of poison ivy. This suspicion was reinforced when I did some more work on my yard this weekend and got a fresh new patch of rashes. I had always assumed that I was immune to the effects of poison ivy, much as I am immune to every other poison known to man (iocaine powder, etc.), but I have since learned that resistence to poison ivy can lessen with age and continued exposure to it (unlike iocaine powder). So now the warzone that was just my legs has expanded to my arms and chest. I am even now resisting the urge to roll around on the floor at work. It's not that I haven't done it before, but my pants are freshly pressed and I think they've still got another use in them.
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27 comments:
time to fill the tub with an oatmeal bath. (it helps with poison sumac, should help with poison ivy as well.)
maybe you should buy a couple of goats. that'll solve any future 'unattended growth' areas in the future. and they can help with soccer practice as well. :)
Daggs--my condolences. You don't think this will result in the aforementioned funeral, do you? If so, I will bring sour dough bread. Do you want white, whole grain, or oatmeal? Or do you just want me to send the oatmeal now and you can make it into a paste to put on the rash?
jinx
Here's what I learned after my encounter with poison oak a few years back: Once you scratch where it itches and touch any other part of your anatomy, you've spread the damned stuff. So don't! Apply anti-itch medication to infected area, then wash your hands thoroughly with antiseptic soap.
Also after any yard work henceforth, go in wash hands and arms with soap and water; remove clothing and wash them immediately, then wash hands again. Got that? Then take a shower!
Don't even bother to tell me what you want for Christmas. It's work gloves and a long sleeved shirt (probably from an estate sale).
Love you.
Heather - Is there any secret recipe for the oatmeal bath? I've never had one before, but after six days of this I'll try anything.
JAZ - It has me praying for it.
JAZ - You owe me a coke?
Lit - I've got both, it's just that since it's never bothered me before I didn't even worry about it. Correction***I don't have a long sleeve shirt from an estate sale.
tie about a cup or so of oatmeal into a cheese cloth or something like that with a small handful of dried lavender buds and put it into your bath water. you can add a big splash of buttermilk to the water too to add some extra soothing effects. just think of the tub as a huge tea cup. you want to steep the oatmeal and lavender for a bit before you get in. it sounds odd as hell but i'm telling you it'll help. promise. it did me when i had poison sumac from the knees down on both legs. and your mom's right, itching and touching elsewhere just spreads the misery so be careful! and wash your hands about a thousand percent more often than you already do. feel better soon. :)
(skip the lavender if you want, i think it helps sooth but if you don't happen to grow it or know someone who does it can be expensive, lavender oil might do the same but i don't know)
huh? I said jinx first, so doesn't heather owe me a coke?
And ditto what heather said about the oatmeal. Ditto what lit said about the gardening. And you never outgrow mom telling you to wash. Even on a public forum.
I hear from lit that it is probably better for your mental health if you don't fall back on letting the boy trim the hedges. Unless you need to get over the hump on your medical expenses for your taxes, then I guess you could sacrifice his fingers, but that's a long-term solution to a short-term problem. Better to continue to sacrifice yourself to the possibility of a repeat rash.
Are you the dread pirate roberts?
I have to be so careful around poison ivy or poison oak. You can also get stuff from your doctor if it's really bad.
Does no one use calamine lotion anymore?
I think the cure is oil and open flame.
Dagromm, Heather is right...the Oatmeal bath works wonders on itchy shit! You can also buy packets in the store of the Aveeno...shit forget that, the WAL-MART brand!
I just sat here with a visual of you rolling around on the floor at work, and it made me chuckle...sorry!
Gyuss...you can be so naughty!
Heather - I think the only things that you listed that I own are a bath tub with running water.
JAZ - My blog, my coke.That's just proper etiquette.
Susan - Not the original Dread Pirate Roberts.
Chulita - I went and got a shot yesterday, but I haven't noticed any change.
Goo - Does it help?
Gyuss - 10/1 you die first.
Tera - Now you're talking. Walmart sounds easier than having to follow a recipe.
Tera - Naughty like a spike through the head.
Jewelweed isn't too bad, either. It took the bite out of the poison oak I had in the spring.
What is jewelweed?
And Daggs, you are going to have to accept either Diet Coke or Diet Ginger Ale from this household. Unless I could snitch a can of Peach Fresca from Chill for you?
Is that why you showed up to play golf in full body bandage from head to tow? I forgot to ask.
Oh, boy, I've missed not one but two postings. I think you should just ask one of your co-workers for a scratch here and there.
Jewelweed is the orange-yellow flower that grows in the wild, often right next to the poison plants. It does wonders for the itch (especially if you catch it early)
So, if I am planning to play in the poison ivy I need to first make sure I spot the bright flower nearby and snatch it up at dawn so as to ensure it is handy when the rash starts? Now, if I don't awaken that early, where does it run off to? Maybe I could stake out its other hiding spots?
Darn, I hate having to race a plant.
Plants are good.
The title of this blog should be Dagrom's Derilict House of Never Posting
your mom blogs more that you! :p
Wow... did Dagromm die?
Where are where are you tonight, why did you leave me hear all alone?
October 13, 2008 and counting down to 1/4 of a full year since you have updated your blog. You rock!
hey, how ya doin? yeah? good, glad to hear it man. you look good, no rashes or anything right? see, told you that oatmeal and lavender bath would do wonders for you. your skin has that healthy glow to it. a bit pale but healthy ya know. talked to your mom the other day. yeah, she's smart and funny. i like her, i see bits of her in you. you know, every once in a blue moon.
*i'd look less like a stalker/nut-job if you'd post once a month or so. ;)
hope all's good with you and yours.*
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