Leaves of three, let them be

So along with the stuff that needs done inside the house, we also have a fair bit of work to do on landscaping. Feeling rushed and overwhelmed I made a hasty decision to cut down an eyesore of a vine making its way up our house. In retrospect, I can almost hear the alarm bells ringing in my ears, but not one to stop for contemplation when projects are multiplying around me, I forged ahead and cut down the vine with vigor. Then my new neighbor came by to stay hello. I spent the next 20 minutes or so talking and wiping the sweat from my face and apparently touching every exposed surface of my body.

That was a Saturday. On Sunday I started to feel itchy and confirmed my worst fears by checking the vine on the porch. Three leaves. Poison Ivy. How did I miss that? By Monday I was swelling and by Tuesday morning, with an eye swelled halfway shut and the poison ivy rash creeping up my neck and around my face and on my ears and all over my arms and hands and down my legs, we decided a trip to the Urgent Care clinic was in order.

At the clinic I was met with pity, comments like "you really got into it girl," a steroid shot, steroid cream, 3 weeks of predisone, and some over-the-counter drugs to see me through until the poison ivy was in check.

It is hard to recall a time when I have been more miserable. The itching. The burning. The swelling. The humiliation (being covered in a rash and having your head swollen to twice its normal size is not exactly how I envisioned making a good first impression). Thankfully the steroids did their job, and while they made me jumpy and borderline homicidal at times, my head did retract to a more normal size and the itching became more bearable. Unfortunately nothing but time could make the red peeling skin go away and I just had to pretend like I meant to cover myself in red makeup on just one side of my face (yes, it was as attractive as you are imagining).

On a positive note, I now have a very clear picture of what poison ivy looks like and never will the phrase "leaves of three, let them be" disappear from my mind.

 

 

If you are hanging around for a picture, no luck. This is something I would like no photographic evidence of.

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