Okay- this totally sucks. The rash? Yes, it is poison ivy. You see, I knew I was working with it (Poison Ivy), but then I got stung. And when one is allergic to bees and gets stung, the first thought is "Hm, I should probably go use that epipen I paid good money to sit around the house". One doesn’t think " Perhaps I should take a nice cold shower and remove all of the poison ivy oil off of my body before I go to the ER and stop breathing". * Note I never stopped breathing. Drama Queen is kicking in to exaggerate today* Anyway, Perhaps I should have. Taken a shower, that is. I am currently at work with a small, yet lovely container of oatmeal and baking soda paste next to me. I am placing it on my mild poison ivy rash on my arms and on leg. Some points are fine, others itch like hell.

The two worse patches on my arm, I actually remember the ivy touching my skin. I remember saying, "I have got to shower and use some olive oil so it will bind to the ivy oil and remove it". Then I got stung on the ear. I did drop the gloves I was wearing (those gloves are getting thrown out along with the socks I was wearing). However, somewhere between the realization that this might be a good time to use the local ER and the time I was back home nursing a pained chest and a mightily bruised arm from an IV, I touched poison ivy oil to my back. And my other arm. And my leg. In my defense, I did rub rubbing alcohol all over my arms when I got home from the hospital before I showered to try to remove any oils. By that time, it was too late.

Oh my Lord, this stuff is terrible! The blisters look like regular blisters, but they feel like rubber. The itch is amazing. It’s like someone took a tiny anthill of microscopic fire ants and injected them under your skin. But if you scratch, you will break the blisters and then you will scar and possibly get infections.

I had one of the larger blisters on my arm break. I foolishly tried to "drain" (note, appropriate quotes) the blister with a needle. This is after I disinfected the needle with rubbing alcohol.Unfortunately, the release of pressure caused the entire blister to burst and I now have an open cut to both keep dry and try not to get infected. Lovely.

I think the worst part of all of this is the delayed reaction. Because my allergist put me on steroids for the anaphalaxis, I think that delayed and hopefully, reduced the reaction to the poison ivy. So I feel like I have been deal with first the bee sting and subsequent scare and now I am a hideous mass of blisters. Itchy blisters. My back has a 4×4 inch blister and a 10×8 inch patch of red. Ick.

 Being the good mother I am, today my kids were complaining that swimming was too cold in the morning. I snapped "what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger". Soleil quickly retorted, "How does the poison ivy make you stronger?" I said "Next time, I pay someone to remove the ivy"

To be honest and not so much drama, the Internet has taught me two things: 1) I have a very mild case of poison ivy and 2) if I try some of the home remedies, the rash should go away in 2-3 weeks, if I leave it alone, it will go away in 14-21 days.

Sigh