Halloween

Well, after my severe Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac, I was feeling ok, went to 3 stores to pick up stuff that was needed or wanted... About 2 days after healing up, I start coughing.  This wet cough.  Great.  Because, you know, I'd been coughing (those popping coughs) from June until September!  That started from right before we left Montegut after being there for 2 weeks so the kids could do swimming lessons there.

So, now, its Halloween, and I'm not bringing the kids to Trick-or-Treat :(  Jeremy's bringing them because I know I'm not feeling good enough to go.  I'm coughing a lot.  And it really sucks, because this year, we have new costumes.  Jeremy would have been the Wicked Mad Hatter. I would have been the Red Queen and Calista was Alice.  Ursula was Abby Bominable (Monster High).  Wyatt was a Dementor (Harry Potter).

I wasn't feeling well enough to even do their make-up :((

Severe Reaction To Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac

Alright... this really sucked...

It got really bad!  The rash spread to places that the plant never touched, like my belly!  The left side of my face was swollen!  The right side of my face was starting to swell but not even close to how much the left side did!  Awful and UGLY!!!  Wow!  And then, before the swelling was over, I had to go get a package from the mail lady!  I put on some sunglasses and held my head down as much as possible! lol  And my face didn't itch at all.  However, it was feverish and red.  And after the swelling went down (took about 4 days altogether - from start of swelling to ending of it), it was like I had a sunburn and a thin layer of skin had to be exfoliated off... not bad though.

I definitely stayed inside as much as possible!  I looked up info, of course.  And for those that think you can catch Poison Ivy from someone... its ONLY if they haven't bathed yet or washed their clothes because the plant's oil will still be on them.  When you have the fluid filled blisters, THAT'S NOT CONTAGIOUS!  Your body doesn't start becoming a plant and producing the poison!!!  Think about it!  Even if you scratch them, you can't give it to someone else!  And oh, let's talk about scratching... OMG!!!  It was ecstasy to itch!  Wow!  I could have scratched my skin off and it would have felt AWESOME! lol  Thankfully, my logical brain overruled my sensory organs... Jeremy hooked me up with pretty much any and all (almost) things relating to Poison Ivy.  Some worked better than others.  I really liked the Calamine spray.  It has a numbing substance in it as well as anti-itch thing.  The clear Caladryl... I didn't like too much... when it dries, it peels off... good ole Calamine works well still :)

So, I had the rash on both forearms, small blisters on backs of my fingers, near the lowest knuckle, my knees, and up the top of my thighs, my neck and chest had some, and my belly... even some discoloring on my breasts but no itching, and my face was affected but no itching there either.

I'm sooo glad its almost ended!  Yay!  Yes, huge lesson learned!  I will be using weed killer from now on!!! LOL

Poison Reaction

Well, so much for me not having reactions to Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac!  Honestly, I have no idea which one is making me itch now... but, definitely having a reaction :(  I checked out pics online, and I'm pretty certain that not only was ivy there (which I totally recognized) but, I'm quite certain oak too... and I'm think even some Sumac... Right now, its mostly on my arms, which is ok...

Pulling Poison Weeds

Well, I pulled weeds today.  Or more to exactly, poison ivy, oak, and perhaps even sumac... Why?  Because, now that the first rent house on Midway Lane was sold, they redrew the boundaries and now I have more land to mow, weed, and keep up... including another Holly bush/tree.  So, being that I've never gotten the poison weeds out from under that new tree and my daughter, Calista, is very allergic to it, I got to work.  I've never had any reaction to them... or to just perhaps just the Poison Ivy... I was pulling out all kinds of weeds... some I recognized, others I didn't... I took no chances and pulled them.  I put them in a plastic store bag and then put them in the garbage can outside.  I hope to have taken care of all dangers around that tree!  Guess we'll see!

On a side note, I also met our new neighbors behind us (facing HWY 743).  Kristi and Mark.  They have 2 children: Chase (5 yrs old) and Gracie (4 mths old, I think).  They're like us in that they've been together for years, have children and aren't married! lol