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06/10/2008: "Round Four of the Creeping Crud, (aka Poison Ivy)"

I cannot find my camera USB cord, so I cannot download my vacation pictures just yet. However, I thought I would tell you the story of my creeping crud.

I can pretty much tell you when I contracted the poison ivy. I was leaning against a tree along the Tionesta Creek in western Pennsylvania last Friday morning. Heather made the observation that the ivy crawling up the tree might be poison. We did not give it any more thought, because we were busy looking for lily’s to dig up and bring home.

I woke up around twilight on Saturday morning, and did not notice anything different about myself. I felt fine. I went right back to sleep. However, when I woke up for good around 8 AM, I noticed a small red raised area on the top of my left hand - the usual one - near my thumb. I also noted that my right eye – the usual one – was a little bit swollen. Heather saw me, and immediately knew what was happening. Daddy got the creeping crud again.

My eye and hand worsened during the day, and my right eye was nearly swollen shut by bedtime when we had returned to St. Joseph. I was itchy and grouchy, and the crud was spreading quickly. I had two extremely unsightly blisters on my left hand, and there must have been a waterfall of goo when they burst in the middle of the night.

I woke up Sunday morning with a right eye that was swollen shut. Completely. Both of my hands were deteriorating quickly, and the blisters were spreading. I was so badly attacked between my fingers on my right hand, it actually hurt to try to make a fist, and my fingers stuck together.

I woke up on Monday with a swollen eye, but it was no longer shut tight. I could at least see. I could not shave because the crud was on my neck and chin. I dropped off Heather and Dylan at work, and Katelyn at soccer camp, and then camped myself at the walk-in clinic! The nice doctor gave me a shot in the butt, and two antibiotic prescriptions for possible infection.

My eye is almost normal today, but I still cannot shave. My face is a train wreck, and I must be scaring people in the hall who normally see me clean-shaven. If my face is the train wreck, my hands are the dead bodies. Although the oozing is long gone, and the pain is no longer there, I have some very ugly and itchy patches of blisters on both hands. I keep staring at them, wondering if this is all real.

There are minor little blisters on my legs, and the itching comes and goes. I thought I would need to take a cold shower tonight, but I’m feeling better at the moment.

The doctor recommended that I pick up some specialized poison ivy soap at the drug store. Man, I wish someone had told me about this way back in 2005 the first time this happened! Even the generic version costs a pretty penny, though. However, it works, and it relieves my itching for hours at a time. I had to use it on my hands in the morning, and tonight after working outside. I guess miracles drugs ain’t cheap.

I think that the spreading has finally stopped, at least on my arms and hands. Tomorrow will hopefully bring about some noticeable change and improvement in my hands. Although I can get relief from the soap, they are a disgusting sight to see. Katelyn is hyper paranoid about me touching her, and tells anyone who will listen that her Daddy has poison ivy.

Two lessons I learned from this bout of the crud: I need to use that poison ivy soap right away to prevent the spread of the oil. I might not be able to prevent my eye from swelling up, but I think I can at least keep the infection localized on my hand. Secondly, I need to take my rings off right away if I suspect something is amiss. If you did not know any better, you would swear that I had chemical burn on my right ring finger; there is an ugly red ring right where the ring sits and that turned much of the rest of my finger into a dark-red and blistery nightmare.

So, how was your day?