Poison Ivy

Last Wednesday night I skipped church to do some work for the church. We are trying to put in a sign at a busy intersection and the weeds were over 6 feet tall. Well, my work Wednesday night wasn't too bad although the tall grass was thick enough to run my weed eater out of string before I finished. I also had some weeds that required the use of a hand clipper. I managed to mow the rest and all said I cleared out an area of about 15 square feet.

Thursday I got a call from the pastor asking if I had about an hour to help put the sign in. It was my last day off and I had plans with the family so he excused me from helping. I felt the need to help and loaded the truck with my weed eater thinking I could clear out the little area that was still blocking what would be the bottom part of the sign. I let the pastor know I would help and while I waited for him to show up I started weeding. Then I noticed the dreaded Poison Ivy monster. I had already whacked some of it down. Bad thing for me I had on short sleeves.

A little bit later I worked the augger(gas post hole digger). In the 30 minutes that I worked I sweat a lot. I was worried about wiping the poison ivy in my eyes so I kept my goggles on.

I went home, showered, and then spent the day taking the public train with my family to downtown Dallas.

Nothing showed up until Sunday when I could see these little spots on my forearms. It was 3 days later and usually poison ivy shows up withing 12-48 hours. As I look back I did do the laundry on Saturday and possibly picked up my sweat pants and t-shirt as I grabbed clothes to wash.

Poison Ivy Facts:
Once you break out it is not contagious.
The oil of poision ivy(urishiol) can stay active on shoes or clothing for up to 5 years. WOW.

If you suspect that you've been exposed to poison ivy:

Apply rubbing alcohol to the infected area.
Rinse with water (any water).
Wash up with soap and warm water.

I found something called zanfel that sells for $40 an ounce. Instead I read online that if you take a hair dryer and heat the infected area to the hottest that you can bear your skin sends a message to the brain to start healing the skin instead of reacting to the itchy feeling. So far that has worked!!!!!

Moral of the story: don't skip church, or don't help the pastor after you have been excused!