And Then I Went on Steroids…
For poison ivy. Which I haven’t gotten since I was eight, but it turns out I am still extremely allergic. Last week I came out of the woods for my days off with a small rash on my wrist, which proceeded to explode all over my body overnight. I visited the doctor and he prescribed steroids, which essentially shut down your body’s immune system so it won’t react to the poison ivy oil (which is what causes the rash). So I currently have no immune system, but my rash has stopped itching and is finally starting to fade.
Okay, so it doesn’t look that bad here. But this is after five days on steroids, and you can’t see my stomach.
My main concern is that, before this outbreak, I was never really on the lookout for poison ivy. I knew about the three leaves, etc. but I can’t say I would walk down the trail and think to myself, “oh, that’s poison ivy.” Now, I am hyper-aware of any poison ivy in my presence and the problem is: it is everywhere. In some parts of the trail it is actually impossible to avoid contact with. I’m scared for the rest of the summer, and the future.
