Poison Ivy Aaagh!

Sunday I apparently handled Poison Ivy while cleaning up the trees in the yard. Monday night, i had hives all over my upper body with an intense itch, starting from the arms. Survived that night with Claritin. Went to see my doc on Tuesday morning. He diagnosed it as reaction to poison-ivy and prescribed Methylprednisolone tablets and Triamcinolone Acetonide cream. That's my first time taking prescription medicine in 12 years. This is how my arm looked like on Thursday morning. Those are probably the areas I had direct contact with the vine or leaves. Much better than before. Hope the worst is over, even though the doc said poison-ivy reactions can last a long time.

Apparently Poison Ivy only grows in North America. In all my years living in China, I had never heard of such a thing. I had handled the same vines before, but never had a problem. Now I know how toxic they are.

So, leaves of three, let them be!