Nashville is starting to open up. It was announced last week that fitness centers have been moved from phase 3 to phase 2, so many places that I work started to reopen as safely as possible.

Before the announcement to reopen was made, Dean and I had made plans to visit my parents in Montgomery. We’ve all been quarantining very responsibly and were prepared to take the utmost precautions. We decided to keep the trip. I thought it would be good for me to see them before I went back out into the workforce and was once again exposed to more people. Also, we thought it might be good for me to get out of the house for a bit. Everything at home reminds me constantly that Jake is gone. I’ve compared the feeling to a part of my chest being carved out and replaced with cement.

It really feels empty without Jake around.

I did bring Jake’s ashes with me, I couldn’t bear to leave him alone just yet. On Friday night, my mom made an awesome bean and corn salad for me and I ate way too much of it because it was so good. We all toasted Jake’s memory with some nice whiskey that Dean had bought and everyone was nice enough to sit through his memorial video with me and we talked about Jake for a while. It was good.

The following morning I got up for a run, feeling a little less heavy. I decided to try listening to some music. I had never listened to Hamilton before, so I gave it a shot. It was perfect. Nice tempo and painted a vivid picture that had nothing to do with Jake. I was really enjoying my run until the beans made their presence known about two and a half miles in. I turned around, but it became quickly apparent that I was not going to make it all the way back. I knew of some undeveloped woods in the neighborhood, so I headed in that direction.

I was stiffly walk/running by the time I reached the woods. I waited long enough to let two people pass me in the other direction, and then charged into them, making sure I got deep enough that no one would be disturbed by any sightings of me. I’ll spare you the details of my time among the trees. We’ll just say that I took care of what I needed to, felt much better and decided to continue my run.

I took a dip in the pool to cool off when I was done, then later my dad showed me how to change the oil in my car. That evening, I noticed a tiny cut on my left inner thigh that seemed to have some black grease on it. I assumed that I got it while changing the oil, cleaned it off and thought nothing of it.

This is what the initial cut looks like now. It was less than a quarter of an inch long when I first discovered it.

Sunday morning, the cut had broken out. Although I hadn’t had an outbreak since I was nineteen, I recognized it immediately as poison ivy. Later I found spots on the opposite leg and on my right arm. Then a spot on my face. Crap. I figured I had touched some unseen ivy during my desperate crash through the woods and had somehow spread it around. My only hope was that my dip in the pool might have removed most of the oil.

Each day that followed the rash continued to spread. It was even getting onto areas that completely perplexed me. Under my bra? How did it get there? It wrapped around my stomach and hips. More spots broke out on my thighs, then another spot on my left ear and left cheek. I finally called urgent care.

It’s systemic. Because of the cut, the Urushiol had entered my bloodstream and the rash was just spreading where ever it felt like spreading. I had to go on steroids. My doctor said that he was doing his best to avoid putting anyone on steroids with COVID 19 about because it automatically made them more vulnerable to any infections. I let my gym know and they were nice enough to take me off of the schedule for a few days.

Tomorrow it will have been a week from initial contact with the ivy and hopefully I’ll start noticing some progress. I think the steroids have halted the spread. It’s difficult to tell because it had already reached so many places. I was prescribed enough so that I can ‘step back up’ if I need to, but obviously I’m hoping that’s not necessary.

In the meantime, I’m itchy and cranky. I’ve done so much reading on poison ivy that I’ve learned a few new things to try. The internet wasn’t the vast chamber of trivia that it now is the last time I had an infection. Dean walked into the bathroom once to find me dabbing apple cider vinegar on all of the spots and quipped, “so are we just trying anything now?” It’s supposed to dry up the blisters and ease the itching. I’m not sure if it’s working or not.

I am in varying stages of itchiness, although after I take a does of steroids, it does ease off for a while. I’ve at least been sleeping through the night since getting on the meds. I’ve also done experiments on a variety of poison ivy home remedies. Taking a very hot shower does stop the itch for about an hour, but I’ve also read it’s not good for the rash. No where can I find out why though. Taking a luke warm bath with Epsom salts seems to help a little? I’m not entirely sure. Benadryl does help and apparently doesn’t make me drowsy. I’ve read a few articles that say it’s only helpful to make you fall asleep through the itch, but I disagree. I can tell a difference when I take it and I can tell when it’s wearing off.

I’ve also become paranoid about all manner of leaves that grow in threes. And nines. (Poison sumac has nine leaves.) I didn’t see that poison ivy and I thought I had a good idea of what it looked like. Apparently it can take many forms, jagged edges, smooth edges, reddish tint, green tint, it can even give you a rash when it’s brown and dead and dried up. I hate it. It’s evil.

I don’t really have any words of wisdom to end on today. Just that sometimes you get a string of bad luck and you have to deal.

Adding Injury to Insult, or How I got systemic poison ivy