4 days later, in Manhattan, my medial calves started to itch. I had what looked like a series of bites going from just above my medial ankles to the medial calves. I thought it was some beetle at the golf course that had gotten to me or there was a new type of 'radiated' mosquito that had invaded lower Manhattan. I tried a topical anti inflammatory creme which gave a little relief, but the next day, the rash began to look like a line of pearls, all different sizes. Now, my imagination started to run away with me. I thought, "what if some crazy type of bug injected eggs into my legs and I start seeing movement under the skin in a few days?" We have all different types of soaks and cremes in Chinese Medicine for everything, but I was nowhere near a Chinese pharmacy to get some relief. So, the next day, it was off to Duane Reade for some topical Benadryl and back upstate for the weekend. No relief. So, Saturday, I went to the local pharmacist, who took one look and said 'poison ivy', loaded me up with soaps, gels, cremes and wished me luck. My first order of the day was to get one of the locals to give me a botany lesson on what this stuff looks like. When I saw what it was, my response was 'do you have any idea how much of this stuff I pulled out around the dealership? At LEAST two wheelbarrow-fulls'. (They said God takes care of fools and dogs...). My second retort was, 'where do I get me some napalm to kill this stuff?'
Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day: This is a photo of what poison ivy looks like....really pretty, isn't it? Here's a link to all the different disguises it has. http://www.poison-ivy.org/html/faq.html. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about what you need to know if you've been exposed to poison ivy, oak or sumac...photos to follow as well. I'm off to get some good drugs and herbal washes for my legs....like I always tell my patients, there is a time for Eastern Medicine and a time for Western Medicine. This is the time for both to work hand-in-hand!
