Dealing with poison oak

I haven't been typing much the past 2 weeks.  When I took my little adventure down to the stream, I exposed myself to poison oak.  And man, I had a serious case of it too!

My eyes swelled up.  My arms were covered.  I took Benadryl, I used Benadryl cream.  I used jimsonweed weed spray.  Itchy agony, that would be my description. 

All the swelling is gone now.  Thankfully.  If you've never been exposed to poison oak or don't react to it, I envy you.  I can't get near the stuff.  I had on gloves and long sleeves.  That's usually sufficient to keep me from getting exposed.  But not this time.  I even showered when I got home, first thing.  Took my clothes off and turned them inside out.  Washed them immediately too.  I hate to think how awful I would have had a rash if I hadn't taken all those procautions.

And to make the whole situation worse, I was bitten by a spider or some other nasty bug when we went to visit an interesting historical homestead our friend Jessica McFadden was working at.  Jessica works for the Black River Technical College in Pocahontas, AR.  The project she's involved in was at the Rice-Upshaw House.  Here's a link to the project.  Project REACH.

This bite really swelled up.  I got a rash and fever.  So I was dealing with 2 assults on my immune system at the same time.  I still have a bruise on my leg, but it's shrinking fast.  I guess I should have made a trip to the family doctor's office.  But I knew it was something I could treat myself.  I just needed to take the time to recover.  I didn't see what critter bit me.  I discovered the injury when my leg started to hurt.  Please don't follow my example if you aren't sure how to treat your injury!  Insect bite overview

Friends, do yourself a favor.  Stay away from poison oak and poison ivy.  And poison sumack.  If you react to these plants, they can make your life miserable.  Find out how to identify these plants and how to combat the rash if you should develop one.  http://www.poisonoakandpoisonivy.com/index.html