The $150 pit stop mistake

Okay guys, this may go down as the most embarrassing blog story in Frayed Laces history.  I wasn't planning on telling you, but I realized that my blog was initially started as a no-holds-barred way for me to share all the details of my training, so it wouldn't be right for me to not share this mistake.  Why am I hesitant to share?  Well, first of all it's horribly embarrassing, but secondly it also makes me look like a huge idiot.

After my conference in Ireland I was spending a week with Dr. C in Atlanta (can you believe we've made this long-distance thing work for 8 months already?).  I was supposed to take a direct flight from Dublin to Atlanta but my original flight was oversold and they were offering $1000 flight vouchers for people to give up their seats.  So I did, and got rerouted through JFK on business class and arrived in Atlanta 5 hours later.  But this has nothing to do with my story, so let me continue...

Due to jetlag I woke with a start in the darkness and prodded at a sleepy Dr C until he stirred. "Babe are you awake?"  He responded with "mmm".  "Great! Let's go running!"  "It's still dark out," he murmured from beneath a pillow.  "But, it's a nice temperature to go running...pleeeeeease?"  He rolled over to see me sitting upright and bouncing up and down.  "Sigh...okay, let me grab my shoes. You're not kidding when you say you're a morning person."

We headed out for a quick 7 miler to jumpstart my travel-laden legs.  The sun began to rise, and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.  I was happier than a clam--out for a morning run with my sweetie by my side.  What could go wrong?

Suddenly I needed to make a pit-stop.  "Uhh, babe...you go ahead.  I need to make a pit stop".  I found a secluded area and scanned for some big leaves.  I saw what I thought was a tree and grabbed a handful of leaves in the hazy dawn light.

The scene of the crime

The "tree" leaves I grabbed

After the stop I felt much better, and bounded home

Fast forward 48 hours.  I'm watching reruns of Top Gear on the couch when suddenly I jump up.  "What the....I think a mosquito just bit my buttcrack!"  I went into the bathroom and saw a huge welt spreading.  I tend to react badly to mosquitoes, so didn't think anything of it.  The next morning it was worse.  It proceeded to get worse, spreading in area, swelling up, and causing me the most intense itching I have ever experienced.  I was up all night long in agony.  Dr. C was worried.  I was worried.  Did I catch some sort of beasties in Ireland?

After 4 days of agony  I decided to go to an urgent care clinic.  I had no idea what I had.  I proceeded to give the doctor my whole story: I'm a triathlete, just got back from Ireland, am getting over a raging cold....blah blah blah.  He asks "did anything abnormal come in contact with that skin area?"  Then it hit me.  The leaves.  Oh my God the leaves.  The doctor said I had a severe case of contact dermatitis that had also triggered some sort of infection in the area.  He put me on steroids to control the reaction and antibiotics to control the infection.  I hate taking meds.  The last time I took antibiotics I was in college.  But when your butt is on fire, it's no time to eschew medication.  I walked out with the pills and a $150 medical bill.

On the way home I made Dr. C drive by the scene of the crime so we could figure out what I'm allergic to.  My Dad has a PhD in plants so I wanted to take photos to have him ID the leaves.  I took pictures of the plant at a distance and up close, showing him the front and backside of the leaves.

Hmm...they look different now than they did at 5am

 I sent him the pictures and a few minutes later got a call from him.  "Daughter, I hate to tell you this, but that's poison ivy." "WHAAAAAAT?" I screamed, "Poison Ivy? But that doesn't look at all like the poison ivy you taught us to avoid as kids".  "Well that's because I always scanned the woods and killed it before the plants got too big" he explained.  He then said it's not uncommon for the stem diameters to get up to 3 inches.  "I can't believe you picked the worst plant in North America to wipe!"

That was Friday. It is now Monday.  I still have a bad reaction.  I can't sleep through the night.  Running is doable as long as I mentally block out the fact that with each step it feels like 10 mosquitoes are biting my butt crack.  I want to scratch. Oh how I want to scratch.  But I don't really want to be that chick who scratches her butt in public.  The doc says it will take at least a week to heal.  Until then I have a reminder of my stupid mistake.

So guys, don't be like me and pick the worst plant in North America to wipe.  Remember, "leaves of three, let it be."