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I Am Willing Myself To Not Scratch The Itch
When a nurse gets poison ivy for the first time, empathy grows!
In my prior life, I was a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP). I saw children from birth to age 21 in a primary care practice with three male pediatricians. I was the only female and the only nurse practitioner. I held national certification in my field (CPNP) and worked in several settings in three states. I also taught graduate students in the PNP track at the university level at two different universities.
Therefore, one would assume that I was well-versed in contact dermatitis caused by poisonous plants. But, all I knew was the theory. You know, “leaves of three, let them be” and “if a rash is wet, make it dry” but “if the rash is dry, make it wet” type of sayings.
I knew how to diagnose and treat poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac, but I have never had any of these plants cause me any personal pain. That is — until recently.
Currently, I am willing myself to not scratch the itch! I have poison ivy! I have several groups of pustular lesions on both of my forearms. And, they itch like crazy! I’m sure I got into poison ivy when I was gathering branches and twigs from our forested yard in an effort to do some fall cleanup.
