2012/05/29

poison ivy

The little itchy welts on Lisa's arms are spreading. I am giving her Benadryl and she has been running her poor forearms under the hottest water that she can stand, in order to reduce the urge to scratch. I have a few similar welts, but nothing like she has. I do have quite the gash on my left hand, though.

Almost a week ago I was doing some work on the east slope, hacking back the undergrowth so that Lisa can see down toward the several creeks that occupy the gully below our house. There is a cut-down tree lying across the bank; our friend Chris cut it down for us earlier in the spring.

I was cutting off a small branch that was keeping the end of the tree from lying down on the ground at one end. The bow saw did what it could, but the small branch didn't want to let go. I took the (freshly-sharpened) hatchet to it. After a few strikes, the branch let loose and the hatchet continued on through and hit my left hand on the index finger, just above the hand. It didn't bleed right away, but I put my tools away and went into the house to patch up my hand.

If I had been so inclined (and insured), the cut probably should have had a couple of stitches. But I don't have insurance and tend toward the home treatment of injuries anyway. I cleaned the wound well with peroxide, slathered on the Bag Balm, held the sides of the wound together with a butterfly bandage and covered it with a Band-Aid. It hurt like hell for days and I had to keep it elevated for a couple of days just to minimize any bleeding.

Since then I've been cleaning and re-bandaging it every day. Last night I left it uncovered overnight to dry. That was a mistake. When I got up this morning, it was swollen and painful again. I cleaned it well, put on the Bag Balm and another Band-Aid. I have to keep it raised to at least the level of my heart; if I don't, it feels hot and swollen.

Needless to say, I never finished the job on the slope. I haven't been able to do anything of consequence with that hand since. The dishes are piling up in the sink because I don't think that I should be immersing my hand in dishwater.

But on the bright side, this morning I set up an appointment with Meridian to get back on the mental health bandwagon. Lisa and I have been splitting her antidepressants since I ran out. This is good for me - it keeps me functional - but it's not so good for her. She should be taking the prescribed dose of her own antidepressants. I have to stay functional but she does too. And we'll both be better off once we're both taking the proper dose.

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