Steven and I went home to Austin for a few wedding errands the last weekend of spring break and day 5 of my poison ivy attack and I just about lost it.  I was stressed, tired, in tremendous pain, couldn't bend my arm from how swollen it was, and not to mention just felt plain ugly from the rash all over my body and face.  It was really difficult to go back to Waco on Sunday but I just bit my lip while Steven drove us back up I-35.  I woke up early on Monday to get the work done for school that I meant to do with my week long vacation and realized that my poison ivy had spread...again.  I called the nurse to see if this was normal (i had already had 1 steroid shot, had lathered myself in hydro-cortizone for a week now and was sooooo good about not scratching).  The nurse told me I should come back in so the doctor could check on me so I got dressed and headed off to the clinic.  I checked in, sat in the corner of the waiting room feeling like a leaper, certain that everyone was saying "un-clean, un-clean!" under their breath and was definitely aware of the number of stares I was getting from the whole room.  I then felt a tingling in my right hand and looked down and noticed it had swollen up to twice its size...in 5 minutes!  I breathed a sigh of relief that I was already at the doctor's office and continued to wait, all the while trying to hide the blisters all up and down my arms that were continually popping and at this point smelly (I know that's gross to read but imagine living with it for over a week!)  

The nurse called me back and looked like she was in pain when she saw me, the doctor saw me in the hall while he was going to see another patient and walked over to me to express how sorry he was for me, the whole time I'm thinking "this is not helping!!!! I know I look ridiculous!!! Just fix it!!!"  I go into the exam room, the nurse can't even take my blood pressure because there is not a free spot on either of my wrists to wrap that silly contraption around.  When the doctor finally came in he told me he had never seen a reaction as bad as mine (i actually felt kind of proud about this, if I'm going to have this disgusting rash that is blistering and oozing all over me it might as well be the worst he's ever seen!) and he gave me a second steroid shot, steroid pills, steroid cream and an antibiotic to fight off any infections that might come my way.  And then he told me if it didn't clear up in 3 days I would have to be hospitalized (talk about a lot of pressure on my body!!!)  He wrote me a doctors note to get out of class and work for the rest of the week and said the earliest I could go anywhere would be Thursday and I should remain a hermit until then.  

So I called mom, told her the news and she begged me to come home.  I told her I would think about it, but I wasn't convinced until I was in the drive through at Walgreens to drop of my prescription and the pharmacist gasped as my blistery hand and asked "What happened to you!?!?!"  Needless to say when mom called to check on me 30 minutes later I was more than relieved to hear that she had already sent Lizzie driving up I-35 to come take me home.  

Apparently 2.5 days at home was all the medicine I needed.  I got more refreshed these past few days than I have all semester just from being home and being taken care of.  It was amazing and I even got to see my brother pitch last night because of how much better I had gotten.

So I'm back in Waco, I have my to-do list, and I'm pretty sure I will get more done this semester all because of my silly poison-ivy attack.  (which by the way I got taking engagement photos, and I'm sure all this pain means they will only be that much more amazing).  

So I will leave you with a few pictures of my rash, even though they don't do it justice because (1) with only one working arm I couldn't maneuver the camera to every angle to show the extent it was covering my body (2) It's really hard to see the blisters without my not-so-top-of-the-line camera (3) you can't smell the puss which is really the grossest part :) 

...but I think you will get the idea.  

(ps I promise to post the much more enjoyable, and what I can only guess will be the most beautiful engagement pictures EVER, as soon as I get them.  Until then this will have to suffice!)