An Outbreak

Jake's friends know that there is poison oak in the area surrounding their swimming hole.  They avoid it and think that they are safe to swim and play there.  Last week, Jake came home with a poison oak rash again.  He hadn't been to the hut in a while, so it was a mystery.  All the boys have had one little patch or another over the summer.  Jake was no exception.  This time, it was just awfully close to his eye.  Mike and I thought we should take him to the doctor, but Jake insisted that he was fine and in no pain.  I wasn't sure what the doctor could do for him anyway.  Then, as the week went on, the small rash that was on his back spread to cover most of his back and wrapped around to his stomach.  He had patches on his legs and on both feet.  It was just a mess.

I tried to take pictures of it, but just couldn't capture the extent of the rash.  It was raised up and his whole back was leathery and it oozed gross stuff that made every shirt stick to his back.  We went through a lot of laundry in the days that it was in the oozy stage.  Gross.

He was in a lot of pain.  So, I finally took him to the doctor.  We knew it was poison oak, and that there was likely nothing they could do about it, but we hoped for something better than our over the counter stuff to calm the rash. The doctor came in through the door, looked at him, heard his story and told us it was an impressive rash and that he wanted to show the dermatologist next door.  When he came back, he had a med student with him. He wanted to see if the med student knew his stuff.  He listened to Jake's story of the irresistible hut/dam/swimming hole and asked about the plants in the area.  The doctor congratulated him on his quick diagnosis and then we all laughed about the silliness of the boys going back day after day even though they know the area has poison oak.
The dermatologist came in, with his med student and they all examined Jake with the same awe and pity.  We have read lots of information about poison oak because this isn't our first time with it, it's just the worst rash he's ever had.
We listened as they all conversed about the best plan of action and then were glad to hear that Jake could be treated with steroids and that it should clear up after a few days.
As the four men left the room, one of them said "congratulations!  You had the rash of the day!  Thanks for letting us come see!"

The steroids were pretty great and Jake was feeling pretty good after just a few days.  Mike and I were pretty annoyed when they all went back to the pond to swim.  The kids just don't learn.