i got nothin'.

[same_sky]

Don't you love it when I talk to you about my yucky skin problems? The poison ivy on my back has now been upgraded (?) from poison ivy to.. something else. Maybe ringworm. I don't think it looks much like the ringworm pictures I have now looked at online but that was my aunt's only guess (she's a nurse, so she gets hounded with "look-at-this-is-it-fatal?" questions.) Did you know that ringworm isn't caused by a worm, but is a fungus.. the same one that causes athlete's foot? Did not know that. My niece currently has twelve ringworm places, which they think were passed to her by their dead hamster. Not that it was dead at the time. She doesn't play with dead hamsters much, as far as I know. Anyway, maybe it's just an allergy to something. Maybe it's an allergy to work. I should call in sick this week. *nods*

M just told me that I should refer to it in my journal as a "festering boil". Because, as he says, that's the sort of drama I tend to use here. He's a bitch, but he's pretty.

I really didn't want to go do the family thing today because I am feeling pretty tired and worn down. However, my cousin came in this weekend from North Carolina and brought her baby, so I wanted to see them, so we did. He's so cute! And has grown so much! I think it's about time for them to move back now, and they've only been gone two months.

Yesterday, we were planning on being super-productive but my parents called and said they were coming down, so that kind of ruined that plan. I was heartbroken, you know, that there was no big work going on. I am so sick of the bedroom being a construction zone, though, so it would have been nice to get some of that done. M did sand another wall in the morning, so there's only one more to go. Instead of manual labor, we went out to the game farm and walked around, which was nice. Very pleasant way to spend an hour or two, and it's free. That's always a bonus.

It's currently warmer in Sweden than it is here. My grandfather had his wood stove burning today (which was pure crazy, and instigated by my aunt, who's cold-natured. I would have complained more if it hadn't been for the baby, but still, I was wearing shorts, so it wasn't like it was COLD. It's June, people! No heater should be required!

Comments

[stewlis.livejournal.com]

You too? I've been plagued with ringworm since... I'm not entirely sure when, but I think the first spot appeared sometime in March. It was just a spot, so I didn't think much about it, it itched but I figured it was a rash or a bug bite and it didn't seem to be spreading so I left it alone. When, a month later, it was still there, I went to the doc (yea, I shouldn't wait that long, but I was in the process of moving and chiros and well, just didn't make the time to do it). She said it was ringworm and prescribed me some antifungal cream (yes, knew that it's a fungus and same one causes athlete's foot, jock itch, ringworm, the scalp condition one that I can't recall the name of). I used the cream a week, and it began to spread! Then, I went back. She gave me an antifungal pill to take daily for a month (ketoconazole). A week later, it was still spreading. I asked my sister, Linda (nurse), and she said it could be scabies. So I got some Nix (lice shampoo that kills scabies). Used that. Nope, still not going away, looking more like ringworm than scabies at that point. So I tried bleach water (yes, bad, but it was diluted and I did no harm, but didn't kill it either; bleach changes the pH to alkaline so theoretically it can't live). So when that didn't seem to do anything, I switched to straight vinegar (safe for the skin, stinks but goes away when it dries, you apply it and let it dry, and it stings but stops when it is dry, and it changes the pH to acidic, and it seems to be working, the spots are clearing up some and no new ones so far).

It spreads rapidly and readily, so wash your sheets often, don't wear clothes again without washing them, don't touch the spots then touch something else, vacuum often to get up the little microscopic skin cells that slough off daily and harbor such things as ringworm fungus for up to 3 days off the body, and don't share towels or wash cloths (which I'm sure you don't anyway but when you're married sometimes it happens). Also, watch M. for spots, it can take up to 2 months for them to show up after coming in contact with it so just be watchful.

Use antifungal powder to dry up the spots if you like, or cream (which since it's summer, and I sweat, it washes that off, so I chose to change my skin pH with vinegar which won't wash off...the pH change, not the vinegar LOL).

And be patient. Fungal infections take forever to clear up. Remind me to be patient. I just want it gone!!! It's icky. It doesn't mean you're not a clean person...but man it makes me feel unclean and icky!!