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Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005 - 5:27 p.m. MEDICAL INCOMPETENCE My has a trailer in north Covington where he stays during deer season. I was willing to bet the trailer was no longer there. The winds by the time they got to north Covington must have been at least 120 miles per hour, and no trailer would be able to withstand the force. My father, however, insisted that we go. So we went. We had to take back highways from Baton Rouge as we knew the interstates would be blocked off as we were only two days after the storm. The further east we went, the more roof damage we saw, and the more trees we saw fallen down. We eventally reached areas of the highways that were impassible except for the sawed-through tree trunks and power lines that had been pushed and pulled aside to allow room for cars to pass. However, our trek through this wrecked wilderness could only go so far. We reached a point where we were became part of a convoy of cars following a bulldozer. Ahead of the bulldozer was an army of men with chainsaws hacking away at the downed pine trees. We sat in this line, in the middle of nowhere, for several hours. Eventually, nature called me to do my business Into the woods I went, squatting down to do some fertilizing. Relieved, I returned to our car to eventually pass through the impassible wreckage. We made our way to my father's trailer, to see it standing with a big pine branch lying across its roof. Amidst the fallen trees and branches, amazingly, the trailer survived. After my adventure, I noticed some red streaks on my legs. As the days went on, I began to itch feverishly. It appeared as though I stepped into to poison ivy when I had done my business. So the next few days, I treated myself with calamine, and my legs slowly improved. This Monday though, I noticed some itchy welts on my ankles and toes. The itching got so bad, I had to take my shoes off at work. My coworkers began to take bets on what was wrong. I said it was red ants, even though I did not recall stepping on an ant hill, while another coworker insisted that it was another manifestation of poison ivy that spread through my incessant scratching. It was my contention that only poison ivy resin causes the rash to spread, not scratching alone. I also had an appointment with my new psychiatrist on Tuesday. I figured I could have her look at my feet, as she supposedly went to medical school. So I showed them to her. She claimed that she was not an expert at dermatology and had no idea what it was. She then insisted that I seek medical attention right away as this rash could be a side affect of the medication I am on, and that she would not prescribe until she got clearance from another doctor. Oh brother, I thought. So that afternoon, I had my internal medical doctor confirm the rash to be poison ivy that spread to my feet due to contact with the shoes I wore two weeks ago. Sorry. If you are an MD, you need to be able to distinguish poison ivy from Stevens Johnson Syndrome, especially when the factors indicate that I have been exposed to poison ivy. I need a new psychiatrist. |