The Dangers of Farmwork They Don't Tell You About

In my last post, I bragged about how great I'm doing driving the tractor, conquering the back fields and basically kicking butt on becoming a true farm hand. Well, I am, but no one told me about the hidden dangers of cutting all those back fields. . . ..

Last week, I went out back to cut the fields again, and to cut some of the longer weeds I had missed the first time.  I'm feeling pretty confident now and thought I'd get all of that brush cut down that I was too afraid to get last time.

It was a hot, hot day and I was sweaty and grouchy (I know, tough to believe). I was, however, wearing my new big straw hat with a string on it so when I'm racing on the tractor and it blows back, it stays around my neck (and I will post of picture of me wearing it just to hear my daughter Amelia say, "oh mother, I can't believe you're wearing that")

I went through a particularly thick patch and was coughing from so much dust flying in the air. I didn't think much about it and when I finished, I came in and took a shower.  I didn't sleep well and felt itchy all night.  When I got up in the morning, I saw why.

I was covered in a red rash all over my left forearm, right side of my face, right side of my body and my right thigh.  My eye was swollen shut. I've never gotten poison ivy, but being the paranoid, self diagnosing WebMD addict I am, figured it was that or some other poison junk. I stayed home, took some Benedryl and covered myself in calamine and cortisone cream.

I got up the next morning, determined to go to work, even without any makeup, and took a shower.  Then I realized my biggest fear had come true - the rash on my right thigh had spread.  Yes, it moved to girl town.

I called my doc and they got me in right away.  She gave me a steroid shot, heavy doses of oral steroids and said it was officially "rashy junk" and to not think about scratching.

Yeah, right. I went back to the office, trying not to scratch, especially in those socially unacceptable to scratch in public places. Luckily I think people at work were a little scared by my makeup-less face to notice any scratching.

The steroids did the trick.  The itching was greatly reduced in two days and as a side benefit, my butt that has hurt continuously since I started working with my trainer four months ago, was better. No pain at all. But then the headaches started.  Found out -on WebMD- that is one of the side effects of steroids. So five days of intense headaches vs. itching. 

Yup, I'm still scratching. 

So beware those of you that have been seduced by my tales of power of driving the big rigs and being a farm worker. There are hidden dangers. And it's not fun.

And yes, in case you're wondering, I was fully dressed while driving the tractor. I'm still trying to figure out why I got it where I did.  That could make an interesting story.  Maybe it'll be the next "50 Shades of Grey" - "50 Shades of Red".