Lagniappe

Kenzie, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I've been able to handle poison ivy all my life.....until last year. I had a vine growing on a tree between my house and the neighbors place. We were cleaning that area, removing fallen branches and leaves, when we decided to pull the vine down and haul it to the compost pile. Actually, we fell a tree with a large vine in it and we were cleaning up the debris. He and I both agreed that it had never had an effect on us......that was the last time either of us would make that claim.
I was wearing shorts and apparently brushed the most potent portion of the Ivy against the bend of my knee. I had a slight tingle in that area for a few hours, slight itch for a few hours more, and an intense,blood wrenching,nerve twisting, neuron tweaking, nightmare for many days to follow.
Mind you, I never had a hospital stay (though I considered it), it was a very scary week. My leg doubled in size and just I knew that it would explode or leave its epidermal prison and make out on it's own. I couldn't sleep for the pulse that I could feel screaming it's way through it,wondering if it was carrying infection to the rest of me. I could hardly walk, hardly work,hardly live. There was a huge lymph node swollen in the bend of my hip, like a stowaway trying to be inconspicuous but standing out as if a rumor had been started and it was the brunt of the joke. I felt that my leg was a goner. I even accepted the fact. In my mind there was no way that a body could go through all of this and remain in one piece. There was no way that a simple round of steroids and antibiotics could turn back the hands of time and undo the damage caused by this Hellspawn of a plant. I didn't leave the house at all for that week.
I eventually recovered, praised my God,and spoke to my neighbor. He had a bad reaction to it as well.
I was warned, same as you, that the 'next time' could be much, much worse.
For this reason, and for my former experience, I watch my surroundings very carefully.
I noticed,while doing some yard work, that yet another vine had climbed the tree next to the stump of the tree that we removed. This was a formidable vine, complete with berries and the like. I knew what had to be done......it must die ,as must all of its kind. I planned to get some weed killer....you know, the kind that's marketed for the control of poison ivy(can't blame the folks for playing on our emotions toward this plant, that's just business). Before I could get to it, my daughter and her friend (BFF they call em' nowadays) had wandered into the bastards realm and fell victim to it's charm. It was covered with berries and they were picking them and inspecting them/throwing them....who knows what kids do. I'm just thankful that they didn't try to taste them.
That week , we had to take her to the family doc to get on top of things before they escalated to the crazed, sleep deprived, poison ivy trip that I was forced in to. It occurred to me that she may have gotten into the same plant and, sure enough, I took her to it and she agreed that that was the culprit. It became very obvious to me that education is foremost in the protection of our children,our family,our fellow man.
On that note(sorry to go on and on and so forth), I helped a friend with his real estate inspections late this Summer and checked the house of a single mother with four children. She had a nice, big, open yard in which they could romp.The perimeter of the yard ,however, was lined with pine trees that were covered with....for lack of better words....majestic..... poison ivy vines. They were beautiful,complete with the pretty berries that children find so endearing. I felt my heart fall into my sneakers. How could I tell this nice lady,who struggles on her fixed income, works like idk what to support these kids,all the while she's working on her degree to improve their way-of life, that there is a monster enveloping their retreat. It was a difficult task indeed but one that I had to endure. Her reaction was as one might expect. I felt like a heel ,knowing that those kids would be couped up until the stuff was removed, but like a hero knowing that they would not need to experience the full on anger of an overly empowered portion of nature.
Phew...again, I apologize for going on but this is a sensitive area for me. Just be glad that I didn't get started on the Asian Tiger Mosquito which chews on me as I write ,despite the 'global freezing' in our region.