This past summer I had a part time job at Lionhead golf course as the gardener. This past July I also learned to identify poison ivy, but not before getting myself into a mess of it and winding up with a real bad case. Burning blisters consumed most of my left arm and a bit of my right arm. Having poison ivy was the most painful experience of my life! - I kid you not!
The cortisone cream they gave me had no effect so I was prescribed prednisone. That helped. I'm thinking it may have even saved my life.
[I was right there, just off a bridge, rustling through the reeds, hunting down the perfect flowering plant to add to a pet-project garden. This is a good example why you should not go exploring out of bounds on a golf course if you are not familiar with the wildlife and fauna in your area!]
I had most likely developed the cancer early in 2009. Prednisone is a steroid. A steroid stimulates / accelerates growth. And the mass grew fast! By mid september there was a hard mass, which I'm sure wasn't there the month before, that I could feel easily. The cancer was an aggressive one that could have easily spread all over the place, but instead became mostly encapsulated in scar tissue.
If it hadn't been for that mass I may not have found the cancer as early as I had!
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