My neighbor had some succulent and it was growing in large blankets across her property. In fact little shoots of it would sometimes come up on my property. She encouraged me to take some and grow it. No warning was given to me. So I put a small bit in a part of my property and it grew over the summer to 18" square by 12" high. It was crowding the coral bells next to it so yesterday I went and cut it back. I may have gotten some of the milky white sap that came out of it on my hands. I knew that milky white latex sap is prolly not something I want on my skin so I tried to keep it off my skin. After I was done with my pruning I came inside, took the gloves off and washed my hands. Then I went and ate my subway sandwich. Two hours later at 10pm I got some slight burning around my mouth. It got worse 4/10 then worse 5-6/10. By 11:30 the pain was now at 8/10 and my entire face, cheeks, mouth area were on fire. I racked my brain of what it was thinking there was something on my sandwich or I had some sort of anaphalaxis to something I ate. Finally I retraced the night and googled "white sap" and found out that I had been exposed to Myrtle Spurge or Donkey Tail spurge.. "Euphorbia Myrsinitis." I drove to the ER and they didn't know much about it. They gave me Oxycodone and had no idea what to apply topically to help it. I went home and the burning was still persistent. I took one oxy and that helped bring the pain down so I could sleep. The second day(today) as I write this the burning pain as finally subsided to just a very fried/burnt feeling on my face. Spurge is highly toxic and should be avoided in all gardens If you have this plant on your property remove it by digging underneath it and lifting it into a lined trash can. Do not break the plant up because the milky sap is a natural latex resin that carries a cytotoxin. Cytotoxins are in venomous spiders and snakes. The sap burns the skin far worse than OC/Mace/Pepper spray and takes days to go away. I got Tecnu poison ivy extreme care and oxies from the doctor for the pain. This plant is no joke. It's killed dogs, cats and children. It should not be on your property! And oddly enough it's common around central oregon where I live. It's considered a noxious weed as it grows quickly and is difficult to remove. EXTREME WARNING:!!!!! The neurotoxin of these plants is a Resiniferatoxin or RTX, and is very, very, dangerous. It is an extremely irritant agent and is the most pungent/spicy substance in the world, much more than ANY chili pepper where the spicy agent is the Capsaicin of 16 million Heat Units. Indeed this oleoresin is so powerful that it destroys the nervous pain receptors for ever! It has more than 15 Billion Scoville Heat Units and is 1000 times hotter than Capsaicin. TREATMENT: If you get this on your skin use a dish soap to wash the affected area continuously for a minmum of 30 minutes. Try not to rub the area much, rather splash the dish soapy water on affected area. The idea here is to let the dish soap break down the oleoresin which is a medium for the cytotoxin. The oleoresin is most irritating to mucus membranes and the sensitive skin around the genitals, mouth, lips, ears, nose and of course eyes. If you get this in your eyes flush your eyes with tap water immediately several times then get to the ER as fast as possible. If treated quickly one can avoid permanent damage to the eye. On skin the pain usually goes away in 48-72 hours. The pain can be minor to excruciating depending on how much got on you and where the area was affected. Dispose of all clothing, gloves, that have the resin on it. Wash all tools, garden clippers, shovels, etc that may have come in contact with the resin in alcohol. This chemical is no joke! It is one of the most poisonous resins on the planet. Most people are highly allergic to it and can even get severe welts/blisters from contact with it. If exposed to your skin in any significant way seek emergency medical help. There is not much in the way of neutralizing the after effects of the pain. Once the resin is gone from the skin by using the sudsy dish soap method and you have cleansed the area many times, relief can only come from narcotics like vicodin or hydrocodone and then you just wait till the inflammation subsides. Some suggest that aloe vera, calamine, and benadryl help relieve the burning to a minor extent. PRECAUTIONS: If you insist on growing myrtle spurge, donkey tail spurge, Euphorbia Myrsinitis then never use a weedwhacker anywhere near it. Wear disposable latex gloves, eye protection and protective clothing when handling or trimming it. You should not have this plant anywhere remotely around pets or children or adults who are unaware of it's extreme toxicity. Some report that just brushing the plant with bare skin is enough to create a painful reaction while others will not react unless the abundant sap touches bare skin. Extreme caution needs to be maintaned so that you do not have secondary or even tertiary contact with the resin in it's milky state or dried state as you can even get burns from the sap if it's on clothing or on tools and then is transfered to the face, genitals or mucus membranes. It is highly advised to keep this plant out of the yard altogether!! Simply exposing the resin to the air in confined spaces like greenhouses can expel enough toxicity into the air so that it burns the mucus membranes and the lungs. These plants should never be cut or trimmed in a confined area. DEADLY CAUTION! Never ever burn poisony Ivy, Poison Oak, Stinging Nettles, Euphorbia or spurge. You can release the toxins into the air and destroy your lungs. People have died from trying to eradicate these plants by burning them!! Eradicate these plants by wearing protective gear and putting them into lined trash cans and carefully disposing of these plants so that others are not affected.

Guvnah, I am really sorry that posting here had negative repurcussions for you. When I was selling I never linked my listing (although a couple of people found it and commented on it anyway when I referred a poster to my (2nd) Realtor, which I thought was a little creepy). I have seen Garden Web posts on Google many times when I was doing other searches, so nothing posted here is by any means "private". And I also have to make a small correction in your OP: "One Bad Apple" wasn't recorded by the Jackson Five but by the Osmonds, in the early 70's (yep, I'm old).

Salonva, That’s so cool that we are neighbors! I’ve been here one month and I am loving it. If you would ever like to meet for coffee , give a shout. I bet dedtired would join us ( and maybe others as well.) also, I figured out why my review is “not recommended“. I joined Yelp to warn people about the fraudulent practice at Kia of West Chester. Unfortunately, yelp only rewards those who are repeat reviewer‘s. Because this is my first review, I cannot get “recommended“ status yet. I understand the thought process behind it, but it’s unfortunate in my case as I am just trying to protect people.

I never worry about getting it again. I don't believe I've ever encountered a better living example of the descriptor "frequently wrong but never in doubt". Olliesmom, as you of course know one certainly can be reinfected with COVID, although your statement may be true that you simply don't worry about getting it again. Which of course is your privilege, as is the case with any and all incorrect and ignorant beliefs. DLM, like you my life consists of making daily risk/reward decisions on what's worth doing. The meeting I mentioned? An honor society at which I was nominating someone I respect deeply and wish to recognize. This Friday we're joining my son and DIL for dinner at a local resort (hopefully seated on the patio) where we are giving them a weekend babymoon. I went on that beach trip with my daughter and son in law this summer. OTOH for me it's not worth the risk to go out to restaurants right now. Or hang out with my neighbors in close indoor quarters. Or go to a movie. Or take off my mask in the sparsely populated gym when I work out a few times weekly--it's worth it to me to try to stay fit, but not enough to joyfully quit masking up even though as of Monday that's no longer mandatory. I'm perhaps foolishly trying to limit my exposure to only activities that mean the most to me. Whether my luck will run out, as your husband's did DLM, is a conundrum. But I surely hear and understand you....seeing beloved family is probably the most important reason of all to get out in the world today.