Mango Madness

Ok, so I normally don't look this way, I swear. The last time I posted a pic when I had hives, I had assumed that it was from a mango. Well, I ate several pieces of fresh mango while I was in Denver and I did not develop a reaction. I decided that the hives must have come from something else since I appeared to be fine the last time I ate them. This past Tuesday, I decided to make a recipe for a yummy mango taco salad. Let me tell ya, it was pretty good. I ate every bite on my plate. The next morning, I started to scratch my armpits because they were itching me to death and that is when I felt little bumps everywhere. Ack! My whole body is covered with them. The rash on my face is hideous and one of my eyes is incredibly swollen. See how my left eye looks in the photo? That isn't normal. It looks like I got into a street fight. Geez. I have hives all over me. The bumps are even in my butt crack, lol. The good news is that I can continue to eat mango. I just can't cut fresh mango myself. After doing some research, I found out that the peel of the mango and the sap that may come out of the stem have the same chemical that poison oak/ivy have. I am severely allergic to poison oak/ivy, so my body reacted to the peel of the mango. It's a good thing that I didn't eat the peel, lol. Next time I buy fresh mango, I will either use gloves when I cut it or I will have Clayton do it. This was a nasty lesson to learn, but I am so glad that I can still eat it.