S***ake

Well there is a turn up for the book.

The Gorse Fox capitulated and took his rash and his itching to see the doctor. The doctor looked at said rash, pushed, prodded  and fiddled. He scratched his head (metaphorically, not as a result of the itching!). "Well" said he, "I would like to bring in a colleague to look at this."

The Gorse Fox nodded assent, and the Doctor charged off down the corridor.

The Doctor returned with his colleague and the poked, prodded, and fiddled some more. "Have you been abroad?"

The Gorse Fox responded "No, but have been to Bristol". The first Doctor sucked at his teeth and said "That's awfully close to Wales, but probably not the cause".

"Have you eaten anything different this week?" asked Doctor2.

GF thought about it. "A Thai meal on Monday, and Caesar Salad on Tuesday and Wednesday".

A small light clicked on behind the eyes of Doctor2. "Were there any Shitake mushrooms?" Again, GF thought about it, and responded in the affirmative. The Thai salad of prawns and glass noodles also had shitake mushrooms (indeed that was one of the reasons he chose the dish.

"That's it" asserted Doctor2. "The good news is that you have flagellate dermatitis, and that comes from badly cooked Shitake mushrooms; the bad news is that it will itch like hell and won't go away quickly".

Well, the Gorse Fox was glad that he could provide them with a little puzzle to end their week - but wished that they could have come up with a more positive prognosis, i.e. the rash will disappear tonight, the itching will stop, and you'll lose 14lbs by Monday.

'twas not to be.