Please Don't Eat the Mushrooms

Those of you who have been reading my (regrettably sporatic) posts from the start, or who have taken the time to go back and read from the beginning (and bless you for that), know that I am a doctor. The above picture (from www.toxinfo.com) is a mushroom called Amanita Phalloides. As fungi go, I guess it looks nice. Believe it or not, this little 'shroom kept me at work for 13 hours yesterday.

The mushroom contains 2 separate toxins. As far as potent poisons go, they are right up there with botulinum toxin (yes, Botox) in my mind. My last patient who ate Amanita had three slivers and barely survived -- hence it's alias, The Death Cap Mushroom.

Fortunately, those who pick and grow mushrooms professionally know how to avoid them, so the supermarkets are almost totally safe. People who eat them usually have picked them in the forest as "wild mushrooms" (and they do grow in California). Some have even seen pictures and tried to avoid them. One of the problems, according to one of my alleged "mushroom expert" patients, is that in the rain or as they get older the gills fall out, and they look safe.

So, as one of my few remaining readers, I beg you...please don't pick and eat wild mushrooms. I need you. I should add here that this is not difficult for me. I don't like mushrooms -- never have. I am a midwest pizza snob, and I firmly believe that nothing but meat truly belongs on a pizza. Onions and peppers are tolerable. Sun-dried tomatoes and avocados are right out.

By the way, did any one catch the "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" reference? My friend just got here, and we are going to swap stories of hard days, so I'm not even going to spell check this. Later.