SHINGLES! *jazz hands*
Late last week I started feeling a pain up my right side under my arm. Kind of a burning like if I gave myself razor burn from shaving only there was no visible markings indicating razor burn. Stumped, I let it go. Around that same time, I noticed a few red dots in one area of my back. Thinking they were just some acne, I also let it go. It wasn't until my mother sent me a message suggesting the possibility of shingles that I started to pay attention. So I wiki'd "shingles" and it all immediately started making sense.
Shingles, for those of you who don't know, is the chicken pox virus but it's kind of like stage 2 of it. After you've had chicken pox, the virus lies latent in your nerve cells. They don't really know the reasons for it reactivating (some suggest stress or a lowered immune system) but it starts with a skin pain on one side of the body, never crossing the midline. After one to two days of pain, the rash usually forms in a band most commonly on the torso but it has been known to occur on the face or eyes. There is even a more serious form of it that can affect the organs. Later, the rash turns into blisters (ew) that eventually burst (EW!) and scab over within seven to ten days at which point you are no longer contagious.
Yesterday afternoon, I met Kevin at the ER and received a fast diagnosis of shingles. Doctor: "Yep, that certainly looks like shingles." Since I'm about 40 years too young for the vaccine, they gave me a prescription of Valtrex which will hopefully prevent the rash from getting bigger and also speed the healing process. Unfortunately, it may take weeks for me to actually heal and become non-contagious. This means that if I'm not healed and scabby I won't be able to fly home for fear of infecting some poor pregnant woman or person without immunity on the plane. So...great. I'm now waiting impatiently for the gross blistering process to start because I'm going to be very upset if I am the only reason we're not coming home on time. Sheesh!
Shingles, for those of you who don't know, is the chicken pox virus but it's kind of like stage 2 of it. After you've had chicken pox, the virus lies latent in your nerve cells. They don't really know the reasons for it reactivating (some suggest stress or a lowered immune system) but it starts with a skin pain on one side of the body, never crossing the midline. After one to two days of pain, the rash usually forms in a band most commonly on the torso but it has been known to occur on the face or eyes. There is even a more serious form of it that can affect the organs. Later, the rash turns into blisters (ew) that eventually burst (EW!) and scab over within seven to ten days at which point you are no longer contagious.
Yesterday afternoon, I met Kevin at the ER and received a fast diagnosis of shingles. Doctor: "Yep, that certainly looks like shingles." Since I'm about 40 years too young for the vaccine, they gave me a prescription of Valtrex which will hopefully prevent the rash from getting bigger and also speed the healing process. Unfortunately, it may take weeks for me to actually heal and become non-contagious. This means that if I'm not healed and scabby I won't be able to fly home for fear of infecting some poor pregnant woman or person without immunity on the plane. So...great. I'm now waiting impatiently for the gross blistering process to start because I'm going to be very upset if I am the only reason we're not coming home on time. Sheesh!