Did I Say "Hives?" I Wish. . . ! *

So the P.A. at Urgent Care asked me, "did you diagnose yourself?" Actually, I did. And I was right (-wish I had been wrong). Couldn't sleep last night because of the searing pain, and woke D.H. up around 3:45 a.m. to research "shingles" on the web. He had no idea what I was talking about, but I did, having read about it quite a while back (and knowing that my uncle had it, and he said it was...awful...). But I had a hunch about my symptoms, and (I'm really thrilled about this part) I was right:

I have Shingles. Herpes Zoster. Dormant Varicella virus. Which just hybernated happily in my innocent, unsuspecting body from the time I had chicken pox as a wee child, waiting for the right moment to rear its ugly head--you know the moment--the one where you

1) have no income, and

2) have no medical insurance, and are

3) stressed to the gills

--yes, that moment.

All my initial symptoms, which at the time seemed totally unrelated and even nebulous, at that--

('what do you mean, a throbbing pain in your shoulder blade, but it's not in your shoulder blade?! You just strained a muscle, is all;' 'sharp pain near your right ear? Maybe ya got an ear infection?' 'Rash broken out? Must be allergic to all those Tu bi-Shevat fruit you haven't eaten all year!')

--were real, and related to each other. They were the initial symptoms of shingles. One look at me at the clinic (for about 1 second) by the intake nurse confirmed it (am I good, or what?!)

So we went to Urgent Care today, because I was still within the 48-72 hour window of eligibility for the anti-viral drug, when the blisters appear. In addition to warding off the pain (I'm sticking to aspirin for now which takes the edge off, but have an Rx for Percoset if it gets really bad), I've got my ammunition for now. Took my first dose an hour and forty minutes ago. Thirty-four more doses to go. . .
Now, I will make some popcorn and go downstairs to watch Ushpizin; might be just what the doctor ordered.

Oh, and why the pic of flowers, you ask (thought you'd never)? What, did you want me to post a photo of a body with shingles?



*(NaBloPoMo, day#31: Day the Last! I done dood it!!)

Comments

SuperRaizy said…
Oh, I'm so sorry! Shingles are horrible. I hope you recover quickly.
8:19 PM
Lady-Light said…
Batya, Yes, horrible--thank you for your kind wishes; it's a big pain, in the...(-various and sundry parts)!
Never, ever expected to get this, of all things.
1:36 PM
Mrs. S. said…
Refuah shlaimah!
11:40 AM
Lady-Light said…
SuperRaizy: Please forgive me--I am so 'out of it,' I think I wrote 'Batya' instead of you! Thank you so much for your kind wishes. All I want to do is just 'vege out' and not think.
Mrs. S.: Todah rabah! (going back to bed now...)
3:42 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Debate: Is it Itsy Bitsy, or Inky Dinky, of Spider Fame?

Image
For the better part of a year, I've had an on-again, off-again debate with my D.H. as to the "correct" adjective in the children's finger-play nursery rhyme, "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" (now you know which one I favor). My D. H. insists that the correct descriptive is "inky dinky," whereas I demur.  I vaguely recollect from my own childhood, either hearing " itsy-bitsy spider ," or even more familiar to me, the description "eency-weency," referring to said spider's miniscule size, yet plucky persistance, and how he (she?) braved the violent rainstorm which "washed it out" after the arduous climb up the water spout, yet doggedly climbed the spout again, after the sun came out and 'dried up all the rain.' Many, if not most of our American nursery rhymes originated on the other side of the pond, in England, for obvious reasons: the American colonists were British in origin, and brought with them the culture an...
Read more

The End. Is there a Beginning...?

This is my first post back on Tikkun Olam since April 23rd, 2015. It does not feel real. Why is it that we never think we will ever have a JOLT in our lives that will change the entire life course we have been traveling? We continue on, day by day, complacent, even in the face of serious illness--believing that what we are living is the only reality; that it is immutable, that it is PHYSICAL: you can touch it, feel it, and it will continue to be there for you tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow... But it isn't. And it won't.  Because the unthinkable can, and does, happen, in time. To everybody. As it happened to me, almost a year ago, on August 10, 2015, when my DH - Dear Husband, of 46 years, died. I am living in an Alternate Universe. Because the universe in which I was living all my life until now, is gone. I still want to slap myself in the face and wake myself up. It's a dream. A terrible nightmare.  It's a horror movie with a frightening ending, but I will...
Read more

Hijab for Jewish Women?

Image
Someone used this phrase in a comment on a post about the hijab wearing Jewish women in Ramat Bet Shemesh Alef: "modern Hareidi community;" this is an oxymoron. Just for the record, I rarely agree with a Hareidi interpretation of anything. This mode of dress is just a bad interpretation of a good concept ( tzniyut ) taken to extremes. Personally, I cover my hair because I feel it increases my humility by remembering that there is a G-d above me ( not because of the reason of less attraction to men). I chose many years ago to do so; but I have come to believe a woman can be Orthodox without covering her hair all the time; just while in shul, and where it shows respect for the Torah, such as at shiurim, or where it is the preferred mode of dress, such as at yeshiva dinners and the like. But to go to the grocery? Not necessarily . I think the whole message of tzniyut is lost in those hijab cases: where will they go next? Hiding in the home and not going out? Sitting behind a cur...
Read more