Wednesday, September 4, 2013

That Time I Got Shingles

You read the title correctly. A few weeks ago I got shingles. A skin infection I thought only people over the age of 70 could catch. If you've had chicken pox you have a chance at getting shingles. The chicken pox virus lays dormant in your system and if it flares up again later in life it is referred to as shingles. Yuck.

WARNING: I don't mention hyperhidrosis in this post. This is simply a share.

After some web based research, "Mom, there is a chance I have shingles."
"Sara, you do NOT have shingles. Oh my god. You would know if you had shingles." 
"I don't know mom, I mean I googled 'Itchy skin with no sign of rash' and the internet is telling me I have shingles." 
"Sara. Oh honey. You can't possibly have shingles. I've seen 75 year old patients where there are dark blisters all over. You would know if you had shingles. I mean, as a nurse, that's not my expertise, but I can't imagine at 27 you'd get shingles."

There have been plenty of moments where I wanted to prove my mother wrong. Crush her with reality that I am the queen supreme of right-ness. This was not one of those times.

Four days straight I had painful itchy skin. I blamed a synthetic dress I wore cursing the material for my fiery pain. And on the fourth day there was a pink spot right above my right hip. A friend of mine who had shingles a few months prior just happened to call me that day.

After we had caught up for a bit I shyly asked, "When you had shingles... what happened?" She explained that a rash doesn't appear until the fourth day. Yup. I've got shingles.

Thank GOD I was finally had health insurance after six months without. That's whole other diatribe about health care in America, oy vey. Anyways, I called Kaiser's very helpful hotline to talk to a nurse on Sunday night. The next morning I had an appointment to see a nurse practitioner.

The icing on the cake was when I drove to work the next day and my car broke down. I burst into tears feeling absolutely helpless. I was in pain, I had no way to get to my appointment, and I barely have two pennies to rub together. Furthermore, I didn't want to tell my hypochondriac coworkers that I had shingles. I lied saying that my appointment was for a sinus infection. My mom came to my rescue and took me to the appointment. I felt like a kid again relying on my mom to help, but fuck it, that's what family is for. How lucky am I that she lived close enough to help? I'll stop whining.

My shingles have been treated and are now gone. Woo drugs!

So what caused this? I can't say for sure, but the only conclusion I can come to is stress. I stopped doing yoga for a month, was planning a move, my mother has been ill, and I'm unsure of my career choices. I've been in a depressed slump. In all my worry I stopped taking care of my health. 

So the lesson I hope to pass on to you is take care of yourself! You deserve it. If not, you might just get some crazy rash.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Sara,
    I really look forward to your intermittent posts... even when they aren't related to hyperhidrosis. Sorry about to hear about your shingles drama. If it makes you feel any better, I ended up getting hemorrhoids after a crappy (excuse the pun) bout of diarrhea... and I'm only 25. It's all gone now, though. Drugs are a godsend. It's funny that I spend so much time whining about having hyperactive sweat glands and don't appreciate having an otherwise fully functional and normal body. Human bodies are so fragile. It's just given me more drive to respect and take care of what I've been given. :)
    Hope things look up for you soon. Remember, life is all about ups and downs. Things will break even pretty soon!
    Keep up the great posts. xxo

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    1. Thanks, Minna! I really appreciate you taking the time to write. Your comment has encouraged me to update more frequently :).

      And another thank you for sharing you had hemorrhoids! I had to laugh when I read that. In a I totally relate to you kind of way. You're awesome.

      Cheers!
      Sara

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