So, if you follow me on Facebook, you'll notice an inordinate amount of whining emanating from my page over the past week or so. Here's the whole story...
About 2 1/2 weeks ago I woke up one morning with the tell-tale signs of a UTI. Normally I have to drop everything and run to the nearest dr's office that will take me, but this one didn't feel so urgent. So I read online that you could, in theory, get rid of it by drinking about 52 gallons of water each day and eating your weight in cranberries. So I did that! Can I just tell you how much fun that was?!
It was awesome. Several days later said cranberry-and-water-binge was still occurring, yet the symptoms remained. I declared defeat and made an appointment at the local clinic. The last antibiotic they put me on didn't work well, so we tried a new one and I went home, thinking within 7 days I'd be good as new.
Yeah, not so much. 3 days later I noticed a few red spots on my underarm/ chest area. Then another one on my back. Hmmm... I checked out that little paper you get from the pharmacy that tells you all the ways you could die from the medication you're on. Well, apparently red spots forming anywhere is one of them. Quick call to the Dr didn't reassure me in the slightest. When the Dr. gets on the phone and starts grilling you about where the spots are, how big they are and how much pain you're in, well that certainly can't be a good thing. "We need to see you immediately" was her response, so I packed up the kids and in we went.
Her diagnosis was a Sulfa drug allergy- which, ironically, is also an allergy my mom has. She put me on Prednisone and said I'd see the rash begin to go away within about 5 days.
The next day it was so much worse. Like, horribly, terribly worse. "Is this normal?!" I thought. It can't be normal. Nevertheless, I'm reading online how bad a sulfa allergic reaction can be, so I go with it. I'm taking the Prednisone exactly when I'm supposed to and in the mean time, am spreading neosporin on this atrocious rash by the tubeful.
Next morning? You guessed it- again, it's worse. It's beginning to take on its own zip code And it's morphing. Blisters are forming, dark spots got darker and the pain that comes with it is
so bad. I call in to the Dr. and get the voice mail So I leave my name and a detailed message. No response. I go to bed that night feeling like they probably got my message but I'm apparently this whining baby because this is just how a Sulfa allergy works and I need to suck it up.
Only thing is, the next morning I wake up and I feel like my whole body hurts. At this point the rash covers a large part of the right side of my torso. It hurts to move my right arm at all and sometimes the pain is so blinding that I have to stop and just breathe. This CANNOT be normal. I snap a few pictures with my phone and call in, this time determined to talk to the actual Dr. After explaining what's going on and how it looks so much worse, I send her the pictures. She calls me back within about 26 seconds and says, "We need to you to come in right now, we don't think this is an allergic reaction, we think you have
shingles.
I go in and within minutes my shirt is off and Dr's and nurses are gathering to see what is apparently a very, very bad case of shingles.
See, all those days where I went essentially undiagnosed? Yeah, this virus was just wreaking havoc on me and spread into something way worse than it should have. Again, awesome.
If you've had Chicken Pox, you too have this virus inside you. It lays dormant and will emerge in 1 out of 3 people in their lifetime. It comes out of dormancy for 3 main reasons- intense stress, an infection or antibiotics that don't quite agree with your system. So yeah, I'm a two-fer in that regards. Quite the over achiever, if I do say so myself. Why didn't they diagnose me correctly the first time? Well, I'm a bit miffed on that one as well. When I went back in and they did say it was Shingles, she showed me the picture of what a Sulfa allergic rash looked like.
Yeah, it didn't look like that at all. I wanted to say that, but human decency stopped me from ripping into the poor PA. At that point, there wasn't much I could do about it anyways.
I have Shingles. Which apparently is something more common in those over the age of 50, again, probably adding to the reasons why she didn't diagnose me correctly the first time. I have 3+ medications that I have to stop and take upwards of 8 times a day for the next 2 weeks. An anti-viral, a topical gel, a pain pill that focuses on nerve pain, a regular ole pain pill, etc. My phone dings all day long signaling it's time to pop another pill.
I'm on day 7 out of 14 right now. The rash looks better, but it's still really nasty to look at. I could post pictures, but yeah, that's just gross. Suffice it to say I have a
"moderate-severe" case. It aint pretty. I'd take the ugly rash though if I could give up some of this pain. I have new found respect and empathy for anyone with a medical condition that results in chronic pain. I'm 2 weeks into this and it's
so incredibly hard. Not only do I have the burning/ itching/ painful rash, but Shingles also results in deep muscle and nerve pain that is dreadful. I'm told this will likely go on for another 2 weeks or so, then I might just be one of the lucky ones that experiences nerve pain for an additional few months or years. Oh heaven help me.
On top of that all, Adrian's been gone on a business trip all week long. I feel so blessed to have my mother-in-law nearby and so many willing neighbors who are entertaining my kids, doing my dishes and bringing us dinner. THANK YOU. Oh heavens, thank you. I'm not usually the one who needs help, I'm usually the one who helps others, but I just don't have it in me to care this week.
While I'm going about my day taking care of the kids and doing what I need to do, sometimes the pain just stops me in my tracks. It hurts so bad. Like, worse than natural child birth bad. I'm doing dishes thinking,
isn't it funny that I'm able to do this while in a moderate amount of pain only because I know how much worse it can get?! Other times I don't notice any pain and I stop and think,
oh my THIS is what it feels like to not have the pain! I'd forgotten... It's really depressing.
That's why I'm whining. I'm trying to have a better attitude about it all. Sometimes it's easier said than done. Maybe in another week when I'm not in quite so much pain, I'll be able to do that. I'm well aware it all could be worse- I could have a chronic condition or I could have pain with no diagnosis whatsoever. I am grateful that what I have will get better eventually. I really am. I tell myself all of this at least 20 times a day in an attempt to make it hurt less. I think it helps.
So now you know. Take my advice- never get Shingles. ha! Like that's actually going to work...
I promise to have the next post be much, much less whiny.
