Leaves
began falling this month, and summer is dying. Another season is drawing to a
close, and soon winter storms will take over. The first warning rains have swept
through, knocking leaves and branches out of the trees.
Thankfully, my family managed to install a fireplace in the living room,
something we've been meaning to do for several years now. No more propane
heat! yay!
This update is very late, as well as my September update, which has
patiently been waiting to be uploaded. Even my Photo a Day site suffered this
month. The reason for the delay is that I have been unable to work on my
computer for the past several weeks due to illness.
One morning a few weeks ago, I woke up with a burning around my eye and up
across my forehead and scalp. I thought it was lack of sleep... I had been
shorting myself on a regular basis and wondered if it would catch up with me.
I rubbed some moisturizer on the area and took a nap that day.
I had hoped that rest would help, but when I awoke from the nap I
discovered a swollen splotch at the corner of my eye, and redness spreading
across my temple and into my hair. I dismissed it lightly, suspecting a mosquito
bite, or perhaps a reaction to the moisturizer.
The next morning I woke up very grouchy. I hadn't been able to sleep, and
half my face felt like it was on fire. I had risen several times in the night
to wash my eye and the effected area, thinking maybe there was something on my
skin, irritating it.
I stumbled through the day, finishing up some work on a website and
creating several graphics. I also tried to do some sewing, but soon gave up as
the close work seemed to inflame my eye. I skipped dinner and went to bed. My
mother was concerned and brought me a bowl of soup. She found my crying on my
pillow. "I just hurt so bad," I remember trying to explain.
She stayed up with me almost all night, doing everything she could think of
to alleviate the pain. The next thing I remember was sitting by the phone,
watching the clock, waiting for 8:00 a.m. when the doctor's office would be
open to make an appointment. Mom made the call, and reached a message machine;
the office didn't open until 8:30. I felt like half an hour was an eternity,
but there was no other choice but to wait.
Several hours later I found myself sitting on the edge of the examining
chair, trying to explain my symptoms to the nurse. It sounded absurd when I
tried to describe my problem. The right side of my face was hurting, and I
couldn't sleep. No, you couldn't see anything, except a little swollen spot
under my eye that had crusted over.
I wanted desperately to crawl under something. It sounded so silly.
Especially when I managed to glimpse what she had written on her clip board.
Only two words: "Face hurts."
The doctor came in and I had to explain all over again. He nodded and
listened and looked in my ears. He ran a Q-tip across my face and examined my
eye with a magnifying glass.
"Have you ever had chickenpox?" he questioned. I nodded, and he
announced that he had a strong suspicion as to what the problem was. He then
scared me by saying that medication and treatment would be expensive, and did
I have insurance?
All of a sudden the doctor was telling me about shingles, and that there is
no cure for it. A typical outbreak lasts between six months to two years, and permanent
nerve damage remains in one out of four people. Also, there is danger of
blindness if the eye is effected. I was in the first stage, where the nerves
are effected. Within the next couple days I could expect a breakout of itchy,
chickenpox-like blisters that would cause severe pain.
My stomach lurched. But he went on. People have reported that taking an
antiviral medication seems to help. It appears to halt the process, and if I
could manage to take the first three doses of Valtrex in the next 24 hours, I
could possibly avoid all that and be over it in within two weeks.
He then prescribed a program of Valtrex and a list of over-the-counter and
prescription painkillers. He made some recommendations on how to combine the
painkillers for best results, and told me to make another appointment if
anything changed, or if I wasn't feeling a little better in two weeks.
When I was 17, I contracted chickenpox, and I remember people warning me
that the virus remains dormant in your body. It is harmless, except that it
can possibly break out again as shingles. But that was fairly unusual, and
mostly happened to people over 60.
I brushed it aside, as we often do with those obscure things that we don't
believe will ever touch us. We know people have had it, and someone out there
will get it, but it doesn't seem like you could ever possibly get it. You're a
somebody, but you're not one of them. You're one of the normal ones.
I staggered out the door with a heavy feeling in my stomach. Shingles?
Well, it could have been worse, but what a surprise. On one hand I felt
outraged that I could possibly have such a thing, but on the other hand, it
was sort of a novelty. This could be interesting, if nothing else.
So I went home thinking it was kinda cool.
FastForward two weeks... believe me, you wouldn't want to be there. I lived
on the couch, with all the lights low and a cloth over my eye, trying not to
yell at anyone who came near me. I didn't have the stomach to eat, and lived
on water and juice. And I can't swallow pills, so everything had to be crushed
and mixed with water. Yick!
After
that I seemed to make almost a full recovery. The nasty outbreak never really
happened, although the one side of my face became a little red, and my
eyesight is fine. I still have a slight burning sensation along my forehead
and scalp, but it fades a little more each day.
It feels good to be getting things done again, though I guess sometimes you
have to take a forced break. Photo
a Day is back online. Check it out (click
here).
Lady Brooke
