I have shingles. It seems to surprise everyone that I tell. I always thought old people were the only ones that dealt with this issue, but this is what I learned from WebMD:
What is shingles?
Shingles is a viral infection of the nerve roots. It causes pain and often causes a rash on one side of the body, the left or right. The rash appears in a band, a strip, or a small area. Shingles is most common in older adults and people who have weak immune systems because of stress, injury, certain medicines, or other reasons. Most people who get shingles will get better and will not get it again.
What causes shingles?
Shingles occurs when the virus that causes chickenpox starts up again in your body. After you get better from chickenpox, the virus "sleeps" (is dormant) in your nerve roots. In some people, it stays dormant forever. In others, the virus "wakes up" when disease, stress, or aging weakens the immune system. It is not clear why this happens. But after the virus becomes active again, it can only cause shingles, not chickenpox.
You can't catch shingles from someone else who has shingles.
I'm guessing my shingles were stress-induced. It's just such a pain...literally. Luckily, I got some really good pain pills today. Yesterday I wanted to shave my head because of the spots on my scalp. The tips of my hair hurt. I have a really bad spot in the middle of my forehead. It doesn't really hurt, but I'm hoping it won't scar. My blisters/spots are on the left side of my face near my eye so I also had to go to the eye doctor. I'm definitely going to meet my deductable this year.
I can't wait to go back to work. I can't wait to see Trevor. I'm a bit frustrated. I have gotten sick every time I was supposed to spend time with Trevor's nephew. It's not really fair. Oh well.
