Why me?

Charlie at the vet about
to get his teeth cleaned.

So... I had what you call a case of the "shingles" and was out of work unexpectedly for 7 full days in a row last week.  I nearly died of boredom and not the fact that I had a burning, itchy rash ON MY FACE.  It started on a Sunday afternoon, I was shopping at Costco and sampling all the foods they have.  I tried some pumpkin bread, later that night while watching TV I was feeling what I describe as  "pings" across my face, and it really itched.  I looked in the mirror and had the start of what I thought was either an allergic reaction to the pumpkin bread (I am allergic to bananas and thought they may have put some in the bread???) or some sort of contact dermatitis, that I blamed from catching from staying at the Stratosphere in Vegas the week prior (a story that deserves it's own post).

Lots of dusting, especially
the tops of all the fans

When I woke up the next day, the rash had gotten worse.  Not unbearably itchy, or painful... but definitely itchy and some pain.  I went to work.  I got looks.  I got questions.  I blamed it on an allergic reaction and went on with my day and my patients and co-workers let it be too.  The next day I went to get my allergy shots.  I requested to see the doctor that day so she could take a look at my face, give me some cream, and I'd be on my way.  Didn't turn out that way... she took one look at my face and told me she thought it was shingles.  Deep down in my gut, I thought this might be the cause, but I was ruling it out in my nurse mind due to the fact that normally old people get shingles, and normally the pain is excruciating.  My pain was bearable, and nothing I would even take a Tylenol for.

Enjoying life on the front porch with
the husband.

Needless to say, I made an appointment with my primary MD, and was able to get in with her later that day.  I worked  til 1 pm and they let me leave.  My primary agreed that due to the "pinging," the itching, and the localized area on my face, that I indeed had shingles.  She wrote me a prescription for an antiviral and I was on my way to the pharmacy.  I had to tell my employer, since it was something I couldn't exactly hide, and before I knew it, my boss had infectious disease and employee health involved, and they took me off the schedule til the following Monday.

Upon getting this diagnosis I have learned a lot about shingles, it's quite confusing.
-It's a virus caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox.
-After an episode of the chicken pox, the virus stays dormant in  your body and sort of randomly just wakes up one day.  (my doctor told me that I DID have the chicken pox, but such a slight case that I didn't even know and had probably blamed it on a rash at some point in my life, which makes shingles a proper diagnosis, since you must have had chicken pox to get shingles.)

Reading and Researching

-Most common in people 50 or over... which makes sense in my life and with my luck.  Upside-my body was able to handle it a whole lot better than a 50 year old, I responded to the antivirals and started healing right away.

My 2nd Vino Van Gogh
with Morgon

-It is NOT possible to catch shingles from another person, however you can infect people with the varicella zoster virus, (chicken pox).  If you have never had the chicken pox or chicken pox vaccine you can develop the chicken pox after direct skin to skin contact with an open shingles blister or by inhaling it in the air (gross.)  This is why I always refused patients with active shingles.  Due to the thought that I never had the chicken pox I didn't want to get them at this point in life.
-If you have had the chickenpox or the chicken pox vaccine being near a person with shingles will not cause you to get it.

Took my car for Emissions
early!!

-Complications related to it: Pain, Skin Infection, Eye Complications if rash is on your face, which mine was, and I had to really be sure I didn't touch my eyes... if I experienced any vision changes I was told to contact an ophthalmologist ASAP.

Re-wrote my entire address
book! 

Thankfully I was started on antivirals within the 72 hour onset of symptoms, the most effective time to start them.  My face started healing soon after and I even avoided the painful blisters.  Even though my face started healing... and I was feeling more confident about being in public... the hospital put a hold on my working and said I had to "run the course of treatment," which according to them was 7-10 days.  Which leads me to the beginning of this.  Being bored out of my mind....

Scattered thru out this blog post are some of the things I found around the house to do while I was trapped in it.  I got out here and there... but no shopping.  It's bad news when you shop and you are out of work.  It was overall very frustrating because I felt good, I just looked scary.  I went back to work this past Wednesday and am just glad this is all behind me!  ICK.

LtoR: day 3, day 4, day 6