Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Wellness, or So I Thought

Wellness was a wonderful relief, for about a week.

And then, I got this weird sore spot 

on the back of my neck for about 2 days.

On the 2nd day, I noticed a bump in the same area.

Odd, right?

Then I clued in to the fact that my shoulder was slightly aching 

and when I moved it, 

the muscles around  the joint seemed to hurt more than I would have expected

but, I surmised, I HAD been shoveling a lot of snow 

so maybe I was just out of shape. 

Even though I have been shoveling snow for weeks now.

But just in case, I looked at the skin on my shoulder. 

And saw this:


And then I made my daughter take a picture 

of the back of my neck where I had felt the bump. 

It looked like this:






Hmm. 

Weird red bumps. 

Do I have lice?

Nope.

But, with the bumps in little groups, after googling,

I figured out that I have SHINGLES!!

Yes, I have an old person disease. 

Except now I know that not only old people get shingles.

Healthy 35 year old women who have recently been through a lot of illnesses 

can also get shingles.

Luckily I had chicken pox as a child,

 so I will be fine as the antibodies I got from having chicken

pox will fight this current infection.

The current question I have:

 How do I keep from continuing to get sick?!? 

My current ideas: Getting lots of rest and taking my vitamins. 

Along with removing as much sugar from my diet as I possibly can.

Here's hoping I can kick this sickness and keep any other lurkers at bay.

At least for a while.

9 comments:

Zane said...

Well that is weird. But stress will do that to ya! Do you remember when Tobie got shingles when she was in kindergarten? Yep. She'd already had chicken pox when she was 18 months old. Weird. You guys have been hit a lot lately. Hope you all feel better quick without any other weird sicknesses. <3 ps this is not Zane, but I don't want to have to start this comment over once I realized this. Jenn

Alysa . . . . and Reed said...

I didn't remember poor Tobie getting it in kindergarten! :( That is just sad!! I think this shingles strike has less to do with stress and more to do with pregnancy and the onslaught of illnesses I've had for the last month and a half. Unfortunately. My immune system is definitely repressed right now as I seem to catch everything and anything anyone who breathes can give to me. Hopefully this ends now!! Also glad to know this is Jenn, because it was a little weird to think Zane would have a comment for this post. Ha ha ha!!!

Anonymous said...

This is Kierstin. I got shingles when I was 21 right after I got engaged. Fun times. I was lucky enough to get it on my lower back, so I could keep working and going to school since the sores weren't exposed. So sorry! My doctor told me to get the vaccine once all the sores were completely healed, but bad news is that insurances typically won't cover it until you're ~55-65. Full cost is not pretty!!!!!

Alysa . . . . and Reed said...

Kierstin, is this vaccine supposed to keep me from ever getting it again? Because part of me doesn't know if I believe I will never get it again. Ha ha ha!!! I'm such a skeptic! And poor you getting shingles at 21!

Hopeless Romantic said...

Oh no! Mumps is going around this area, it's so scary!

Kikigirl said...

Apparently you're less likely to get shingles twice than once, but it's believed that the vaccine helps prevent a second occurrence. Here's some info I found: http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-come-back#2

Anonymous said...

I can't figure out how to leave comments on your newer posts. I just wanted to tell you that you're in my prayers. Going through so much loss all at the same time is so incredibly rough. <3
Timber

Alysa . . . . and Reed said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alysa . . . . and Reed said...

Sorry, I mis-spelled a word in my last comment and it was bugging me so here I go again. I'm a big meanie and have my sad posts about my miscarriage set so no one can comment. Thank you Timber. I so appreciate the prayers and the love. Kierstin, thanks for the information! I'll have to take a second and go read all about it.