happier

I survived shingles.  Technically I still have them, but I am done with the anti-viral medication and things are generally looking much better.  The shingles themselves have scabbed over, and have returned to a much less aggressive shade of pale pink.  For awhile I thought I was dealing with some severe blood poisoning/infection issues - pretty!  This process was hella itchy.  Itchy pain is an interesting combination - on one hand, it's itchy!  and painful!  but on the other hand, you don't scratch and make things bleed because of the hurting.  I'm crossing my fingers this has prevented pretty scars from forming.

I decided to today was the day I was considering myself better not just because most of the icky is gone, but because it is the first day in over a week and a half I have been able to bear wearing a real bra.  This is what I measure progress by!

I still have at least a week of nerve medication to take, I'm going to decrease dosage then and see if life is grand of if there is that lovely residual stabbiness following me around.  For right now, ignorance is bliss!

not for your house

After sitting through my final this morning I realised I couldn't handle the pain til tomorrow morning. I mean, the constant pain wasn't so bad, but the random but very regular intervals where someone was stabbing me just weren't working out for me. I started calling around, looking for a walk-in clinic with the shortest waiting time. Somehow, though I'd talked to them yesterday and they suggested waiting til Thursday, this was my regular doctor's office (not my doctor).

The doctor took all of 2.5 seconds to make a diagnosis. I have shingles. The doctor asked me what I'd like to do for the pain. "I'd like it to go away." was my answer. I'm not sure if this was the right answer, or what exactly he was looking for in an answer, but seriously, little man stabbing me, you need to die. Thank god teachers have prescription coverage. I left with 4 different prescriptions - one for the virus, and three for different kinds of pain. If you're hurting in the next month or so, I've likely got something that can help you.

My biggest issue is I'm not allowed to take any of them til later tonight - apparently there's a good chance the nerve pain one will mess me up properly until my body gets used to it. Mess me up more than the lightening bolts in my side? I'm not sure about that.