I am not a superstitious person, never have been. Let’s face it when you are owned by a big black cat (Nimrod the Mighty Hunter) who is constantly wending his way around your ankles it is difficult to be superstitious about such creatures. Horrorscopes is another thing I don’t believe in. I was born on the cusp – literally – between Aquarius and Pisces and it all depends on what time I was born which I belong to. However my mother can’t remember what time of the day I was born… and neither horoscope ever seems to match up to me.
Many people have another superstition, that if something (usually bad) happens twice it will happen a third time. This is yet another superstition I usually don’t espouse to either. However…
The Husband developed shingles about three months ago and suffered (quite loudly) for the two months that it was a real problem for him.
Buffy, a friend of mine, is looking after her 88 year old mother who has developed shingles and is really uncomfortable with it at the moment.
Do you see where I am going with this…
I went to the doctors this morning to find out why (a) I feel as if I have been kicked in the face; and (b) why I have a large and very obvious group of swellings, blisters, etc on the left side of my mouth. Yes, I have shingles too.
The blisters, etc, first showed their ugly heads a couple of weeks ago but were not too bad. However, on Friday I took a day trip from the town in Essex, where I live, to the outskirts of Cardiff, to visit my mother in the nursing home where she lives. An exhausting trip and visit. By Saturday I felt horrible and the problems with my face were about four times as bad as before. Hence the visit to the Doctor today.
I am trying to avoid painkillers if I can. I do feel a bit drained, I must admit, and after spending the rest of the morning making a huge bowl of Scotch Broth have spent the afternoon listening to Classic FM for a bit of relaxation.
This too shall pass.
6 comments:
You have my sympathy. I too have had shingles some years back, but the memory of it will live on. It is the most uncomfortable of illnesses, and I remember wearing long- flowing Kaftans as I couldn't stand anything touching my skin. I hope you get throught OK and try not to hate the world too much.
Oh, Val, that is awful! I'm so sorry that you have been hit by the vile blisters of shingles. I'll be sending soothing thoughts your way. (You've the right idea with the music!)
Cop Car
Thank you for all your kind words everyone.
This too shall pass.
Oh my.....where have I been for the past two weeks? I thought I saw something in a post from you, but I've been speedreading lately, and forgot to go back to read more carefully.
I can't believe you have them, too! I HOPE that the doctors have been able to help you. It took three or four tries to find the proper medication to give Mother relief from the pain. She is normally very stoic, but she said that on a scale of 1 to 10 with ten being the worst, her shingle pain was about an 8. I was astonished, because she was keeping pretty mum about it (no pun intended).
Both you and she have suffered because you didn't indentify the problem within the first 72 hours. They have something to short circuit the illness, but you have to catch it early.
The good news is, Elegante Mother is getting better. I sincerely hope that you are too!
Buffy
Buffy,
I am lucky that the pain isn't very bad, just persistent. The patch seems to be shrinking slightly in size but they are still there, unfortunately. I wish, though they are anywhere on my body other than my face.
Interestingly the Stepson's (birth) mother told the Husband the other day (when she was dropping off a load of the Stepson's stuff) that she knows three other women in our town with shingles on their faces. I've no idea where I got them from but they are clearly rife around here.
Yes, it sounds as though someone was contagious and didn't choose to stay in quarantine. I didn't know that you could get shingles on your face until Cop Car talked about it. I've had quite the learning curve on the subject over the past few weeks. It seems to me that Mother's rash and blisters cleared up within three weeks. At least she had the ability to cover them with clothing until they healed. It has to be very difficult for you to deal with all this. Tell Dear Husband that you need extra computer time while you are ill! Buffy
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