Ok, you all can skip.

I am at work, but yesterday evening, at docs orders, I was at emergency room. My doc is on vacation starting today and he didn't want to delay starting treatment till today so.. I had to go. I have shingles. Yup, the adult reactivation of the chicken pox virus. It lies dormant for all those years, then it pops up. Only, they don't tell you, it doesn't always come in one broads swath. I have 4 patches on the left side of my body, and a 5th developing. On the side of my body that itched like crazy when I was 6.

How do I remember that? Well, I had just been adopted, and to stop me from itching, mom put white sock over my hands with elastics around my wrists. Only elastics were too tight and caused blisters all around each wrist.

Anyway, there is a vaccine that they will give people when they are 60, to prevent shingle outbreaks. HUH? doesn't help me, I will be 54, Saturday.

Then the kicker, once the blisters all dry up and go away-you can get the shingles again, but just the nerve pain. I really don't need that folks. And what do they give you for the nerve pain? Tylenol 3. (can't take demerol), they give Acyclovir (anti-viral) for the 'infection'. Take with plenty of water. Drink plenty of water during the day. Take meds on even schedule 5xs over 24 hours. Figure that one out.

Ok, I told my boss this morning. He shook his head. I told him, I am here. One of the 'patches' is under my bra band in the back-it gets aggravated by the band. If the pain gets too much, that may cause me to call off. But I am here now.

He has had relatives with shingles, knows the pain they went/going through.


On a positive side, did manage to finish the bood "5 Languages of Love". I had to do the survey at the end to figure out which language is mine. Gifts. It surprised me. But then it shouldn't. The first thing I think of when someone is sick, is what can I make them? A gift-time and tangible. B's gift of quality time is my lowes score. No wonder it is so hard for me.

But when I say gifts, I mean small gifts to me, without bragging 'see what I got my wife.' Now, that is what I have to get across to him. I may have already by not telling you what he did get for me last week.

We were meeting up at the bus stop after work-he to go doc appointment, me to go to PT. He had worked at home. He was waiting at a stop. My bus pulled up and he surprised me with a trio of red roses. This is the first time he has given me flowers that 1) weren't for a special occaision-ie Valentine's day or 2) because we had an argument and 3) it was a small group, not overdone, and spur of the moment.

He said he had been at the bus stop for a few moments and saw the flower vender across the street. He knew he had 10 minutes before my bus came. That's when he decided to get the flowers.

He did keep asking all week if I told anybody about them. I told him no. That those roses were for me. Not to brag about. Not about him. He has stopped asking about me telling anyone, so now I am. It was so sweet. Yes it was a public place when he gave them-the bus, so his ego got fed. But no one commented on them, to him. They smiled at me instead.