48 hours with shingles

I gotta say, I've dealt with a reasonable amount of bad stuff over the course of my life but this particular period is definitely top 5. The way I've been feeling covers almost all of the spectrum of how one might feel. Understand that there are pretty much 2 symptoms of shingles, a rash that's not itchy but is painful to the touch and severe pain radiating from the area of the rash. In my case it means the right side of my body from waist to shoulder, (I've heard about people getting this in all sorts of unexpected places, even the eyes, which sounds horrific).

People don't talk about physical pain very much and it's a difficult thing to write about. Everyone's felt it, but nobody ever knows what somebody else feels like. We're not even sure if everyone experiences pain in the same way. Sometimes a doctor will ask you about how bad something hurts on a 1 to 10 scale. I always imagined 10 as having my whole body on fire. When I tore my calf muscle, which really hurt and took 3 months to heal, that was about 5. What I'm getting these days is more in 7 to 8 territory.

In any event, if a discussion that includes some realistic and graphic depictions of physical pain would make you squeamish, by all means do not read on.

As I begin writing this, for instance, it's Thursday mid-morning. I'm in probably the peak period of my druggedness, with both the prescription pain meds and the ibuprofen fully digested (yes, this takes 2 pain medications to handle). I feel not too bad, a bearable amount of discomfort and more than a touch of dizziness, but that's about it. I got 5 hours of sleep last night, double the amount I'd gotten the past 3 nights combined. As usual, it was the pain that woke me up and it was pretty bad, but some sleep is better than no sleep at all.

The first decision is what to wear. The rash is very sensitive, and even an old, soft t-shirt irritates it. So I have 3 lightweight, loose t-shirts that I wear over and over. Yesterday it was my Phillies shirt from the 47 brand display in Clearwater. That's the best one, though the best thing is no shirt at all. Today it's "Mind The Gap" from the London Underground.

It was about a half hour from the time I woke  up before I could take anything, so I went to the kitchen and puttered. The way I've best been able to deal the really bad periods is to keep busy to distract myself. The sensation was probably closest to what you get when you put alcohol on a cut, but a bit more burning and less stinging if you can imagine, and covered my right side from a bit below my navel to the top of my rib cage. Somehow, emptying the dishwasher and making lunch for my daughter helps pass the time and I almost wished I had more kids to make lunches for.

It took about a half hour for the meds to kick in during which time I ate breakfast and read the newspaper.

Cut to Friday morning. I was awakened at 5AM and I could tell there would be no getting back to sleep, so as I did on my earlier sleepless nights, I came downstairs to distract myself and pass the time until I could take more meds. Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris was on TV and I half watched and half just listened to the languid, atmospheric soundtrack. It just ended. It's 6AM. My alarm was set for 7 and my daughter leaves for school around 7:30, at which point I can take my pills, so I have some time to kill.

On the longer sleepless nights I found that pacing passed the time faster than I'd expect it to, so I walked back and forth through the kitchen and den, occasionally picking something up or putting something away or looking at the TV for a moment or eating some kind of pre-breakfast snack. And before I knew it, or maybe just before I couldn't stand it anymore) it was time to make the lunch and  see my daughter off and start the other part of my day.

I took my meds, which don't really have major side effects, but they do make it feel as if somebody's snuck up behind me and inflated my head just a little bit, making everything seem a little out of focus. The meds seem to mostly reduce this to something bearable, which is as good as it gets.

I decided to break things up by going outside and walking to the supermarket. This is a big deal. I can't drive on these meds, and it's very uncomfortable even to sit in a car with someone else driving. So I'm not getting out much. Minor excitement as occasional resident Charles Barkley was in the store. Foggy as I am, it's not the first time I've seen him there so I'm sure it was him. I said hi.

The day is spent passing time. I can't really concentrate on anything, so I watch TV, read the newspaper and stuff on the web, doze, shuffle papers, all for a few minutes at a time until I get too uncomfortable and then I walk it off. I managed to watch most of the Phillies game sitting down. That's it, really. I'm just waiting to get better. There's nothing that can be done to change the course, it'll just last as long as it feels like and then it'll stop.

It's now 48 hours after I started writing this piece. I was awakened at 3AM by intense burning on my back and side and had to get out of bed. It's now 7:40. I spent the interim pacing and trying to watch TV, but it's hard to do both at the same time. It's particularly bad this morning. Finally I tried to sleep again and got a half hour nap, taking me to 6. I then paced some more until it started to lighten up a bit outside, at which point I decided the best distraction would be to walk to the supermarket again, even though I didn't really need anything. I walked slowly, bought some celery and a couple of personal care items, paid and went home, just in time for my oatmeal to finish cooking.

Once I'd had breakfast I took my morning meds and I now seem to be entering that period of a few hours when I feel kind of okay. TIme to walk the dog. Yay! An activity! I'll break here, but I'll keep you posted.