Shingles, Really?

I had a horrible back ache the other night.  Oh, my, gosh... it was so intense.  There was nothing that helped except ice and so much Advil that my stomach hurt.  I couldn't get comfortable in bed and moved the pillows all around thinking I had a muscle strain.  I actually got up and filled a plastic bag with ice and slept on it.

I thought I'd lifted too much. I thought I was stressed... I attributed it to ... something I could take care of by myself.  A day or two later I said to my husband.. "I'm itching all over." Not unusual.. I'm very allergic. The next day I had a weird rash on my side. It itched a very little and hurt like the dickens!  I thought I'd been bitten by a spider. The redness spread out horizontally.  It decreased the next day. The pain was still present and I called my dermatologist because I was afraid I'd been bitten by a black widow. (They are everywhere here.)

I felt silly coming in, as a last minute appointment for a spider bite. Okay.. Here is the lesson.  I have Shingles.  No spider bit me.  The pain I felt in my back was Shingles.  I am over fifty and prone to it because I've had chicken pox.  I don't want to go into all that right now, but, briefly.. if you haven't had chicken pox, you can't get Shingles.  If you have had chicken pox, I am in no danger of infecting you.  Oh.. so complicated. If you haven't had chicken pox...stay away from me.  I am only contagious if you actually touch my lesions, so don't do that, okay? The point is, if I'd waited even a day longer, all my doctors could not have done anything to help me.  As it happened... I am on anti-viral medication that only works if one is diagnosed quickly.  So, my dorky need to be reassured saved me.  Take the lesson.

Can I work?  Whoa.. Can I work.. of course I can.  A little pain, a little adaptation to my chair, I will always show up.  Is it painful?  Look it up. Oh, My, God. the initial pain was great.  The resultant pain was enough to send me to the doctor.  You know me.  I tolerate pain very well.  This was.. different.

Then, .. well, today, I started developing hives.  According to my dermatologist, I am allergic to the virus causing my shingles.  I should expect hives.  Oh, such a pretty girl.

In the meantime... I will take care of my show, scratch the itch, rebound at the pain I've just caused myself by scratching, look to the stage, call the cue, answer the needs of my actors and wander on through the paths of my life.

Maybe later those paths will take me thru the Redwoods.