Babies and Shingles

It's Sunday, and I'm laying in bed with Beulah. How bad could life be?

This week has been something else.

Let's begin. I guess it was around Monday that I first started feeling funny, but I thought I had bruised my arm or maybe got a little sun that day, and didn't think much more about it. That night I went and got supplies for our Book Club Girls Night and did some baking.

The next day, I felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my neck and back. Weird, but can be ignored. We had a great night together with our new 'club'.

Wednesday, only the greatest day of my life. We found out Jared and Maria will be welcoming their first babe in the Spring of 2010. This actually still doesn't seem real. Too good. Last year I remember thinking clearly about what I thought their little girl would look like, now I will have to do some brainstorming on what I think a boy could or would look like.

I was a tiny bit out of it the night they told me, but we went to Target and got 'Your Pregnancy Week By Week', (a classic). And obviously Auntie Beulah needed a lobster costume for Halloween, and for celebratory purposes for Baby Hogan.

Thursday, still high on the pregnancy news, I kept trying to ignore how crappy I was feeling, and I couldn't think about much else besides wanting my parents to know they were going to be grandparents. (they all found out on Friday).

Started asking around to see what this pain could be from. Some people said pinched nerve? Had I lifted something heavy? (almost 50 lbs of twins up and down three flights of stairs 16 times a day..), so it shouldn't just now be getting to me. I was confused, and felt really tired all day, but again, like a smart one, did my best to ignore, until Friday.

I woke up and noticed a mark on my right arm. First thought: spider bite. Second thought: I am being slowly paralyzed by spider venom.

Later that morning, I noticed a rash forming right above the 'bite', and sort of thought, 'Enough, what is going on?'. I called nanny Mom and said,

"I'm pretty sure I have been bitten by a spider, is there any way someone can come sit with the twins while they nap so I can go get it looked at?"

After talking with her, she told me about having a spiderbite in college, and it didn't sound anything like that. Also, after talking to Jessi, I felt the same way. Didn't sound like I had a bite from their description.

Decided to hold off on Urgent Care.

I had two dogs to dogsit that night, so I just put this whole thing on the back burner.

Then my whole right leg started hurting. So, let's recap, whole right side feels like it's burning from the inside, with stabbing pain in my neck, back, and arm. What?

This is all relative obviously, but I feel like I have a pretty high threshhold for pain. This had been a gradual build up, but by Friday night it was screwing with me.

This is getting way long, can you stick with me?

Saturday morning, my plan was to go in to the doctor before doggie daycare work. But, I was too scared. My thought process was, right side=neurological, neurological=scary cancer or something. Ignored.

Went and did a six hour shift at doggie work, and threw the freaking tennis ball with my right arm all day (I guess to prove that I was fine..to myself? The dogs, not sure, but stupid). At this point I was still saying, I thought I'd been bitten, but feared I had a tumor. There's a girl training to be an EMT that works with me and she said it was definetly a spider bite and it looked like the venom had traveled up my vein causing the rash. Great.

After calls and texts from friends and family telling me I HAD to go get it checked out, I finally went.

Within 30 seconds of the doctor seeing my arm she said, "you have shingles". To which I replied,

"huh?"

Hadn't I heard of old ladies having that at church growing up? As in, please pray for my homebound Aunt Beatrice who has 'the shingles'.

Confused, I asked questions and she told me that after you have chicken pox, the virus lies dormant in your spine, and can reappear as shingles (in about 20% of people who've had chicken pox). The chances of someone under 50 years of age is very rare.

To be honest, I was relieved. Yes, I was and am in some pain, I was just glad I didn't have a tumor or venom spreading through my body. I can deal with a shingle or two.

Here's the big issue: can't be around pregnant women. And I don't know how nanny Mom will want to handle this. She hasn't called me back yet. So it's possible I won't be able to work for two weeks, and it's definite that I won't be able to see Jared and Maria and Baby BB Pellet (his or her size right now) for TWO WEEKS.

So that's my week last week. And now I'm quarantined. But, it's okay. I'm not sick forever. Just for a little while. I'll do lots of reading, and pill taking (I have to take them every five hours, weird, huh?).

Okay, my sweet Mom is on her way to take care of me. Just one of the perks of living close to them.

Must go, didn't sleep much last night. Okay bye.