New Tradition - Disease of the Year

I've always been relatively healthy. After growing out of a touchy stomach in my youth, I've very seldom had anything serious wrong with me. Then last year I got a nasty case of the whooping cough and was active but coughing my brains out for about three months.

Well, it seems this is going to become an annual tradition; but for a bit of variation, this year we're going to do something new: shingles ("gordel roos" in Dutch... literally "belt dandruff"). It's caused by the herpes zoster virus, the same one that causes chicken pox. Read more about it by clicking on the link above.

My rash (a funny moving painful sensation under the skin) began on Monday, and blisters started on about Wednesday. By Thursday they were much worse and it was clear something was wrong. I went straight to the doctor, who diagnosed me easily considering it was all on one side of my face - a prominent feature of shingles (from the Latin "cingula", meaning belt - the place where a lot of people seem to get them). She advised a "few days" of bed rest. It's likely to take more than that.

By Friday, my eye was starting to swell shut. My own doctor had blown me off and not returned my urgent calls on Friday, so Wilbert took me to the emergency clinic where I was finally prescribed some decent pain medication (Tramadol) and both oral and salve anti-virals. But by the next morning, my eye was completely swollen closed, so Wilbert carted me off to the emergency clinic again, then off to Hoorn for a special consultation with an opthamologist. The good news is that there seems to be no infecton in my eye itself. But I'll have to keep an eye on it because it can wreak havoc with your sight by leaving scar tissue on the surface of the eye. The bad news is that my eye is still completely swollen shut and I pretty much stayed in bed all day yesterday with the blinds closed and slept, followed by a full 8 hours sleep last night. I seldom every need that much rest, so I know my body is fighting something pretty serious.

Why have I joined the "Disease of the Year Club"? Well, both of these illnesses have had to do with pathogens that are either regularly present in our bodies or in our environments, and only cause illness when our immune systems are diminised by other illnesses, stress, or fatigue. I had just completed the busiest period ever of my professional life (with great pleasure!), as well as a tremendous amount of travel (seven hours west and six hours east) in a very short span of time. I think it took its toll on my body as a result. So I'll just have to find ways to take better care of myself in the future and plan my schedule more carefully.

So far I'm feeling pretty upbeat (not depressed as mentioned in the description referenced above), but just exhausted. The pain is somehwat under control, but I only have one eye and it's difficult and tiresome to even type this much text. Sigh. But I'm taking good care of my self (and Wilbert is taking excellent care of me, God bless him), so hopefully I'll beat this thing soon. I'll spare you any pictures, because it's not a pretty sight! If you're really interested, then click here.