Feeling very low

[pegkerr]

Some of you have asked whether I'm feeling better. Um, no. Shingles last from three to five weeks, if all goes well. I'm rather sorry to report that the shingles are still spreading. They're now huge red welts wrapped all the way around my left side, from belly to mid-spine, in a swath about a foot wide. No, I will not be posting pictures. Just take my word on it: they are truly hideous. I feel absolutely leprous.

I have a new respect for people who live with chronic pain. I went to work, and padded my chair with my new very soft blanket, and had the heating pad on all day, and people asked me, not unreasonably, why don't you go home, if you're feeling so miserable? And I had to tell them I can't because this is just starting. I don't have the luxury to take a month off work and curl into a little ball and sleep, even though that's what I want to do more than anything. This is going to last for weeks. I'm just going to suck it up and take drugs and deal. (I find that I'm also quite groggy from the aftereffects of the acetaminaphin with codeine, even if I'm only taking it at night.)

So I figure I'll get all this explanation out of the way with this post. Yes, I still have the shingles. No, they are not better. Yes, they are getting worse. Yes, they hurt a lot. Trying to keep on with my exercise program when I hurt like this is damned difficult. But you know, I don't want to post about them after this, because I need to focus on something (anything!) else, and you probably don't want to read about them anyway. I'll mention it, maybe, when they're completely gone. But for now, assume I'm covered with welts and I'm miserable, and we'll just leave it at that. And I'm depressed because I don't know what to do with my novel, and taxes still need to be done, but we can't start because Rob won't sit down and input his financial data, and I have HPEF Board stuff breathing down my neck, and my house is a mess.



I finished reading Emerald House Rising to the girls tonight. Hmm. Must think about what to read to them next. . . Maybe Watership Down.

Comments

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

Very well, I shan't mention them, but I shall think of you now and then with much sympathy.

[emerald-ibis.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved Watership Down. That, and the first of the Redwall books were a lot of fun when I was younger and overly-fond of small animals. And now that I think about it, I'd like to pick up WD again. I don't remember much about it beyond the fact that I liked it so much.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Feel better! I'm thinking of reading Watership Down to my siblings after our current run - right now, I read to them from Gordon Korman's Bruno and Boots books - not high literature, but it's fun. Next will be either Watership Down, or The Castle in the Attic books by Elizabeth Winthrop.

[shellefly.livejournal.com]

I loved Bruno and Boots!

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Me, too. And they make excellent books to read aloud - they're funny, and the chapter lengths are just long enough to read two comfortably. I read them to my sibs every Friday night - it's a lot of fun.

[lissannej.livejournal.com]

Am sorry to hear you have shingles, Peg. I know they are hideously painful and uncomfortable. I hope they clear up soon.

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

Best wishes.

[aome.livejournal.com]

How did it go, reading EHR to your daughters? I know you were nervous about it.

I'm sorry about the shingles; they sound just awful.

[sheryll.livejournal.com]

You have my complete sympathy. I had shingles about 10 years ago. I remember tearing bits off an old flannel nightgown to wrap around the bit of my bra where it hooked in the back so it wouldn't aggravate the shingles so much. It was a truly wretched few weeks.

*hugs and wishes for it to go away soon*

[shellefly.livejournal.com]

*hugs*
Best wishes ... I hope the shingles are as painless as shingles can possibly be.

Don't pressure yourself too much during this time. Just functioning and doing your day to day routine will be much more difficult, so try not to beat yourself up about not being where you "should" be on things that aren't the absolute essentials.

I know that's hard (I'd have trouble doing it), but I hope you can relax a little.

[(Anonymous)]

I should poke you and say that if you rest early on, the progression might slow and it might not get as bad as it could. Stress exacerbates the reawakening of the varicella virus. In other words the more you struggle the worse you are making it. But instead I'm just going to add you to my thoughts and hope and pray that you can get some relief.

*very careful hugs*

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Hoping this doesn't add to your stress, sharing a few things that helped betnoir when she had shingles last year. Aveeno oatmeal baths seemed to make a difference. Also, neurontin is supposed to help with the pain sensation, but it takes a while to titrate in your system. If this is really going to last for 3-5 weeks, it might be work looking into. I don't know.

And, as someone else pointed out, reducing stress. Shingles is an utter bear for capitalizing on the stress in your system. It sounds like the girls are a source of solace, so that's good.

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

::air hugs:: because being a real hug would probably hurt.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

Gentle air hugs.

My Dad had shingles, and that was one of the few times I ever saw him cry.

Remember, just in case, you can ask for a 4 months extension on taxes. Check with someone who knows more than I do, but I *think* you can send them a check for approximately what you owe, and figure it out and file by August 15. You might have to pay interest on any more you owe them, but there won't be penalties or fines. I had to do that one year - though I didn't owe much because of withholding.

[debellatrix.livejournal.com]

Oh they sound just awful; I had no idea shingles were that painful. For now then, I hope the time goes as fast as possible for you.

[red-queen.livejournal.com]

Oh, ow. Much sympathy to you. Would antihistimines or steroids help? (I seem to remember antihistimines helping chicken pox, but that was a LONG time ago...) I hope it passes as fast as possible -- don't be afraid to take some sick time if you feel Even Worse. Take care of yourself.

Hell holds many things: uncomfortable shoes, Microsoft documentation, shingles, itching... and other people (Sartre had a point).

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

I do hope you feel better soon, Peg!

That must be fun, having your mom read you a book SHE wrote!

Watership Down would be a good one; my daughter recently finished reading it. Right now we're reading Mary Norton's classic Bedknob and Broomstick. (She's such a nitpicker, though; she keeps saying, "Why couldn't they have done the movie like that?" I tell her, "Because it was made by Disney, dear.")

We also enjoyed The Amulet of Samarkand. Plus she's very into Cornelia Funke right now (The Thief Lord and Inkheart). She also goes through historical fiction like a hot knife through butter. I think she's probably old enough to handle The Witch of Blackbird Pond now (one of my faves when I was a kid). We're almost done the Norton, so after that we'll have another choice to make...