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

[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).