Shingles !!!

All was well and I was doing great. The minor problems that I have really don't hurt so I'm good with them. In fact, my Dr. and Oncologist always knew my response when asked how I was doing. It was always "Great, and what I do have doesn't hurt so I'm good". Well I really can't say that now.

It all started this last Tuesday at the gym. I use a heart rate monitor with a chest strap sending unit. I noticed that the skin under my strap really itched and hurt. My thought at the time was I needed a good cleaning of the strap. The next morning I got up and my skin continued to hurt. Wednesday afternoon my skin hurt more and I noticed a rash starting. I was still thinking that it was because of the dirty HRM strap. About an hour before bed on Wednesday I started having right lung pain. I took some Ibuprofen but it didn't even touch the pain. To get some sleep I took some codeine. I also noticed my rash was growing and starting to really bother me more. Thursday morning I got up and noticed my rash was growing all along my chest back to my spine in a mostly straight line. The codeine seemed to keep the lung pain under control and I didn't have a fever or a cough so I was just going to Marine up and wait until my Dr. visit the next Tuesday.

Well, a blog friend of mine, Big EZ, also has MM and blogged the fact that he had shingles. The more I read the more I kept saying to myself... Yes - I have that, Yes - I have that, etc.. So I emailed him and he encouraged me to call my Dr. right away and get in. I did that and his nurse said I would be in the office that evening. By the time I got there my chest hurt so much that I could barely take a breath. My Dr. looked for about 2 seconds and agreed it was shingles... Now with an anti-viral and a big bottle of codeine I'm on my way to getting better. The rash is still in the growing phase but my pain is under control. I went ahead and took a sick day from work so that will give me 3 whole days to get back on my feet.

A BIG thank you goes out to The BIG EZ.. for his help and support. Blog friends can get a great source of knowledge and support and I'm truly thankful for all my blog friends. The next 3 weeks won't be much fun but all in all I'm doing great. A small set back but it doesn't really change the larger picture.

The body is sick, but thanks to Jesus the soul is alive and well...