T MINUS TEN

Oh boy. This so can't be good. Especially if anything happens within the next ten days. EEKS. So what's this countdown all about? Oh man. Sitting down? Well... hold on. Let me explain this as it happened. Then you can sit. 

So I'm on the phone with Barbara earlier this evening, chit chatting about all kinds of crap. As I'm speaking to her... I like keep scratching my waist, which I happen to see is pretty red. Almost like the sort of rash I used to get when I'd get hives many years ago. Whenever I got unnerved, it wouldn't be unusual for me to get hives but bingo. I'd then take some medicine and all my skin woes would settle down. However... 

Sometime during the phone conversation tonight, I happened to mention that the right side of my waist was all kinda red and itchy but unlike when I'd get hives, there were no raised welts developing. It was then that Barbara sort of mentioned... Oh yeah. Maybe you've got shingles. Laugh. Laugh. Laugh.

WHAT?? SHINGLES?? ME?? TOTALLY NOT AT ALL WHAT I WANT! DON'T EVEN BREATHE THE THOUGHT. LET ALONE SAY THE WORDS OUT LOUD. So then I got to thinking....

My scalp has been very tender to the touch of my hairbrush the past two days. Plus it kind of stung it a few places. Yesterday I was also pretty tender and itchy behind my ears. Then of course was this evening's waist redness. OH. MY. GOD. Say it ain't so!! Shoot me now!

I couldn't think of anything to which I may have been allergic recently, so this shingles thought was still in my head as I showered tonight, trying not to think about it. But SOMEthing was amiss, since I just couldn't figure out why all these little signs were popping up in the past 36 hours. Like: WTF was going on, anyway? THEN of course...

I remembered how everyone always says: the sooner you catch the symptoms of shingles, the way better off you are. Which got me to thinking even more. As in: if I DO have shingles then guess what. I'll be way better off if I head my ass outta here and get a diagnosis lickety split. The sooner you begin treatment, supposedly the less you'll feel the effects. 

Enter: Hello emergency room. Which is exactly where I headed about 9:30 this evening. I totally didn't want to close out my window of opportunity regarding catching this condition before the pain got really bad and I'd want to slit my wrists altogether. Kinda like: nothing lost, plenty to gain. Sooo... bingo.

I got to the ER and God must have looking down upon me or something because I do have to say... things looked pretty quiet there tonight. Plus... I'll bet I wasn't in my examining room more than 15 before the doctor came in, examined the redness around my waist, checked my scalp, etc. etc and then told me: Well.... true we don't see any blistering yet but things do look suspicious enough for me to give you two prescriptions to be filled tomorrow. And btw, I'm giving you 60 mg of Prednisone to take right now. WHOA. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? HOLY MOTHER F-ING SMOKES.

The Prednisone script will act as a corticosteroid and the other script will be an antiviral medicine. All I know is I pray the meds work so that if I DO have shingles, things will be way milder than if I didn't have them. And yes... there is a chance things could become a bit worse pain wise, but frankly... getting this jump start on all this was probably the smartest thing I've done in WEEKS. 

I do have to say btw.... within a half hour of taking the first dose of Prednisone, the itchiness and waist rash is way better than it's been all night long. YIPPEE. Maybe I'll have a  really mild case afterall. If indeed I do have shingles. And yes... I did have the shingles vaccine several years ago, so again, maybe that will help, also. 

DEAR GOD... PLEASE DON'T LET ME HAVE SHINGLES AND IF I DO, PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME SUFFER WITH THE SORT OF PAIN THAT SO MANY PEOPLE SAY MAKES THEM WANT TO DIE RIGHT SMACK ON THE SPOT. THANK YOU GOD. AMEN. 

Afterall, I know plenty of people who've had this virus and it was absolutely no walk in park, whatsoever. In fact, many have said it was THE worst pain they've ever felt. And trust me... I HATE pain.

So basically... here I am, counting the hours before I can head out to fill the prescriptions tomorrow. AND according to the ER doctor... if pain actually does become really severe, I have to go to my internist and get hard core pain pills. Not that I don't already have some, but what the hell. Can never have too many in your Personal At Home Drug Store. In fact... according to the Linda School of Discomfort, why even wait for pain to kick in? Why not get a jump start on it immediately! This is a perfect case of: being prepared is being spared.

In the meantime, I'll head to bed tonight SO happy I made the decision to get an early start on a possible major problem. I can't wait to see what sort of condition I'll be in when I wake up tomorrow morning. Please keep your fingers crossed I turn out to be okay because I'm so telling you... if this does turn out to be a crappy case of shingles, I will NOT be happy. 

And if I'm not happy... then by all means... feel free to send me plenty of presents please, to naturally cheer me up. Thanks. For God knows I'll need it.