Fighting Shingles

Shingles?  What?  Isn't that what "old" people get?

This was my thought process last month as I sat in the doctors' office listening to him explain to me exactly what the pain in my head, face, and neck was related to.

I have suffered from TMJ since I was 8 years old.  The pain associated with it is something that I have become accustomed to dealing with on a daily basis.  The popping and clicking of my jaw as I talk or chew is routine for me, but for people like my sisters it is something that they can't stand.  One sister doesn't even like to sit by me during meals because the sound of my jaw annoys her.

Most days, I feel the pain is bearable but I woke up one morning a few weeks ago and it felt very unbearable!  I went two days taking ibuprofen and hoping that the pain would subside.  During those two days, I went to get my haircut.  When I did, I told my sister in law who cuts my hair that I had some sore spots on my head near my hairline and asked her to be careful when she brushed or cut in that area.  I am prone to pimples on my scalp so I didn't really think anything of it.  (Hey, at least they are always hidden in my hair and not plastered all over my face like a teenager!)  By the end of the second day, I was miserable.  I woke up that Saturday morning and took Caleigh to my parents and took myself to the doctor.

The pain in my jaw and ear was excruciating!  I could not speak or move my jaw with out severe pain.  I was convinced that I had either a really bad ear infection or my jaw had moved in some awful position that it was stuck in and couldn't get out of.  I tried to describe the pain by saying I felt as if someone had hit me on right side of my head with a baseball bat and the pain that resulted at the moment of impact was the pain I felt constantly!

After waiting over an hour to be seen by a doctor, he tells me that I have the shingles!  He pulls up a photo of facial nerves and says that the shingles have attacked my mandibular nerve and the pain in my face will likely only get worse before it gets better.  The "pimples" I think I have on my scalp are actually the beginning of a shingles rash and they will go from "just there" to "five alarm burning, pain, and itching" before calming down as well.

All of this was very overwhelming but I was glad to have a diagnosis.  Only trouble was, there was no cure.  It's a virus.  I just had to let it run it's course.  So, what is it's course?

Supposedly, the fatigue, headaches, and general feeling of being unwell are followed by the eruption of a painful rash on one side of the body.  The rash then has to rupture and heal (approximately 2-4 weeks later) and then the pain can start to subside over the next month to six months.

In the beginning, the pain was crazy.  It was to the point that functioning on a daily basis was almost not possible.  Prescribed pain medication could help some, but the numbing it with cold packs seemed to be the only way to really get any relief.  As the weeks went on, the pain got more tolerable.

A month later, I am still fighting with the effects of what getting the chicken pox in kindergarten caused me to have!  The rash exploded and wrapped itself around the right side of my head.  My right eye became swollen and purple around it for over a week.  The skin on the right side of my face where the nerve was attacked has become dry, red, and very irritated.  I haven't found anything that actually makes the skin feel any better.  It always feels tight and dry.  The right side of my head is very sensitive.  Washing, drying, and brushing my hair is a daily challenge.  I still have to take pain medication every now and then but no where near the amount I had to take four weeks ago.

I have photos that I have taken of some of my rash and of my face but I don't think I will post those.  They are much too graphic to put on here.

Things are getting better.  It is just taking a very long time and I hope it don't take much longer.  I am DONE fighting with this virus.  Just DONE!  

Farewell Roger

On Christmas Eve, we say farewell to Roger.  It happens to be a very emotional time in our house.  Caleigh always hugs him and tears up as she tells him bye and wishes him well.  This chokes me up.  Roger leaves her a note to find on Christmas morning and I couldn't even read it this year.  I had to let Mish do it because Caleigh's face was making me tear up and I couldn't speak.  His fun silly antics will be missed but he promised to be back next year.  AND, he said you never know when he might drop in unexpectedly!

Roger raiding the Santa Sack at our house.

He toilet papered the living room!

Roger took all of Caleigh's Barbie dolls and stuffed them in our Christmas tree!

Saying bye is so hard for her!

Mish reading the note Roger left behind for Caleigh on Christmas morning

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning found Chad and I more eager to start the day than Caleigh.  We had time to get up, shower, and put back on our pajamas before Caleigh woke up.  I found her sprawled across her bed sleeping in a position I have never seen her sleep in.  I could tell she had must have had a hard time getting comfortable, but she did sleep all the way through the night without getting sick so I was optimistic.  I let her sleep until she decided to wake up.  I went ahead and started making the cinnamon rolls and hash brown casserole that has become a Christmas morning necessity at our house.  I was hoping the wonderful smells of the food wouldn't aggravate Caleigh's sensitive tummy.  To my delight, she woke up feeling better and was excited to see what Santa had brought her.  Mish and Thomas came to join in the Christmas morning fun at our house again this year.  Despite not feeling 100%, Caleigh still managed to be 100% excited about her Christmas morning and even took a bite of a cinnamon roll!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is usually spent celebrating with my family.  This year, I spent the day with Caleigh while Chad was at work.  She had a stomach bug that had made her feel very unwell for the past few days.  3AM Chirstmas Eve morning found our family wide awake as Caleigh was vomiting again.  She went back to sleep and I was hoping that was the last of it and we could wake up, feel better, and make it to my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner.  No such luck.  After feeling very puny all day long and moving from bed to bed to couch to bed trying to make herself comfortable, at 2PM she began her routine of being sick all over again.  When it came close to time to get ready to go, Caleigh said to me in a very small voice, "Mom, I just don't think I can make it."  I called my mom and broke the news to her that we weren't coming and asked Mish to come by our house to take our gifts to everyone.  Chad was working and my mom asked him to come to her house before he came home to get some dinner for us and to bring our presents from them home.  This would be the first time in my lifetime that I haven't celebrated with my family for Christmas.  By some sort of Christmas miracle, and the help of Zofran left from last Christmas' stomach virus which caused me to knock on the door of a total stranger's house in search of something to clean up Caleigh and my car, around 7PM, Caleigh started to feel better.  Shortly after that, Chad arrived with our dinner in takeout boxes and a carload of gifts.  Thanks to Facetime, we were still able to watch each other open presents.  We retired for the evening and I wasn't sure what Christmas morning would bring.

Christmas Program

Last year at Caleigh's Christmas program at her school, Chad and I first became acutely aware of the way preschoolers (lots of them) "sing".  It is more like taking your child's worst tantrum and multiplying it by around 300 and you have a preschool program!  Ok, well maybe it's not that bad but it was good for a great laugh.  This year, we knew what to expect and weren't so blown away by the "singing".  AND, this year, we were informed Caleigh would be singing a solo!  YAY!  She practiced really hard and learned all of her lines like a champ.  She was so excited to perform for us!  As the teachers asked the students to sing louder and louder, Caleigh was only too happy to oblige.  She danced and smiled and then became very serious when it to was time to watch for her cue.  Unfortunately, she was instructed to start at the wrong time and she became confused.  She kept on singing though and made her way through her lyrics with the microphone held as close to her mouth as possible.  She could not have been more proud of herself!   And we were so very proud of her!

After her program was her class Christmas party.  There was food and drinks and gifts!  There were gifts to the kids from the teachers, gifts to the teachers from the kids, and there were gifts to the parents from the kids! Here are the presents from Caleigh to us.  We also got a few handmade ornaments as well!

Granny and Granddaddy made it to her program this year and were able to partake in her class party as well!  She was so happy to have them there!  When she saw them standing in the back, she could barely control her excitement on stage!