Shingles aren't just for houses...

Before going to bed Thursday I noticed a couple of small red marks on my face, one near my right eyebrow and the other on my forehead above it. I figured it was nothing. The one near my eye was a little sore but that's not too strange. I went to bed and thought nothing more about it, you know, aside from running down the list of terrifying things it could be: skin cancer, a tumor growing in my orbit, damage from radiation, an allergic reaction to something...

Friday morning the spots, which really had looked like dry skin when I went to bed the night before, had turned more into what I would call a welt; they were looking much more angry. And I had this crazy intermittent stabbing headache on the right side of my head. This could not be good.  So I ignored it. I went to work for a couple of hours and then Mom and I headed to the hospital for a good old-fashioned ultrasound-guided needle biopsy of my swollen lymph nodes,  

The nodes, by the way, lit up on the PET scan, near my left collarbone and in my neck. So the biopsy was done in order to confirm what kind of cancer we are dealing with - my friendly little lung cancer or something new. I cried a little bit when they told me about the procedure, but as is typical with me, I had the entire team of four people cracking up with me by the end of it all.  They used a freezing cold spray to numb my skin, then injected lidocaine to numb the tissues below, before gently jabbing me with the largest needle known to man (I didn't actually look at the needle and I am certain larger ones exist but give me a little literary freedom here. When you're on that table you imgaine the goddamned worst). 

The nurse found a good candidate node via ultrasound, the doctor did the jabbing, and another nurse held my hand and squeezed back as hard as I was squeezing, which is amazingly reassuring. There was another doctor, but I think he was a resident, and he didn't get in on the action. He did, however, think I was funny. And, once again, I was welcome to come back anytime. Cancer fame. 

So, Mom and I came home and during the ordeal I hadn't noticed the headaches, but they started up once again on the car ride home, lengthened by an accident on the Blue Route that led us to detour through Swarthmore. It was nice and winding, just what you want after a high stress needle biopsy has taken away any energy or gumption you might have started the day with. Seriously, it feels like someone is jabbing a screwdriver into my head just behind my temple. Shit. 

I went right to bed and tried to relax, counting backwards, doing the alphabet backwards, saying my old prayers from childhood (so comforting even though I'm not particularly religious). It wasn't getting better, and in fact I now had spots, three of them, on my scalp. Itchy. I took Tylenol and a Benadryl to help me with the pain and to help me sleep. It wasn't much help. 

This morning I felt okay enough to run some errands but once we got home the headaches had started. Mom finally called the family doctor's office who put us in touch with the physician on call (I'd been staying with them because of the needle biopsy). She listened to the story and told me it was shingles and to go to the ER. Well, eff that, I hate the ER. So I called my NP at home. I felt terrible disturbing her weekend but it had to be done.  I barely had the story out of my mounth when she said "it's shingles". No ER necessary. She called in a prescription for an antiviral drug and an anti-seizure drug to help with the nerve pain. 

I took my first round and felt much better for most of the rest of the day.  I'm hopeful it isn't too late for the antiviral drug to work. If you don't take it soon enough after the signs emerge it can last a long time and do irreversible damage to the nerves and possibly my eyesight. You know, in case I didn't already have enough shit on my plate. I'm feeling a little pissed off right now, having both cancer and shingles is a common occurrence because of the suppressed immune system but I've also been operating on a new level of stress for the past year. That is the prime combination for shingles to flourish. Effing awesome.  

If you had chickenpox as a kid, you're fine, you can't catch it from me. But I've been warned to stay away from my nephew for a couple of weeks, which makes me really sad.  At least Jimnerd is a great cinematographer and sends me videos. And, this dude was hanging outside the house today, without the dog noticing...  The little things make all the difference. The little things and nerve medicine.