diseased

Just a casual stress rash irritated by the bra strap right?? or at least that's what I believed all weekend, mostly because my friend Daron had broken out with a stress rash all over his torso a few weeks ago, so seemed legit enough for me to believe I would have the same problem. Wrong.

Showed this picture to my professor after class today and he diagnosed me with Shingles (A condition where the chicken pox virus in your nerve endings). SHINGLES!!!!! that was my first reaction, followed by an immediate reaction of tearing up. Of course I asked him if this was some sick April Fools joke, but unfortunately I was one day too early, he responded by telling me to get to the InstaCare and get it checked out. After sharing my new disease with the remaining of my class in the room I went out to my car only to have a panic/emotional breakdown to my mom on the way to the instacare. I just couldn't have shingles, that was the last thing I needed right now!!

Anyways, turns out my professor is great at his job because he was dead on! I have shingles, and turns out I was right along with it being a stress rash, just a different kind of stress rash. I got some medications for it: Prednisone to help with the inflammation and insane itching, Ibuprofen 800 for the pain, and an anti-fungal which normally kills the virus but since I was stubborn to admit something was wrong with me I was outside the preferable 48 hours of taking it after shingles develops so we're trying it anyways to hopefully help do something.

So cheers: to Nursing School really being as stressful as I complain about all the time, to being the stubborn patient, to feeling like everyone is staring at my disease everywhere I go now even though it's on my back, to not getting to hold or play with my niece until healed, to paranoia, to lots and lots of hand washing the next couple weeks, and to a long painful, itchy and irritable recovery!!

(PS. I just hope that I don't have to be totally stress free for this to go away cause if so I'll be stuck with it until Summer)