Listen To Medical Advice

Once again ... I urge everyone to get vaccinated against Shingles. You have all seen that ad on TV, haven't you? The lady has the rash on her face and in her scalp and laments that even her hair hurts. She knows what she is talking about!

Through the wonders of Vicodin and sheer exhaustion I finally slept last night. Even my old guy with bladder issues co-operated and stayed in bed a full 10 hours. I did wake from time to time to see if I really was sleeping. You know what I mean, you venture cautiously into consciousness, all the while clinging to sleep and drift back off.

The pain was back this morning, but I stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed that bottle of vicodin, secure in the knowledge that the pain would be fading as I sipped coffee. The pain is hard to describe. Almost like a sore muscle. A deep ache under the afflicted area. Not to be compared to fire of the blisters and the sporadic stabbing pains.

After my coffee and cuddles with my furry kids I felt almost human. Felt so much better that I decided to tackle the rest of my unpacking and change the sheets on my bed. I accomplished both tasks and went on to mop and do laundry. As the vicodin was losing power, so was I. My marathon cleaning was, perhaps, not such a great idea.

I was in a cold sweat, nauseous and feeling generally crappy with a dull headache. I dutifully swallowed my next round of pills, including another vicodin, all the while resisting the urge to take two of them. The bottle did say 1 to 2 as needed for pain. And I was in pain, wasn't I? I only took one and went to my squeaky clean bedroom for a little nap.

All this to say, when the doctor (or nurse practitioner, as the case may be) tells you to take it easy for the next few weeks, it might be a good idea to take that advice to heart. I spent the rest of the afternoon highly agitated and achy. I managed to put a meal together and clean up the kitchen before taking a cool shower.

The cool water seems to calm those blistered nerve endings. In preparation for my ablutions, I discovered a new line of fresh blisters. I think I will take it easy tomorrow, as I was told to.