An eclipse and fevers...

A week ago I finally got a diagnosis for the recurring fevers I had had for about a week...and then I collapsed into caring for this old bod.

Me with one of my dragon creatures, from my clay creative days.

Shingles, for me, was different than all the stories so I want to briefly share that experience. A week of fevers that came and went, which triggered more of my chronic cough, then the little itchy area on one side of my back which resolved after a day into defined raised spots. I stopped scratching them, having had the very similar.experience of herpes on my back. I started the mega-dose of an anti-viral, rather than antibiotic...this is a virus not an infection. The fevers continued, with some days gone. It was hard taking the high doses of the anti-viral, though I had already been on a low-dose maintenance to prevent outbreaks of herpes for years. These viruses don't ever die, but become dormant, like chicken-pox.

Which explained this as the second time I'd had Shingles. The first (which I had forgotten for years) had been right after I moved about 15 years ago. I had unexplained nerve pains, shooting pains when I moved in many different ways, located in my right side rib cage. We took X-rays, which showed a healed cracked rib, but no new problems. So the diagnosis was shingles, without rash, and no treatment beyond taking tylenol.

Eventually it went away and I forgot it. Until this diagnosis. I didn't have shooting pains at all this time. I never had the little lesions become larger...and they virtually disappeared by day 6, when I showed them to the Dr. again. He said my lungs were clear, though I had my chronic cough. So no need for antibiotics. He also said the recurring fevers have been part of shingles.

At that time I asked for something to address the irritating pain around my ribs when I coughed. At times I would cry out because a cough hurt so much. The doctor did the best he could and gave me the pain relief for nerve pain. I took one of those pills, which was very trippy. Moving around, my vision was really strange, and I was terribly tired, and slept most of that day.

I determined that the coughing pain wasn't the same as nerve pain, and went back to Ibuprofen.

I began to feel up to doing a few things around the house. It was still a chore just to get dressed, let alone shower. I was able to put together all the donated food for decent meals. I stopped taking my temperature when I woke up. It had been showing a fever more mornings than not. And then last night there was a lunar eclipse.

I did wake up around 2:30, and looked to see if the moon was shining in my window. I didn't see it. But it was hard to get back to sleep. By 4:30 I woke again drippy wet, sweating in my p.j.'s. I changed my clothes and went back to bed.

Not my photo of Lunar Eclipse, Nov 19, 2021

And when I got up at 7:30 it was already light outside. I looked out my window and saw the first rays of sunshine hit the highest mountain I see, which I think is Big Windy. It didn't sit there with sunshine just on the top slowly coming down, but raced down the side of the mountain. It was like time was doing double-time. Strange, but then I figured out that the tilt of the earth now meant more sunshine was hitting this face of the mountain.

No aches, no fever today. I may run out of steam soon, but I think that night sweat with the eclipse may have been the end of this illness. I've only got a few more of the football pills to take, then I return to my preventative dose. And the little virus guys go back to sleep wherever they belong!

When shall I take a shingles vaccine? My Dr. said to wait 6 months.

I had avoided it when the newer shingles vaccine came available simply because a friend who'd had shingles had an outbreak when she got the vaccination. I wanted to avoid that.

I am so full of gratitude for friends who've helped me through this episode. It would have been a lot more misery if they hadn't been there, always asking, can I get you something? And the two lovely women friends who did a few household chores have made a big difference in my emotions while feeling so out of it.

(This was written on Fri. morning, Nov 19)