It’s shingles.
Seriously.
Because, apparently, I’m 72. What the hell?
Sigh.
I’m staying home the rest of the week because my co-worker, who I sit next to and probably have the most contact with in the run of a day, has never had chicken pox (which is the virus that causes shingles) and there’s a chance I could give it to her. This sucks, because I have a very busy week of stuff that I was looking forward to, including tomorrow night’s Rheostatics concert, their penultimate show.
Frack.
This just seems weird to me. Not the shingles themselves; apparently it’s not at all uncommon. Anyone who’s had chicken pox can get shingles, but it’s usually triggered by something. Here’s WebMD’s list of typical triggers:
- Have a weakened immune system (such as people with cancer or HIV)
- Are over the age of 50
- Have been ill
- Are experiencing trauma
- Are under significant stress
Cancer: nope; HIV: nope; over 50: nope; ill: nope; experiencing trauma: nope; under significant stresss: not that I’m aware of. Honestly, the best that I (or Nellie) could come up with is that my body might be rather weakened by the recent drastic shift in diet. Whether that’s it or not, I can’t ignore the fact that I’ve been sick more in the past three months than I had been in the past three years. Maybe that’s coincidence, but when you consider that we haven’t done a great job of adjusting our diets (I know we don’t get enough protein, for example), it seems to be something that I have to address. So, reluctantly, I think I shall have to start eating fish again. Temporarily, until I can adjust my eating habits enough to be vegetarian and be healthy about it.
Goddammit.
.:.
OK, changing gears now: is it wrong that I want to eat Jesus?
.:.
The proposed 60-story condo on the southeast corner of Yonge & Bloor has become a proposed 80-story condo. Any new development on that intersection would be an inprovement. As (city councillor) Kyle Rae put it, “. It’s brutal.”
.:.
There’s so much stuff in the new Harry Rosen magazine that I want that my wallet has begun to glow, kind of like Frodo’s sword when there’s an orc nearby.
.:.
I’m with Serge Savard: hockey should be banned from fighting. It has nothing to do with the game. No other pro sport allows it, let alone condones it. If you’re excited about watching two guys fight, there’s another sport called boxing which I believe would be right up your alley. If I’m watching hockey I prefer skill plays and hard bodychecks to pre-arranged fights and tough-guy posturing.
[tags]shingles, chocolate jesus, toronto condo, yonge and bloor, harry rosen, serge savard, hockey fighting[/tags]
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 
Dan … you are killing me … you are 75 disguised in the body of a 3X old!!!!
PS … thanks for that last comment. If there is one thing about Canada that p@#%es me off its the infatuation with the tough guy, hockey fight image. Its just not sport at that point, so yes to
“If I’m watching hockey I prefer skill plays and hard bodychecks to pre-arranged fights and tough-guy posturing.”
Dude…drink some cod-liver oil.
No wait, that’s rickets.
Though maybe you should have some anyway, just to be on the safe side. You seem fragile.
While you may be thrilled with your new digs, moving is one of the most stressful things you can do. It ranks behind the death of a child, and before divorce, loss of a job and imprisonment. And you keep mentioning this education you are getting… good stress is still stress.
If you are eating lots of whole grains and veggies (vitB and C) you are consuming the best possible foods for the condition. You are right in guessing that fish will help-it’s loaded with Bvitamen as are eggs. Mom was also recommended to eat extra leafy green (calcium/magnesium) for the pain. As well as red and orange veggies for the skin rash.
You should also look into Lysine supplements; it’s an amino acid the body cannot make on its own. Most people get it from eating red meats. It is essential in helping the body combat the herpes virus.
Shingles, huh. That sucks. Yes, it sounds like an old-man problem, but it’s true that I have heard of other people getting it. It’s not all that rare. I hear it’s uncomfortable, though: I hope it passes quickly.
Like JR said, I think you’re under more stress than you let on. Moving is very stressful. I know you, and I know that your European trip-planning in the autumn is on your mind. Dunno how things are at work, but I’m sure it’s not carefree. And that wife of yours is a real handful.* Plus with the diet change, I bet it’s all adding up.
*This is a joke to see if anyone actually reads these comments.
Move: everything’s taken care of. Having 3 years to plan for a move makes it pretty low-stress. Besides, Nellie’s doing all the work there.
School: I’m currently doing an IT course, by far the easiest one we’ve had yet.
Work: not overly busy at all, nor overly frustrating.
Trip planning: haven’t even thought about it in a week. Besides, if anything, thinking about travel is soothing!
I think that if it’s anything it’s the diet. I’m also still not convinced that the bump on the back of my head has nothing to do with it; the doctor (I’ll be switching soon) just brushed it off like it was of no consequence, but it doesn’t strike me as a normal shingles symptom, nor does the pain in my head and neck.
I remember when my grandmother had shingles…it wasn’t pretty.
Hope it clears up soon.
The move, work, planning the big trip, the veggie diet… all things I tried to convince him of last night… I was shot down. And brother-in-law, excuse me, “a real handful”? Them’s fightin’ words!
See? What a scrapper.
Yeah, he pretends like it’s no big thing, but he’s only human.
Wow Dan,
I really hope you have a quick recovery to this one. When you are all better, we’ll have another veggie fiesta chalk full of all those good nutriants you need.