Being sick is very boring

Most aren't old enough to remember scarlet fever, or pneumonia in the pre-penicillin days, and maybe you still have your appendix. I had all three--oh, and infected tonsils, so that's four. But that's pretty much it for 77 years and I still have all my permanent teeth and never a broken bone despite having owned a horse.  But adding up the days those 4 put me to bed in a dark room and stuck in the house doesn't equal my shingles siege of January 2017.  Today I drove the car for the first time since Jan. 6. Yesterday I walked outside a bit.  It came back for a second round and I'm back on acyclovir and still using a steroid for my eye.  As pain goes, it's nothing like cancer, heart attack or stroke.  It's about a 2 on a scale of 10, manageable with Gabapentin and Tylenol. But I'm a whiner and so bored with this.

We only have antenna TV in the guest room, so I've been watching reruns 40 years old.  My goodness, I can't believe how women were depicted in the 1970s. Laugh-In was probably the worst.  So why should we trust Hollywood celebrities in the 21st century to tell us what to think? Like Madonna and Lady GaGa?

For days after I stopped throwing up I could eat nothing but Campbell's Chicken Noodle, the old fashioned kind.  Then fried egg sandwiches with cheese sounded good, reminding me of one of the few things my Dad knew how to cook.  Then Key Lime Pie sounded pretty good.  But in general, eating hasn't been very healthy.

Time out for shingles

It's been a rough week.  Friday night I noticed a small sore spot on my forehead.  Did all the normal week-end stuff--dinner with friends, church, congregational meeting. Monday noticed a few more spots but thought I had pink eye.  By Tuesday got the diagnosis of shingles, possibly in my eye.  Lots of meds, more doctor visits. Spent most of the week in the guest room in the dark.  Shingles vaccine, which I've had, is 51% protective, but we hope it lessens the break out. Today my eye is open, so that's progress. Thank God for adult children living near by.