who gets shingles when they are 32?

ME! What the heck. I knew there was a reason I felt like I had the flu..then it got worse. For about 4 days straight I had chest pain and a throbbing headache and this burning/itching on my left side. Dave kept telling me that I was working out too much and shouldn't be doing oblique exercises that they were irritating me. haha. Then, the rash/blisters appeared. Between the ridiculous amount of itching and the deep chest pain, I decided it was time to go to the Dr. Oh, and not being able to sleep for 2 nights was another indication I might need some medical attention.  Being a pharmacist, I just like to diagnose myself and I my husband thinks I am nuts=)  So I went to the doctor for like the 3rd time in my adult life and sure enough, I have shingles.  The adult form of chicken pox. FUN stuff! I probably waited too long since I have blisters on my sides already, but since the Dr. insisted I take an anti-viral I didn't argue =) I wanted to tell him so badly that studies show that if 72 hours has lapsed from the time  of the rash appearing, antivirals don't really work well. But he didn't ask, so I just kept that little tid bit of info to myself.  After all, I did make a deal with husband that I would actually go to the doctor and not diagnose myself for once. If it so happens it shortens this itching by a day then that is one less day of torture!  


So, my mom and Jill asked me... UM, don't only old people get that?? I would have normally thought the same thing, but Dave had shingles LAST summer. (That means we really are soul mates!) hahaha. 


This is what happens in case you are curious how a 30 year old gets shingles.  Skip to the bottom where it says love chelley if you don't care about the details! =)  After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus that caused the illness does not completely go away; it lies dormant in the nerve cells that run parallel to the spine. For reasons not fully understood, maybe stress... but who doesn't have some kind of stress??  the virus can become reactivated after a long period, sometimes decades. When this happens, you've got shingles, also called herpes zoster.  The biggest risk factors for reactivation are increasing age and a weakened immune system, which explains why the disease is most commonly seen in older people. However, plenty of younger people come down with shingles when -- for sometimes no apparent reason -- their immunity is low, or they are under extreme stress. I also wonder if the chicken pox vaccine is causing a higher incidence in younger adults now. I have read that it can benefit a person to be exposed to the virus throughout their life to be immune to getting this as an adult, but since no one ever has chicken pox anymore, thus the increase in young people getting it. Obviously, that's a guess on my part, but it's just a something to think about =)  Anyways, when the virus reactivates, it damages nerve cells (which is what creates the pain), then travels to the skin's surface and produces a rash and lovely blisters that itch and burn like crrrrraaazzy.  Please know, while I am kidding about how miserable I am right now, I could have something much more horrible!!! I do realize how blessed I am, with just shingles. 

I am SO lucky that Nana and Grandaddy took Kyndall to grandparent camp and it just so happens that the big girls have gymnastics camp this weekend from 9-330. So I spent the day ironing , I mean relaxing mom =) Tomorrow I will do the same, and since Dave is off I will make sure that I play up my sickness big time and take advantage of him waiting on me and helping me clean up the house. I mean, what are the chances of this ever happening again? I might as well milk it! I think God allows mom's to get sick every once in awhile because they never stop to take time to rest and sometimes it has to be a forced thing! If you get a second though, please pray this clears up quick. I am way too busy to be slowed down! Going to Indiana next week for my first Matilda Jane conference and Nakitta is coming down to watch the girls for me while I am gone, followed by Don & Sue (Gram & Pop Pop) and then... on July 28th the girls and I head back to Georgia for school. This summer has flown by.