So friday night I was up on tribe reading bob's blog post about herpes. As I'm reading bob's account about the frightening ability of herpes to spread very quickly over your body I start getting itchy. I figured I just had the creepy crawlies because of what I'd been reading. Then I notice a couple of bumps on my arm. I'd already been feeling like crap headache, bodyaches but since everyone around me's had some winter bug or other I assumed the symptoms were from the flu and dismissed the bumps as a bug bite.
Before long though the itchiness continued and I realized that I had a lot more than just a few bumps, and more appeared very quickly. I was almost convinced for a moment that I'd had a psychosomatic outbreak of hives, but as engaging as Bob's writing is, no writing is good enough to cause that kind of reaction in me.
Turns out I have chicken pox which oddly enough is in the herpes family of viruses along with mono and simplex I and II. I never knew that the viruses were related. How weird is it that I'm reading all about the wonderful world of herpes simplex I and II, when one of its cousins decides to sneak up and drop kick me.
Can't believe I managed to dodge the bullet for 27 years just to get it now, when most people either have already had it or are vaccinated. My children don't have it and I've no clue where I caught it.
I had no idea how much this malady blows. I mean I heard all about how itchy it is and i was expecting that. What I wasn't expecting were the awful headaches, bodyaches, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and crazy fever dreams involving me being the father of Anna Nicole Smiths baby. This posting is the most coherent set of thoughts I've been able to form since all this started friday night and I'm probably gonna need a nap soon from the strain of it.
I'm really lucky though. From what the doc said today it could have been a lot worse. My rash isn't very bad and apparantly a lot of adults that get chicken pox end up with pneumonia and other serious complications. So I'm taking my antiviral and keeping my fingers crossed. I've got to stay away from people for a few more days particularly pregnant women and young children.
Ugh, i seriously feel like a leper. I had to ask my neighbor to pick my son up from school today (her daughter goes to the same school) because I couldn't go get him. Most school age kids are vaccinated but their younger siblings often aren't. And it seems like there are always a couple of pregnant moms there picking kids up.
I should be over this in a few days though, no longer contagious and finally feeling better. Wish me luck! I'm off to take a nap (gotta hurry the judge in dreamland's going to hear my motion for a dna test).