A Pox On You

In my last post, I mentioned that I am a woman who possesses little to no shame.  My, how quickly I was forced to eat those words. 

I have shingles. 

At first glance, this is nothing to be embarrassed by.  Just a big ol’ rash and some pain and discomfort.  Nor, now experiencing it, is it anything to laugh at.  But really . . . it’s kind of funny. 

You see, you can only get shingles if you’ve already had chicken pox.  Chicken pox, and thus shingles, is a form of the herpes virus.  And so, to combat this viral outbreak, my doctor (god bless her for calling in a scrip for me on a weekend) prescribed me Valtrex. 

 It’s ok.  I’ve been giggling over it since Saturday. 

Of course she’s the doctor and she knows what she’s doing and this is totally the normal medicine to prescribe . . . but when one sees Valtrex, one doesn’t think shingles or chicken pox, one thinks of the beautiful commercials featuring lovely people who can now ride bicycles and paddle a canoe thanks to Valtrex taming their genital herpes outbreaks. 

And naturally, the wonderful pharmacist who quickly and sympathetically served up the big blue pills for me just before closing on a Saturday evening was the mother of a friend I had grown up with.  She knew what was going on, but I still felt the need to continuously mention that it was shingles I was seeking medicine for.  I also quickly developed a paranoid fear that everybody in HEB magically grew the ability to see through paper bags and saw me hustling out with a bottle full of Valtrex.  I felt the need to either wear a shingles badge or start shouting “Shingles!!  I have medication for SHINGLES, people, no genital herpes here!!  All medical issues are above the belt and not sexually transmitted!!” 

The funniest part is the thick cluster of spots dead center on my abdomen, a couple of inches above my belly button.  It looks like I can give you the Care Bear Stare . . . and give you herpes. 

Sarcasmo

Currently Excited About:  Dermaplast.  Yep, all other excitement in my life has paled in comparison to this numbing pain killer spray.