Yep. Even though I had no idea -or wouldn’t allow myself to think- that I was nervous, my nerves apparently know.
I awoke on Wednesday morning with what I thought was a bee sting or spider bite beside my right ear. It itched and was swollen and felt almost like a big pimple. I just sort of ignored it and went about my work day. It got more and more painful throughout the day until Thursday when I started needing to put an ice pack on it and take multiple ibuprofens to dull the pain. I also noticed more “bites” spreading behind my ear and down my neck.
Britton and I thought it was maybe a reaction to sunflower pollen or spiders, so we thoroughly cleaned the bed and room and he pulled out all the sunflowers beside our bedroom window. The pain continued until last night at about 1am when I was in serious pain and considered going to the emergency room. We managed to wait it out with more analgesics and an antihistamine that, while it didn’t decrease the swelling, at least made me drowsy enough to sleep.
Finally this morning we decided to see a doctor. He took one look at me and pronounced I had…drumroll…shingles!
Shingles
Shingles are most commonly found in the elderly or immunocompromised people…not in healthy people in their early 30’s like me! However, when it is found in younger people, it is usually a sign of prolonged stress. Shingles is an inflammation of the nerves/nerve endings that occurs when dormant chicken pox viruses reactivate. Basically, an obvious and visible case of the nerves!
I really don’t think I am stressed out, but probably underneath my cool exterior, I am actually dealing with a lot of stressors. Britton will be quitting work next Friday and we will be without health insurance, a phone or his paycheck. We have sold nearly all of our belongings and I need to close up all my work responsibilities and turn in my notice as well. I need to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row and we transition all of our other responsibilities like our rentals, bills, bank accounts, etc. We also want to have a going away party and make sure to say goodbye to everyone we will be leaving behind- all our co-workers, friends, and family.
We will then travel 3000 miles with a freaked out cat and without jobs to an area that is still somewhat foreign to us and a property that needs some serious work to start a life completely from scratch. So, yah, when I actually think about it, I probably AM a little nervous. My body just shows it and knows it better than I (consciously) do.
We are tremendously excited to start on this new life, but really we are a bit nervous about what’s to come. I think it is only natural in huge life changes. We are human after all. I am sure the stress will all settle down here in a few months, just as my shingles will just have to settle down and go away on their own. It is a good lesson to remember to listen to your body though. Sometimes it will tell you things that you didn’t even know to listen for and give you that wake up call to deal with it rather than just ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. Life is good at this whole lesson-teaching/learning thing.
Any tips on how to get through these next few stressful months (or shingles)? We might need all the help we can get.
Aaaah! That’s terrible! My dad gets the shingles every once in a while but he is in his 70s. It has got to be the stress. You guys show us your cool exterior with your extensive planning but you’ve got to be stressed out of your minds. Just reading your blog makes me nervous and worried for you and I live in Puerto Rico! And my cats hate to travel by car. I feel terrible about your cat having to get on an airplane. But at least you will be arriving after the summer is over. It would be so cruel to welcome you in the Summer.
Medical Insurance in Puerto Rico is somewhat affordable. If you’ve got basically no income you can get government subsidized health insurance. It isn’t perfect but it is better than nothing. And private personal insurance is, from what I understand, not as expensive as it is in the USA. I’m on SSS (Blue Cross / Blue Shield) right now and it’s pretty decent by Puerto Rican standards. But it does sucks for medicines so when I go to the doctors I always tell them to try to give me something that I can find on the Wal-Mart $5 generic list. It could be worse but at least last year it got the deductible for my surgery down to $100 from god only knows how many thousands of dollars.
Here’s a link: http://www.ssspr.com/plan66/index.aspx
Scroll down on that page because they don’t give the $66 plan to almost anyone but the Directo might do the trick. And they give discounts to couples.
I am so sorry to hear that you have shingles. I am a “little” older than you but it is very painful and energy sapping. Calamine lotion, repeatedly during the day, pain pills and anti-bacterial prescriptions made life bearable (two courses of each). I know you are young but listen to your body and do not overdo the physical while recuperating.
I had shingles a few years ago when I was 30 and had a lot of stress in my life. It really sucked and was very painful and took me 3 weeks to get over it. Be careful about scares. I have a pretty big patch of scaring on my shoulder / back area and there is not much I can do about it.
Best wishes from west Greeley.
Thanks for the link Adolfo! I filled out the form and someone contacted me today.
The coverage that they offer is amazingly less than what I pay now thru my employer and the coverage is better too. I got the lady’s name and number who handles the west side of the island and we can contact her as we move closer.
Holy moly; it is a stressful time no doubt about it, but soon, things will all fall into place and you can really breathe the sweet tropical air and get several good nights of sleep. SOON!
In the meantime, a good yoga class could do wonders, especially a hot one like Bikram, if available.. It would calm your nervous system and sweat out the toxins from the stressors. Another option is swimming if you have a warmish pool available. The ocean in P.R. sounds perfect for this!
Don’t sweat the medical insurance for now, you are young and healthy and are sure to be a lot healthier within a few months of rest, exercise and healthy island food. A doctor friend of mine told me that the research is overwhelming: people who don’t go to doctors are healthier and live longer than those who do, as much of the medical intervention these days is toxic and lacks common sense. Just like much of our outside imposed life, which you two are wisely escaping.