Kiersten Romanik
3/12/12
English 5
Fight in the Battle
The years of torture are finally over. I still feel the burning, stinging pain of the disease across my body. In the corner of my eyes, deep in my ear canal, and all over my back. After the 8 years of suffering with this disease, my battle with Shingles is over. I can remember the days as a child with chicken pox. Chicken pox was never a real problem. All it was, was a day home from school, a week to watch TV, and a time to be pampered and taken care of by my parents. I had a few itchy bumps on my skin, and it was moderately painful, but not a big deal at all. I thought the virus was fine until it was reawakened in my body and gave me shingles. I can’t really remember my time with chicken pox, but all I know is that it is much better than the second form of this disease.
My boyfriend and I are avid hikers which would explain what I thought when the shingles rash first started. I thought it was just a severe case of poison ivy. What else was I supposed to think? Just to be sure that my diagnosis was right and there was nothing more serious, I went to the doctor’s office for their opinion. It turns out that according to the doctors it was a case of poison ivy, nothing more. I dealt with this diagnosis for over a year, never arguing with the doctors. But as the year slowly passed by, my condition only became increasingly worse. I was shocked. I constantly thought, “how is this possibly poison ivy, it has to be something else.” But for some reason, I never went in for that follow up with the doctor that I needed so desperately. I didn’t end up going for the next 6 months that passed, and during that time, the rash spread to the corners of my eyes, all over my back, and deep in my ear canal. Suffering through the effects of the rash was
hellish. Every second of every day, all I could feel was the pain of the rash. It felt as if my skin was on fire, while someone was simultaneously stabbing a knife into my skin. I have never felt a worse pain in my entire life until then. After dealing with this pain for over a year, I finally went into the doctor so I could finally get that second opinion I need so badly.
I walked through the door of the doctors office and right when they saw my rash, they knew immediately that their first diagnosis of poision ivy was completely wrong. After leaving the room for a few minutes, the doctor came back in and announced that the Varicella Zoster virus was reawakened in my body. I had no idea what the doctor meant at first. But he soon gave me a better understanding of my situation. He explained that Varicella Zoster is the chicken pox shingles virus. I then thought back to my expierence with chicken pox as a kid, and I knew it was nothing compared to what I have now, so it must be shingles. I wasn’t very familiar with the disease so I let my doctor explain. He explained that shingles is a painful blistering skin rash due to the varicella zoster virus, and that virus also causes chickenpox. He went on to say that after you get chickenpox as a child, the virus remains inactive in the system. Shingles occurs after the virus is reawakened in the body. I was glad I finally knew what was happening to me, but also very confused and scared about how long this rash was going to last.
I continued to ask my doctor questions, and he continued to give me answeres. He explained that the blisters break, forming ulcers that will usually crust up and fall off after 2 or 3 weeks, but that wasn’t my case. He said that I came in just in time. The rash on my
back was a bad one, and it was very unusual how long it was on my body, never getting any better. I guess I just had a bad case of it. But the rashes deep in my ear canal and the
one on the corner of my eye were much worse. If I had waited one more week, my consequences would have been much worse. The shingles that had spread to my ear could have impaired my hearing forever. And the infection that was at the corner of my eye had the possibility to make me blind in one eye. At this point, all I had was emotions rushing through me. I was happy and relieved that I made it to the doctor’s office before the rashes caused some permanent damage. But I was also sad, worried, and confused about why I had to be living with shingles. Before I left, he told me to use lotion on my rashes, using cool wet compresses, and resting in bed a lot to help reduce the pain. I knew that most of these treatments wouldn’t help me very much, but I was going to at least give them a shot.
After this doctors appointment, I was prescribed a drug that was also used as an antidepressant in some patients. It did work for my disease, but sometimes it never even seemed to make a difference in shrinking the rash or making it any less painful. For the next 3 years, I took this medication hoping for some results. The results finally came after those grueling three years. The doctors had no idea why my condition lasted for so long, but now I am just glad it’s done. With the worst pain in my life finally over, I am a much happier person. Now that I had to suffer through the varicella zoster virus, I really regret never getting the vaccine for the virus. I don’t know why I never got that vaccine, but for whatever reason, I regret my decision. Living with the disease for over 4 years has really made me more conscious of what is going on with my body. My life has resumed as usual, but I have never forgotten what I went through.
3/12/12
English 5
Fight in the Battle
The years of torture are finally over. I still feel the burning, stinging pain of the disease across my body. In the corner of my eyes, deep in my ear canal, and all over my back. After the 8 years of suffering with this disease, my battle with Shingles is over. I can remember the days as a child with chicken pox. Chicken pox was never a real problem. All it was, was a day home from school, a week to watch TV, and a time to be pampered and taken care of by my parents. I had a few itchy bumps on my skin, and it was moderately painful, but not a big deal at all. I thought the virus was fine until it was reawakened in my body and gave me shingles. I can’t really remember my time with chicken pox, but all I know is that it is much better than the second form of this disease.
My boyfriend and I are avid hikers which would explain what I thought when the shingles rash first started. I thought it was just a severe case of poison ivy. What else was I supposed to think? Just to be sure that my diagnosis was right and there was nothing more serious, I went to the doctor’s office for their opinion. It turns out that according to the doctors it was a case of poison ivy, nothing more. I dealt with this diagnosis for over a year, never arguing with the doctors. But as the year slowly passed by, my condition only became increasingly worse. I was shocked. I constantly thought, “how is this possibly poison ivy, it has to be something else.” But for some reason, I never went in for that follow up with the doctor that I needed so desperately. I didn’t end up going for the next 6 months that passed, and during that time, the rash spread to the corners of my eyes, all over my back, and deep in my ear canal. Suffering through the effects of the rash was
hellish. Every second of every day, all I could feel was the pain of the rash. It felt as if my skin was on fire, while someone was simultaneously stabbing a knife into my skin. I have never felt a worse pain in my entire life until then. After dealing with this pain for over a year, I finally went into the doctor so I could finally get that second opinion I need so badly.
I walked through the door of the doctors office and right when they saw my rash, they knew immediately that their first diagnosis of poision ivy was completely wrong. After leaving the room for a few minutes, the doctor came back in and announced that the Varicella Zoster virus was reawakened in my body. I had no idea what the doctor meant at first. But he soon gave me a better understanding of my situation. He explained that Varicella Zoster is the chicken pox shingles virus. I then thought back to my expierence with chicken pox as a kid, and I knew it was nothing compared to what I have now, so it must be shingles. I wasn’t very familiar with the disease so I let my doctor explain. He explained that shingles is a painful blistering skin rash due to the varicella zoster virus, and that virus also causes chickenpox. He went on to say that after you get chickenpox as a child, the virus remains inactive in the system. Shingles occurs after the virus is reawakened in the body. I was glad I finally knew what was happening to me, but also very confused and scared about how long this rash was going to last.
I continued to ask my doctor questions, and he continued to give me answeres. He explained that the blisters break, forming ulcers that will usually crust up and fall off after 2 or 3 weeks, but that wasn’t my case. He said that I came in just in time. The rash on my
back was a bad one, and it was very unusual how long it was on my body, never getting any better. I guess I just had a bad case of it. But the rashes deep in my ear canal and the
one on the corner of my eye were much worse. If I had waited one more week, my consequences would have been much worse. The shingles that had spread to my ear could have impaired my hearing forever. And the infection that was at the corner of my eye had the possibility to make me blind in one eye. At this point, all I had was emotions rushing through me. I was happy and relieved that I made it to the doctor’s office before the rashes caused some permanent damage. But I was also sad, worried, and confused about why I had to be living with shingles. Before I left, he told me to use lotion on my rashes, using cool wet compresses, and resting in bed a lot to help reduce the pain. I knew that most of these treatments wouldn’t help me very much, but I was going to at least give them a shot.
After this doctors appointment, I was prescribed a drug that was also used as an antidepressant in some patients. It did work for my disease, but sometimes it never even seemed to make a difference in shrinking the rash or making it any less painful. For the next 3 years, I took this medication hoping for some results. The results finally came after those grueling three years. The doctors had no idea why my condition lasted for so long, but now I am just glad it’s done. With the worst pain in my life finally over, I am a much happier person. Now that I had to suffer through the varicella zoster virus, I really regret never getting the vaccine for the virus. I don’t know why I never got that vaccine, but for whatever reason, I regret my decision. Living with the disease for over 4 years has really made me more conscious of what is going on with my body. My life has resumed as usual, but I have never forgotten what I went through.