I had not been sick or been to a doctor in 8 or 9 years. Seriously. No kidding. But THIS, whatever-it-was, I had, or was getting or had gotten me, was painful and crazy enough to send me right out the door to find someone who might be able to help. But it took a couple of weeks.
I noticed off and on for a several days in a row -- maybe two to three weeks, that my arms were burning, on the back side, and that my hands were going to sleep at odd times, or tingly or burning, like when I was driving or cooking dinner. Other times my shoulder and neck under/near my ears were either achy or burning. Still other times I had stabbing, terrible, hostile, --did I say stabbing? pains in my arms and underarms. OUCH!!
Off to the doctor I finally went when there began to be a rash in my underarm/right breast/lymph node area.
Diagnosis #1 -- poison ivy. Really? Poison ivy is all you have, Doc? Buddy, who has become somewhat of an expert at having poison ivy even thought the Doc was off. Wrong. Missing the mark. This boy has SEEEEEEN poison ivy; he would know! :(
Diagnosis Guess #2 - allergic rash? It was not really a diagnosis as much as it was a question. That was funny, Doc. Um, no. It would be all over my body instead of only in the strategically painful location of .... well... where it is. :-)
Diagnosis #3 (1st and 2nd doctor in conference) - Let's not play around with small things. Let's just go right up to the top of the list! Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Yup. IBC. The Big C. Oh wow! That was a long, loooooooooooong two weeks and four days of prayer, research, prayer, talking to friends, more research, and lots more prayer.
Doctor (oncology lab) visit #4 -- I have almost no blood left. The vampires drained my body! :) I always thought that if two or more doctors wanted the same blood tests, the labs would DUPLICATE the results and send them to all the doctors. I was apparently wrong about this. Norma G. took 6 vials of blood for EACH DOCTOR requesting blood work! WHAT!? When I asked about it, she just rolled her eyes at me. Norma G was not having a good day. Neither was I.
Doctor visit #5 (conference again with doc #1 and 2) -- Big surprise: it's is NOT IBC. It's SHINGLES!!!! SHINGLES!!! You know? Chicken pox on steroids!? Why didn't you see this before, Doc? Why put me through this horrible week and half of appointments and fear and uncertainty and the desperation of learning all I could as fast as I could? And the long nights talking with my husband, about really tough and scary things. And the heartbreak I felt as I looked at my children and husband and thought about things like what their life might be like without me. The birthdays, the milestones, the girlfriends and eventual wives, graduations and 1st cars, the (hopefully) grandchildren and the grand plan of growing old with my one true and blessed love.
And the vampires!? Oh my, that was a LOT of blood!
Yes, I have now met Shingles. I don't like her. Or him. Whichever. Not. At. All.
Why didn't the doc see this before?? She had one answer: "You are a-typical".
Most people with shingles have a rash that looks exactly like the text books. Most people with shingles have that rash on their backs and lower torso. Most people with shingles don't have swollen lymph nodes and tender skin all over their bodies, especially not down the backs of their arms! Most people with shingles don't have much fatigue. Most people with shingles get over it in about 2-4 weeks. Aaaaah. That explains it. It's really just typical for me to be A-Typical. And I don't mind one bit, usually. I like being different. :)
I also like NOT having shingles.
I also don't like jumping to conclusions and knowing what stress and trouble it caused me, my husband and even my doctor. The LORD has a plan and He knows what He is doing. All the worry in the world will not change the love and care he has for me, nor will it change the outcome. I have to learn to trust Him and know that He can see everything that I cannot. I have vowed that I will try not to jump to conclusions any more. It will not be easy, but I will try and the LORD is my strength.