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.
