What stress can do.

Here’s an update on my housing situation.  My family is against me leaving the agency that can no longer help  support me in my apartment, instead of finding an agency that would continue helping me in my current or slightly bigger and appealing apartment.    I grudgingly agreed to move into a house with another person who is in the same boat I find myself.

in July a possible  House came on the radar .  Both my future housemate and I were summoned to take a look at the house. It was rather a pointless trip.  We did not have a key to the house.  All we were able to do was peer inside through the windows, and that can be hard to do for a couple of people in wheelchairs.  My sister who drove me to the house was able to stand me up so I could peer inside. However, that did not give me a good feel for the house. My gut feeling was that the house was way too small.  It had a huge backyard, though.  We could have had great backyard parties!

A little after the possible house scare, my back started prickling.  I had my personal assistants check my back numerous of times. The best they could come with was that I had some sort of rash. The pain persisted.  Finally it dawned on me at the very same time one of my personal assistants said, “You know you could have Shingles.”

Shingles are brought on by stress.  Huh, the very idea of a life changing event brought on my second bought of Shingles.  Awesome, not!  Luckily it stayed localized to my back, and was a very mild case.  However, I stayed home and away from the mass crowd for a few weeks, because while I could not pass Shingles along,  I could pass the Chickenpox to someone.  I had cabin fever something fierce!

My doctor wrote me a prescription for acyclovir,  an antiviral medication.   It kept the Shingles from spreading across  my body. When I went to pick up the prescription, I was startled to learn I was supposed to take five doses a day.  i have a gag reflex a mile long, and taking 5 doses a day for ten days seemed like climbing Mt.  Everest!   I specifically asked the pharmacist how solvent the pills were.   He assured me I would be able to swallow the pill before it would dissolve  in my mouth. I believed him.

I waited until the next morning to start the medication preferring not to get up twice to take the dreaded pills.   The second the pill hit my mouth, it started melting, quickly turning into a frothy goo that I could neither swallow or spit out very effectively. The First image that ran through my mind was climbing on top of the pharmacy counter and strangling the pharmacist. I am not typically a violent person, but I strongly felt he deserved some sort of punishment!

I still had 49 pills I need to gag down. As luck would have it, just that week I discovered a Crystal Lite drink mix I actually liked, pomegranate. I had my personal assistants dissolve the pills into the drink, and slugged it down as fast as I could.   Totally ruined the only Crystal Lite beverage I will ever drink for life, but I accomplished what I had to.

I suppose it would do my heart good if I went back to the the pharmacist, and explained my experience with the acyclovir.  perhaps it would save someone undue discomfort.