sidelined again… thanks to shingles!

Got all psyched up for treatment #8, but honestly, I could tell something wasn’t right with my body. While I was able to work and function this week, I still felt pretty crummy—weak and achey. By Thursday and Friday my chest was tight and I knew my body was having a tough time fighting off chest sickness, and I was having some strange pains in my upper body.

Sure enough, last night shingles started to appear on my back. Come to find out, this is somewhat common for chemo patients and it is not good for a number of reasons. First, it’s the result of a low immune system. Second, it’s going to get painful, from what I’m told. Third, it cancels treatment for at least a week—maybe longer. Fourth, it puts me back in bed for another week, hopefully not longer. And fifth, if it isn’t stopped quickly it can become a bacterial infection in my heart, lungs, and other organs. So it’s not something to mess with. Let’s not do a hospital stay!
My doctor responded quickly, put me on some strong medication, and told me to stay home. I also had blood work done this morning, so we’ll see soon where my white counts are at. I can feel that they are low.
At least this week in bed I’ll be in my right mind. It’s a bit of a bummer to post-pone chemo again. I was really counting down the days until it’s done. Now the final treatment is moved further into May. Please pray that the meds will knock this out quickly, before it gets worse. And pray that we can resume treatment next Monday.