When You Can't Get Out

Just finished up a photography workshop a couple weeks ago and it went pretty well with some help from our local photography club.  Had about 25 people participate plus 5 or six from the club who helped out with some technical support...much appreciated as well.

Similar to what I am suffering thru.  Mine are more Prevalent along the side and ribs

A few days later I noticed some pain in my side...it felt like I had either strained something or had been kicked in the ribs...neither of which had any basis for having occurred.  The pain progressively grew worse over the next few days and by the next Monday morning I was hurting pretty badly.  By that evening I noticed a rash developing along my ribs and middle part of the left side on the back.  Shingles...that was my first assumption which was verified the next morning at the clinic. Shingles are caused by the chicken pox virus that most of us get when we are kids.  It lies dormant in the nerve cells for decades sometimes and then get trigger when your immune system gets compromised for some reason.  When they surface the rash or blisters follow the nerve lines that radiate from the spine and wrap around to the front.  The result is  a very painful experience with not only the burning from the blisters and rash, but severe pain deeper down in the tissue and nerve paths.  This causes that kicked in the ribs feeling. Shingles can cause a lot of problems if not care for properly, plus you can pass chicken pox to anyone who has not had them, which would not be a good thing. For the rest of the week they grew progressively worse and more painful...so much so I had to stay home and try to work from home...it was a hopeless cause.

In order to control the pain I had to take some powerful medication which produced numerous side effects like dizziness, wooziness, sleepiness, and assorted other complications too numerous to list.  It was bad enough to suffer through the effects of the ailment, but what really hurt was seeing these amazing mornings go to waste because I just was unable to get out.  Some of the best morning light yet for the season with fog and hazy mist hanging in the air and the first light of day being filtered through this mixture.  Man it really hurt in more ways than one.

But, I suppose that is the way life goes...you win some and you lose some.  This week I lost, but there will but there will be other morning like these to come and I hope to make up for lost time.  I am still hurting from this out break, but they are starting to subside some now and hopefully in another week or so I'll be well enough to get out and enjoy these marvelous Kentucky mornings.

Keith