Health Scare

We had quite a scare in the very early hours of Monday, September 21. The afternoon before, Heather noticed some pain starting on the left side of her chest, at bedtime, it was under her arm, and in the middle of the night, it was in her left shoulder. She woke me asking what we should do as she was having extreme pains on the left side of her chest and in her shoulder. We've seen the emails about women having heart attacks and possibly not knowing it and she wasn't sure if she was over-reacting or not. When she nearly passed out, I had her lay back down and I called 911. The paramedics came and gave her some nitroglycerin and took her to the hospital. Things never really improved in the ER so they admitted her. On top of the pain she was having, the nitroglycerin was giving her extreme headaches... to the point where she almost wanted to just give up. They kept running test after test and kept her overnight. She left with some pain medication and some acid reflux medicine, but no real diagnosis as to what the problem was (though they ruled out it was her heart).

When we got her home, she showered and noticed blotches on her chest, which I thought were from all the heart monitoring equipment that was taped to her. Heather had an idea what it might be so she grabs her laptop and does her own research and confirms her own diagnosis. She calls the doctor and after meeting with him, the diagnosis was confirmed: Heather had shingles. The rash spread down her left arm into her palm (instead of going around her body, like it usually does). Thankfully, it did not go to her face, where it could affect hearing and eyesight. She dealt with the extreme pain and itching for more than two weeks. Once the pain subsided, she then had to deal with the itching for at least another 2 weeks. She doesn't have any pain anymore, but still a little rash and occasional itching on the left side of her chest. Having discovered what it was early allowed the antiviral meds to reduce the time and severity. She's still tired some, but that might just be life. :o) Praise the Lord, she's OK now, but I told her she's not allowed to scare us like that any more!