Chicken Pox 2 : The return of the strain...

It all started a week ago. Remember the time I got my OS X Tiger from Low Yat? I was having a meal with my parents and there was a sudden numbnest on my right side of the waist. At first, I thought I must have sat down too long. I ignored it.

The numbnest then turned into a sudden pain. Again I brushed it off telling myself I walked too much today.

The following morning, the numbnest was still there. This time, it had spreaded towards my back and a little towards my groin area. It felt wierd... but interesting.

Numbness + Absolutely nothing on the skin - no red spots or lumps.

3 days later...
The numbness is getting a bit bothering. I started thinking of wierd thoughts, like I'm going through some symptoms of heart attack or something. Still... there is nothing on the skin. Just pure numbness and perhaps occasional pain (feels like someone is constantly pushing).

3 + 3 days later...
The red spots develop. It began to itch. As a person who is prone to itch due to my sensitive skin, I decided to drop by a pharmacy and requested for a "rash" cream. I was being dispensed - Betnovate. In my opinion, Betnovate works wonders... so I applied on the infected area, hoping that the numbness and the rash would disappear.

Sunday (today)
I woke up early this morning and discovered that the spots have developed into little lumps. At first, it looked like pimples so I decided to continue with Betnovate and see what happens in the next couple of days.

Later during the day I told my mum of my little "pimples" on my waist, after showing her - she went "aiyah... lei sang SEH ah..." - translated as "oh no! you've got a snake!".

I was like WHAT? SNAKE? You see, as person born in a typical chinese family, there are many names of illnesses which sounds completely alien in the western medical world. There was shock in the entire family. Stella recalled that she heard of such illnesses and that if this "snake" wraps around a person's body - that person will DIE.

I had a problem - and yet, I didn't know what the problem was. If I were to go through the Chinese methods of healing, I'll be sent to this "snake catcher" who would literally burn the little "pimples" on my waist and be given some strange chinese concoction to drink. Inside me was this voice saying "there are millions of people in this world - I'm sure if it exists in Malaysia, it would exist in the Western World... there has to be a cure without going through the snake catchers".

I decided to find out more about this "snake", but if I were to key in "snake disease" in google, I'll start getting results related to diseases which snakes can catch and the various types of snakes in the world today. I didn't need literature on snakes, I need to know what is this "snake" that my family talked about.

Stella got off the phone from her mum and I was told that the western term is "shingles".

Some facts on Shingles

• Looks like chicken pox
• It hurts
• It itches (hurts more than itch)
  
• Comes from the chicken pox virus a.k.a second outbreak of chicken pox
• How does it come about? Well, when you had chicken pox when you were young, the virus stays within your body and is not completely destroyed. The virus stays forever - within the nervous system and will create an outbreak (shingles) when it feels like it (mostly when your body is weak)
  
• Can only happen to those who have had chicken pox
• It's only contagious to those who have NOT had chicken pox - confused? Well, if you have had chicken pox, you can't get Shingles from someone who is having Shingles... however, if you haven't had chicken pox, a person with Shingles (essentially the chicken pox virus) can be transmitted to you causing you to have chicken pox.
  

Now I've got facts on this "snake" - so why did the chinese call this snake?
Shingles is a virus which spreads (not through touch - for the host) but through the veins. Wherever your vein goes, it will spread. It commonly spreads in a form of a belt, around the waist, making it look like a snake.

Back to my story...
My family and Stella's family have gone high and low, looking for the best doctors for the "snake" or Shingles.

They came up with a number of chinese and western doctors. To save myself from the fire, I decided to head for a western doctor.

Upon arrival, the doctor inspected my infected area and immediately, she confirmed it was Shingles. I was prescribed anti-viral medication, some cream and some pain-killers.

* OOohh.. pain * sorry, sudden pain while typing this blog.

I've had my first dose. It's time for rest. Let's hope Chicken Pox 2 will end soon...

Oh by the way, the cure?
Just keep your body healthy. Have multivitamins and lead a healthy lifestyle. :)