Lemons In The Form Of Shingles
Actually, the lemon in my life started with a pain in my shoulder on Friday, April 12 and I didn't think much about it. I get a muscle pain in that area all the time and usually a good massage will do the trick. It worsened through the weekend and migraine headaches were added to the mix for kicks and giggles. I couldn't find any comfortable position to sit or lie down. I just hurt all over. The one thing that I didn't think much of that should have been a big hint was the fact that the skin on my left arm was really sensitive to touch, almost as if I had a sunburn.By Monday, I was desperate and thought a massage might help. Luckily, I was able to get an appointment for 1PM. She was probably using moderate pressure as we had discussed but that ended up being one of the most painful massage experiences of my life and it wasn't that the massage therapist went any harder than usual. The nerve sensitivity caused by the virus made me overly sensitive to the pressure. The massage did loosen up tight muscles so there was a bit of a silver lining there. I did make it to yoga class that evening and that was the only mild relief I'd had in 3 days. As it turns out, mild exercise is a good distraction from the pain.
Tuesday came and I still felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Then, once my bleary eyes started to focus, I finally noticed the new rash on my chest and upper back. Yup, it was shingles. The rash didn't hurt but just about everything else did. At least now we knew what we were dealing with and drug therapy was going to be needed. I did get that sorted out with prescriptions for the anti-viral and Tylenol 3 for the pain so my week-long medication protocol began. Sadly, when the drugs ran out, the pain persisted and I was quite miserable and unhappy.
 |
| The rash is actually quite minimal. It never really hurt or itched. |
 |
| And the rash on my back is even smaller - it's really just 4 blisters spread in a line across my back. |
A common complication with shingles is post-herpetic neuralgia or PHN. Basically, nerve damage caused by the shingles virus causes the damaged nerves to send random, uncontrolled pain signals to the brain which causes a burning or throbbing sensation. So, that's where I'm at. That is my lemonade and it sucks. So much.
Lemonade
I am not super anxious to return to training right now, simply because I'm just in too much pain to event think about it. With the right dose of pain medication, I can start doing a little more than getting through a day at work and going straight to bed. The doc said nothing, absolutely nothing for at least another week and I am quite happy to oblige. I thought I'd start by helping my husband make supper tonight. This is what I've come to. From being an actively training triathlete to trying to make salad.I love lemonade. But if that's all I could ever drink, I'd tire of it mighty quickly. I know I'll get a little better every day and I know I'll slowly be able to increase my activity level but my dilemma now is going to try to be self-aware enough to know when to start and how much is enough. I am not the first triathlete or endurance athlete to be kicked to the sidelines by shingles and I certainly won't be the last. There is still no one proven path back to health and training but there are multiple reports of athletes who jumped in with too much too soon. These athletes suffered from things like:
- sub-par performances,
- prolonged recovery time
- recurring neuralgia pain
- subsequent additional breaks in their training due to illness
One medical journal report I came across explained it exactly right:
"The variety of factors that compel highly trained athletes to exercise so intensively and work through difficulties could be disadvantageous in this situation."
In other words, that very work effort that allows us to push ourselves hard to get the most out of our training also allows to overlook some serious signals our body is sending out that it needs attention. I don't want to be the example of what happens when you do too much too soon. I want to be healthy, fit and active 10, 20 and 30 years from now. All of our training should at its root be about health as much as fitness and don't assume that health and fitness are the same thing. Training in our sport should include about making positive lifestyle decisions. During training season, we rely on our physical health to back up our training. When our health is compromised, our focus should be on doing everything we can to return to physical health. The race you're training for will be there again next year or there will be another race. It really isn't the end of the world to sit out a race or a month of training when the payoff is a faster and better return to health. It might suck a little but it's more important to live to race well another day.
 |
| Eddie curled up under my arm during nap. He knew I was sick and was willing to offer some warmth and comfort. At least that's what I tell myself. |
What I Did With My Lemonade: Metric & July Talk Concert
I went to the concert and it was more awesome than I could even have hoped for. July Talk was likewise fantastic. I loved, loved, loved them as much as I could under the circumstances. Rather than jumping around on the floor with the masses like I would have had I been healthy and properly hydrated, I sat quietly by myself in the stands and just enjoyed the music, the distraction and people watching. Here's something I figured out pretty quickly - the neuralgia in my hands made it too painful to clap. But I did enjoy the performances immensely and regret that I was unable to express that at the time.
My final thought of the concert is this: for those of you looking for some new high energy tunes for your playlists, you need to check out July Talk if you haven't already. All my friends and training partners know that Metric is already on every playlist together with Blondie and Bowie.
No comments:
Post a Comment