It's been quite a week....shingles drove the schedule!

Little Falls Emergency Department Little Falls, NY Date of Visit: 6/12/2016 Darcy Campbell. Your diagnosis was Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus... commonly referred to as Shingles It’s been quite a week! It began on Tuesday, June 7th...our 47th Anniversary... in Waterford, NY. The prickles began on the left side of my forehead. By June 8th, a cluster of tiny blisters appeared next to my left eye tear duct and traveled toward my eye brow. Above my eye brow, nearly over the arch of my nose, another festery cluster formed. The prickles had moved into the left side of my scalp, causing a very unpleasant sensation even when timidly combing my hair on that side. Along my hairline an angry-looking rash marched, but only on the left side. My forehead between the blisters and the rash had a slight blush, but that was all. I treated the affected areas with Benedryl Gel, good for treating allergies with it’s anti-itch properties, dabbed on with a cotton swab. As time went on I dabbed Calamine Lotion on the blisters to keep them from festering. By the time Sunday morning arrived we had cleared 17 locks, the last one being famous for its 40 foot lift, and we were at the Little Falls Canal Marina, Mile Marker 78.7. We walked up the hill to a bakery and then crossed over to the CVS Pharmacy. By now the blisters had traveled across the top of my left eye, just under the eye brow...but not on my eye lid. I told the pharmacist that I had been given a Shingles shot four years ago, but it appears that I might have a case of Shingles anyway. Upon showing him my condition, the pharmacist had a very strong reaction. “You need to be seen by a medical professional right away. Any infection like that near your eye needs immediate evaluation. Get right to the emergency room at the Little Falls Hospital, just up the hill!” We made the 10 minute walk back down to the boat to get my proof-of-insurance-cards and the marina attendent drove us up to the hospital in his private car. We were seen by the young doctor right away. He was from Virginia and was providing coverage in this small rural New York town as a traveling physician. I’m not sure he had ever seen a case a Shingles “up close and personal”, but he was also concerned about keeping my eye safe. We told him that we had looked up Shingles on-line and the description fit my situation. Benedryl and Calamine lotion were listed as home remedies and we had been applying them to the blisters for 5 days. I actually had very little itching, so the scratching that other Shingles patients report having to avoid, I didn’t have to deal with. The doctor left us in the examining room for about 10 minutes. When he returned he shared his research with us. The virus that caused me to have had chickenpox as a kid, has surfaced in me as an adult. An anti-viral medication needs to start immediately. I took two 400mg pills right then. Since my eye was not red, weepy or giving me blurry vision, I should begin a regimen of drops to coat my eye. The head nurse began the drops right then and there. The pills, every 5 hours, and drops, every 4 hours, should be administered round the clock for 10 days. So that’s what life has been like for us for the past 5 days. The folks in the boat with no schedule... have been scheduled round the clock! Yes, the Shingles Shot did help. The severity of the attack was much less than it could have been. Yes, the medications prescibed by our young doc have nipped the progression of the virus in the bud... and my eye got the protection it needed. The pharmacist was super relieved to know we took his advise and got under the physicians care. Today I began to look and feel like my former self! Despite all the doctoring going on, we have been moving through more locks and canal sections each morning and napping and resting in sweet villages and towns each afternoon. We crossed a quiet 22-mile long Lake Oneida two days ago and enjoyed Brewerton. This morning we leave the Erie Canal and head north in the Oswego Canal, arriving at Lake Ontario at the end of the week-end. In five more days the medicating will come to an end, along with the viral attack. Apparently, Shingles, without the shot and/or prompt anti-viral treatment, can last months or even years. We feel very grateful to those along the way who did their best on our behalf and for all of you who once again prayed for us in our time of need. God is so good.

Written by Darcy Campbell