Shingles Are the Worst!

There are topics that instantly tug at my heart...Human trafficking, Child abuse, Infidelity, Emma's Fall, Colic and now I will add Shingles to that list. In no way am I suggesting all these topics are equally horrific. Each one of them pierces my heart. Never again will I hear about a person suffering from shingles and not think of what we have endured the last 10 days in our home. I love that my name to three special little girls is "mom." Back in 1999 I had no idea the blessings and the torment that would come with such a title.

Here is Reagan's virus story

Saturday afternoon Reagan got ready for her first homecoming (yeah, I haven't posted those pictures yet.) She wore a beautiful soft flowing short black dress. Comfort is a must for Reagan, fashion is always a distant second place. She noticed that the dress was irritating her left thigh but couldn't find anything poking her skin and it wasn't really that bad so she went to dinner and the dance with her group of friends. (this is something I will learn about later)

Sunday Reagan and her dad headed south for another college soccer recruiting visit (yeah, I haven't posted those pictures either.) They attended a D1 women's soccer game on Sunday and did the whole tour and meeting the coaches on Monday. They got home just in time for her club soccer practice. Like any other day on the field, Reagan worked hard in practice, came home starving and had a back log of homework due to missing school. Some time before bed she began complaining of pain in her groin area. I told her to ice bath and left it at that. 

Tuesday was typical day as far as I knew. School...Snack...Soccer  I guess those are the important S's in Reagan's life. Soccer practice was ran by another D1 college coach who is recruiting Reagan, she was focused and worked hard but afterwards complained again of pain in her groin. When I showed her how to roll out the groin muscle, it didn't bother her at all. That was my first clue that she did not have a groin pull. After her shower she said, "oh look mom, this is weird I have a little rash on my thigh." It was odd but certainly didn't cause any real concern.

Wednesday morning was the kick off of Reagan's SWEET 16th Birthday. Only it turned out to be NOT-SO-SWEET! She noticed a pain in her lower left back/butt area and complained of a bad night of sleep. This all was really disrupting my perfect birthday planning. If you know me, I had balloons, special breakfast and gifts everywhere. Birthdays are important to me. Actually, she wasn't too bad yet so off she went to school. I had some fun surprises at school too. Fast forward nine hours and our birthday girl was falling apart from pain, mostly in her back. The poor thing, she wanted to celebrate with family and about all she could do was lay on her bed in tears. At this point, I knew it was time for a doctor but wasn't sure who to see. That night was horrific! I've never seen a child in so much pain for two straight hours, this is when my birthing class preparations helped.

Thursday morning I marched in the pediatrician's office and pretty much demanded to be seen first which worked. I feel bad for everyone else that day, Dr Lisa started her day off 40 minutes behind. I am so impressed with our pediatrician, she is amazing with my children and understands me. She was really confused on what Reagan was presenting until she saw the rash. The L3 nerve path was perfect to explain Reags had a case of SHINGLES. Just like you, I was shocked. I thought this was a disease for octogenarians. We spent the next 5 hours at children's hospital having tests ran. Which I might add that the blood work STILL ISN'T BACK...8 DAYS LATER! Thank goodness we aren't dealing with a life threatening condition.

Sept 28th

Reagan's internal pain continued to increase in intensity and longevity. NSAIDs did nothing for the pain and narcotics took off the edge just enough that she could sleep at night. You caregivers (especially moms) out there know what I mean when I ached and cried for my girl. The rash intensified as well, first blisters arrived on the 29th and then seemed to reproduce rapidly. 

Sept 29th

Saturday was a tough day. Reagan had lost the use of her leg. That's right, she couldn't walk. Fear set in and it didn't really matter that I explained to her that this was just a virus and would leave just like any other virus. Secondly, EGA ECNL 01 (her soccer team) was playing in Chicago without her. The girls were so kind and concerned about Reagan but with each snapchat she got more upset, not to mention the constant shooting pain in her back and groin were bringing her down too. The pain Reagan endured was greater than anything I have ever seen any other person go through. 

I don't want to forget a high point for Reagan, Emma came home from college. A sisterly surprise visit was the best medicine! That Emma is a great kid!

Sunday, October 1st was more of the same.

Monday was Reagan's 3rd day home from school which was causing her a lot of stress. As the internal pain decreased the rash became more bothersome. This is when we noticed all the extra red splotchy areas, I am guessing hives. They eventually went away.

Oct 2nd

Tuesday the 3rd, Reagan visited practice. She had a limp but could walk out on the field. Playing wasn't an option but she needed her team. Who knew hanging with mom 24/7 for 6 days just wasn't enough for her. :/  On our ride home she said, "I'm going to Wisconsin this weekend and I AM going to play." At this point there's no reason to argue so I said can we make that decision on Friday? Here's the deal, my kid is so stubborn, determined and hardworking that when she said she was going to do something she meant it and there really wasn't any chance of changing her mind. I talked to both her pediatrician and her chiropractor, both in agreement that playing would not hurt her body or cause a relapse, it would hurt to play. That's all she needed to hear.

Oct 4th blisters starting to dry up

Today is October 6th

Reagan went to school half day Wednesday, full day Thursday and half day today. Her teachers are being very accommodating as she will most likely receive incompletes in 3 of her 4 block schedule classes and they will allow her to finish the work over fall break and then adjust her grades. 

Just as she said, Reagan is currently in transit to Wisconsin to play soccer with her favorite 18 people where another D1 college coach plans to be in attendance to watch her play. The girl hasn't ran in 10 days so I'm not sure how well she will play but it will be a victory to Reagan to be back on the field.

Shingles is the result of a compromised immune system in someone who has the Herpes Zoster virus hanging out in their spine and the greatest attacker of the immune system is stress gone unchecked. Our household has been ravaged with stress over the last 5 months.  I think Reagan's little body held out just as long as it could and when I finally was able to take care of my family again the body broke down. Reagan has healed incredibly quick. The combination of a young healthy body and a mom who did everything possible to boost her immune system gave her a fighting chance. Here are some of the things we did to support her health...

-Chiropractic adjustments daily

-Young Living essential oils (immupower, elemi, helichrysum, frankincense, copaiba)

-Supplements designed for the nervous system (sulfurzyme, calcium)

-Eating LOTS of healthy fats (avocado, Omega 3, coconut oil) which coat the nerves

-Rest and Ice

-Limiting stress, lots of laughs

-Domeboro soak for the rash

-She ate chocolate which made her happy

-Drinking oceans of water

-Our most important treatment was prayer. God is our healer. He loves us and wants nothing bad to happen to us. I know He can use this difficult time to shape us into better more compassionate people. I'm not glad we went through this but I kept praising God inspite of it. I look forward to the benefits God has for us because of this trial. God is Good All The Time!