Mouth Shingles

I have no idea if there is such a thing as mouth shingles. Since there's no hope or help for me at this point, It won't hurt to make up a name. Speaking of hurt, I don't know how it could hurt more than it already does. I'll explain...

The children are mostly over their Chicken Pox. The sores are healing well and most of their scabs are even gone. They just have some red dots to remind us they were a mess last week. I, on the other hand, am still healing.

A week ago, my throat started hurting.  It wasn't that bad, so I didn't pay much attention to it.  Then, several days later, it got drastically worse.  With a flashlight it was clear there were a lot of red areas in the back of my mouth.  Strep throat?  I hadn't had that since I had my tonsils removed at eighteen. But I could hardly swallow and there was just not going to be any eating for a while if the pain didn't subside.

Sunday morning at 9AM I went to an urgent care.  They took a strep culture and it was clean.  The doctor looked into my throat and said, "Wow, you have a lot of chancre sores in the back of your throat.  It's a whole cluster of them."

I've had chancre sores from time to time for as long as I can remember.  Once, while on business in Brazil, I had one in the back of my throat that was so painful thought I was going to not be able to go in to work. That was just one, albeit a large one.  But a whole cluster?

I explained to the doctor about the Chicken Pox.  I explained that while I had the antigen in my body, I had never had the Chicken Pox.  She agrees that something was compromising my immune system.  Something was letting the virus get a foothold in the back of my throat. Was it the exposure to the children's Chicken Pox? We don't know. But I was going to just wait it out.

I'd like to say Sunday morning was the worst, but it wasn't.  The sores got bigger.  Some merged and became a nickel-sized grey hole in the back of my mouth.  They appeared in my cheeks and even tiny ones on my tongue.  My definition of "ow" just got cranked up a notch.

I had to run last night with my friends.  I didn't want to say anything about my mouth so I just toughed it out.  I was in so much pain when we were done from breathing more quickly through my mouth.  Tomorrow I have to run again, and this time it's by myself.  I don't know if I'll make it without other people there to urge me on.  No, no, I will make it.  There.  Now it's in writing. 

I hope they're clearing up now.  I think I'm past the half-way mark of pain.  That, or I'm just getting use to it.  I don't know what to call it, but since an adult can get shingles from Chicken Pox exposure, I'm just naming this the mouth shingles.  Shingles are very painful on the nerves.  There are a lot of nerves in the back of your mouth. 

The Big Boy Update:  Sinus infection?  I was ready to swear he had a sinus infection.  When you have so much drainage overnight that the dried remnants completely block your nose, something is going on.  We have no definite diagnosis, but since getting on antibiotics last Friday, his nose is drastically better. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Sprouting!  Her hair is growing.  Yesterday, my mother said it looked like it was sprouting.  Sure enough, that's exactly what it looks like.  She's got cute sprouts of white hair all over her head.

Right-size Countdown:  4.8 pounds to go