Anyways, this new semester has been alright. I love my class schedule because I have school M/W/F and nothing Tuesdays and Thursdays. Its pretty nice. My classes don't seem too bad either. I really enjoy my Book of Mormon class. I have Dr. Marsh again like last semester. He is pretty awesome. I also really like my Environmental Science class. My teacher is awesome. Samuel St. Clair. Coolest teacher ever. I feel like what I learn in that class makes me really aware of my environment and care more about what happens to it. I also like my Humanities class. The stuff I learn makes me feel more well-rounded. I guess that's the point of that class anyways. I never go to my Statistics class. And when I say never... I have gone to it 5 times. Its really bad because if I went all the time I could get 2% extra credit. Its kinda late for that. I don't really want to worry about my grades too much. I don't want to overdo it. I should try harder to get to that class but I just really can't make myself do it. I even have a test next week. I should start studying for it. I also really like my Writing 150 class. I can't believe I even said that. How could I like writing? NO, I still don't particularly like writing but I DO like my teacher, Christa Baxter. She is probably the most down to earth coolest teacher I have had. I like it too because our class only has 20 students. It makes it a lot easier to learn and get my ideas out there. It's not as intimidating.
I just started a job. Its really awesome because I can work from my own laptop wherever I am. I just type up recorded interviews for a professor here. I hope he needs me to work for him for a while because it pays really good. I haven't asked specifically but I'm pretty sure I should be starting at $9 an hour. Which is way better than most jobs on campus. I am really lucky. This is perfect for me. I hope it is long term though.
This weekend I found out I got shingles. I am only saying this on here because I doubt anyone reads this anyways. If you know me and you read this... please don't blab about this to anyone or I'll kill you. Just kidding. But really, I don't really want people to know because then they will make a big deal about it and or avoid me because they think I am contagious. Don't worry though, the rash I have contracted is all covered up. I don't touch it. And if I do, I immediately wash my hands. It just sucks because it really hurts and I read that the pain can continue for weeks. I also read that I can get it again now that I have had it. I have a small chance of getting it again, but you never know. If I had known what was wrong with me earlier, I would have been able to get the medication earlier and it probably wouldn't have lasted so long. But no, it is predicted to take weeks for the pain and the healing to all be done with.
What it is, is a form of the chickenpox virus. I didn't know that I could get it again because I already had a bad case of the chickenpox when I was a baby. Apparently, the virus lies dormant in my body until severe stress and a weakened immune system wakes it up. So usually this happens to old people because they naturally have weaker immune systems and what not. Usually when I have a weak immune system, I just get the Cold or something. I would take that any day just so that I didn't have to deal with this. I am supposed to have scaring from the rash. At least it is on my left hip area so that its pretty much always covered. But since it is in that spot, it also hurts to wear my normal clothing because it will rub and stuff.
The rash consists of a ton of blisters all over this area. It goes from my stomach to my spine on my left side. It is the biggest on my hip area. I would post pictures, but that is disgusting. I took pictures of it as it was developing. It looks pretty nasty. It hurts as bad as it looks/sounds too.
So, I went to the doctors on Tuesday morning and they gave me antibiotics to stop the spread and to hopefully quicken the healing of the newest blisters. We'll see. The pain has been feeling less and less everyday and I hope it continues that way. Right now, the rash is getting darker which hopefully means they will start scabbing soon. (I apologize for the graphic images)
Pretty much my life sucks right now. It just is weird to me because I always get really stressed out every once in a while because some weeks I have more to do than others. I'm not really sure how to control it but at least I know the symptoms of this so I can catch it and stop it before I blister. If only I had known.
It started out as a painful tingling in my left hip area, which I thought might be cramps or something, and that lasted for a few days before a few spots of rash appeared. I just thought something irritated my skin and didn't think too much of it. The next day, I woke up with the worst headache ever. And then I was getting chills and the pain increased in my left side. The next day, the headache was still there and the rash got bigger. This is when I got concerned. I texted a picture to my mom and she couldn't tell what it was and just told me to try a few things. Over the next couple days, my headaches went away but my rash got bigger. I finally was able to get to the doctors and she immediately knew what it was. She told me I should have come in sooner. How was I supposed to know? How was I supposed to know what the symptoms of something that mostly only happens to older people? I am only 18! This is ridiculous.
I was so upset when I found this out. Another thing that was frustrating was that my insurance doesn't work directly in Utah because it is only a California based insurance. The pharmacy told me I had to pay for my medicine up front and ask for a refund from my insurance company myself. This is so annoying but at least I got my meds.
I just need to manage my stress better and heal for now. I have missed all my classes so far this week and we'll see about next. I think I will be well enough by then to make it to most all of them. As long as the severe pain doesn't come back, I am fine. It just is really uncomfortable to sit. (I am laying in bed right now). Hopefully I don't have to stress too much about my test next week. I just want to lay in bed until this is all better. I don't even want to eat, but I know I have to, so I do anyways.
At least I got a Priesthood blessing from my hometeachers and the Relief Society is helping me out with dinners for the rest of the week. I am so thankful for people who are able to serve me when I can't do much. It's hard right now without my mom because I know she would do everything to take care of me. I wish this happened to me when I was home in California so that I wouldn't have to worry about school and feeding myself.
Well, enough complaining. I should probably get some work done and see what homework I can do. Wish me luck with finding housing, getting my homework done, passing tests, and healing. Until next time.
