Comments on: Home, Again

By: George

George — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 23:40:59 +0000

What!? Chickenpox? How did I miss this?

I hope you feel better, soon.

By: KF

KF — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 03:34:30 +0000

Thanks for the partial encouragement, BT—I have to say that I’m not feeling very optimistic about the whole thing, myself, as my fever keeps going UP rather than DOWN. I’m trying to keep myself trained on Jill’s suggestion that going through this will provide me with super-immune powers that I can share with others.

And I must say, if you all can bear one more bit of whining: When my senior colleagues warned me to look out for the post-tenure slump, well, this semester isn’t what I was expecting.

Oh, and Francois: is it something on the order of varicule? Or is there something more cutely idiomatic?

By: BT

BT — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 03:11:15 +0000

Ugh. Mild cases do occur—I had it in that form as a teenager (while my sister suffered through the whole nine yards). Blew over in about a week with minimum itchiness. The fact that you’re still confined to quarters doesn’t sound encouraging, I admit…but good luck.

By: KF

KF — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 16:37:29 +0000

Thanks for all the sympathy. There’s nothing like getting a childhood disease as a grownup to make you feel good and whiny.

I must say, though, that I remain a bit skeptical about the diagnosis; I went to the doctor with a low-grade fever, headache, sore throat, and about a dozen red itchy spots. And I still only have about a dozen red itchy spots. I am fervently hoping that either the doctor is erring on the side of caution or that this is only a mild outbreak.

In either case, I’ve still got the other symptoms, and still feel rotten, so it’s good to be home in any event.

By: Francois Lachance

Francois Lachance — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 15:40:21 +0000

To add a wee bit to the pain....
And how do you say “chicken pox” in French?

Can’t tell until you get well.

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 15:08:01 +0000

Don’t scratch!

By: chuck

chuck — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 14:48:46 +0000

Yes, KF, hope you feel better soon. I had chicken pox in high school. Not fun at all.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 13:04:24 +0000

:-(

Hope you feel better soon.

By: Jill

Jill — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 07:50:14 +0000

Oh dear! I had the chicken pox a few years ago and DIDN’T enjoy it. Actually it wasn’t as abhorrently horrid as people warned (they say it’s worse when you get it as an adult than as a child) but it was itchy and uncomfortable and I looked so hideous that even when I wasn’t feeling bad there was no way I’d leave the house.

One thing made me feel a lot better about it: I discovered that blood plasma from adults who’ve had chicken pox very recently (within a couple of weeks after recovering, I think) can save the lives of children with poorly functioning immune systems. So a week or so after I was better I donated blood plasma - it’s kind of like donating blood except that your blood goes into a machine, the machine extracts the plasma (I think it was plasma) and sends the rest of your blood back into your veins. It didn’t hurt any more than regular blood donation, though it took a little longer - 20-30 minutes, I think. And it made me feel like there was actually some good in my having had that uncomfortable week of itchy spots.

I can’t find information on this on the web - and I don’t quite know what to search for either. I found out because I had to cancel an appointment at the blood bank because I was ill, and when I said it was chicken pox the nurse I spoke to was overjoyed and begged me to come in a couple of weeks.

So if you’re interested in doing this, I guess you might ring your local blood bank or doctor?

And oh, I hope you get well soon! And that you’re not too itchy! And that the itches aren’t in too inconvenient places…