I was on the phone with my dad a couple of months ago and he said "Your life has been pretty great lately. You and Scott better get ready for something bad to happen." Thanks dad.
What bad could happen? Scott was about to graduate from college and I was FINALLY going to have a husband again! We were going to have a wonderful last summer in Utah, go on a few trips, and then move to the east coast to start our grown up life.
But a few days after graduation something bad happened. That sounds really dramatic... but I am going with it. Scott, who is my superman and never sick (seriously up until that point Scott had not been sick ONCE since I met him... I on the other hand have lost track of sicknesses I have encountered since meeting him) started complaining about headaches. They would come and go really fast. Like someone was stabbing him in the head over and over again.
I, being the worrier that I am, told him he needed to go to the doctor immediately. He, being the person that thinks doctors don't actually do anything for you, assured me that he was fine.
That was on a Tuesday. I kept praying that they would go away, but when they were still there on Friday I made him promise me he would go to the doctor on Monday- at least just to get some medicine because I couldn't stand to see him wincing multiple times every minute.
Of course over the weekend they did not go away. And he started to get giant pimples on his forehead. We didn't know if they were connected to his pain or what, so I made him use my face wash just in case he was getting adult acne hehe lol.
I was at work on Monday when he called me to tell me that things were fine... he just had shingles.
SHINGLES? HOW IS THAT FINE?
Aren't shingles the really painful things that old people get?! How the heck did my 25 year old husband who is never sick get them! (Turns out 1 in 3 people have them and they are pretty common if you are under the age of 80)
The doctor said Scott's case was mild and they could stop it before if got any worse. It was close to his eye so he needed to go see a specialist to make sure it wouldn't infect his eye and hurt is vision. (That part really scared me because both spouses can't be blind in one eye!) So a couple doctor's visits later, about a million prescriptions and some fun eye cream, it was deemed that Scott would keep his eyes and make it through this.
So yes shingles was something bad, especially when the pain got so horrible that Scott literally couldn't sleep at night. It was bad when Scott got stronger pain meds that made him sedated and literally unable to anything besides lie in bed. It was bad when I would come home from work and my heart would break to see Scott so sick. It was bad when we would literally see no end in sight.
Also side note- I don't recommend eating four grilled cheese sandwiches in four days. It is pretty much what we lived off of.
The saga doesn't end there though. The actual trial that came along with the shingles, was the fact that Scott had just graduated, meaning he was off of student health insurance. And since Scott is never sick, it wasn't like we woke up the day after graduation and thought we better get Scott on some form of insurance before his job starts!
I am sure we would have got around it to it eventually, but the headaches started four days later, and by then it was too late. So there we were having to pay for everything out of pocket, and let me tell you, visits to the doctor and multiple prescriptions start to add up. Our wallet took a heavy hit with this epidemic, but I can't ignore the miracles we saw. Friends buying us groceries, doctors seeing Scott for free, prayers and kind words from our families... Things could have been a lot worse.
Over the last two and a half weeks I have been thinking a lot about the different trials we face in our lives and how to handle them, I am blessed with a level headed husband who seems to the have ability to remain calm in ANY situation. I don't know how I would react being in constant pain and watching our bank account drain, but Scott handled it like a champ. So while we were going through this, it didn't feel like some big awful thing was happening. It actually bought us closer. And if anything, it was just a reminder to Scott that he isn't as invincible as he thinks he is :)
I feel weird having a such a long wordy post (apologies for those who are still reading) and not including any pictures. However I will not be posting any pictures of Scott's shingles (you're welcome) but instead, a picture from my first trip to DC to meet Scott's family. Talk about #flashbackfriday
Funny how bad things have a way of not seeming so bad when you look at them differently :) Happy Friday! Can't wait to snuggle my shingled husband while listening to the rain. Which actually can go away whenever it wants to...
