2-24-2011 Shingles?

HAPPY BIRTHDATE DAD!...

I hope all's going well with all of you! We booked flights to Logan Airport in Boston for our trip to Dana farber and are staying at The Hope Lodge. We're trying to figure out departure time for the trip back. Not sure what test & consultation conferences etds are yet?

Gail was put on a ZPAC to prevent Strep when Cayleigh came home with it early last week. She ended up having to go off the ZPAC & was put on a Medrol dose pack. She probably has some shingles as a result and we're headed to Dr. Simpson tomorrow, then if needed, to our dermatologist. (None have rings, breaks or are oozing).

Yesterday, Gail said she had some upper abdominal discomfort, especially when she took deep breaths. I've been checking to see if there's any puffy areas near the top of her ribs on her left side, comparing to her right side. She said she feels better today. Dr. Simpson said to watch her carefully & if I think she "looks bad" that we should go to the E/R for a blood workup. Luckily, no need ::knock wood::

I'm worried the shingles will cause more issues or the treatment for shingles will cause more issues.

We both took the day off to go to Gail's with Dr. Simpson to figure out what to do about the shingles (we're pretty sure that's what she has at this point).

I took a few days off from researching, except for the shingles issue.

We're also still discussing what to tell Cayleigh as time begins to wind down to our trip. neither of us likes keeping her in the dark, but at the same time, she doesn't need the extra worry at 6 years old. Most likely, we'll fill her in, in a generally way, right after her big cheer competition at the end of March by saying that Mommy's blood has something not quite right & that we're going to find out how to work with the problem.

Bonnie has been an AWESOME friend and info from her is ALWAYS awesome! I plan to get her a Wonder Woman t-shirt. Or possible get her dog, Max, a Wonder Dog wrap. He's been great on their MDAnderson trip, too. We look forward to meeting Max and seeing Bonnie & Joe again.

2pm: Dr. Simpson, already high in our book, rose a bit higher today. gail OES have shingles & he prescribed Valtrex. His 1st question was if our daughter has had the Chicken Pox immunization. 2nd was for me, but I truly don't count as much as Cayleigh anyhow. :> He also answered on 2 or 3 other questions we had & all is well. Gail's platelets were back over 500, but he said this is due to the shingles' effect on the body & they should get back down in a few days.