For the past week to ten days, I have been having some very strange medical symptoms. When we were in Tampa, I noticed a swollen lymph node behind my ear. Of course I immediately thought it was cancer related, even though lymph nodes can swell over practically anything. The next week, I was itching all over my body. I couldn't get relief. I thought perhaps it was an allergic reaction to a new medicine I had been taking, so I stopped taking it (did not help the situation). The next day, when I woke up, my hands were extremely swollen and red. I could not get my wedding rings on for several days. Then, not only were they swollen, but my fingers were numb and tingling, during the night mostly. It was the most uncomfortable feeling. I would wake up in the night and shake them for what seemed like hours to try and get feeling back. I was also waking up with terrible pains in my wrists and forearms. This pain continued during the day, as well as pain in my ankles and knees. I was now convinced that my cancer was in fact bone cancer and that is why I had the pain. I kept telling Mikey my bones hurt. He said I don't stretch well enough after exercise. (Such a man to make it my fault somehow). I did get to thinking that maybe the pain was related to the push ups and jumping jacks I had been doing with my new exercise routine. Maybe my wrists and ankles just couldn't support my body weight during all that jumping around (depressing thought)! Then, I noticed one evening that my cheeks were beet red, but I just thought I was hot. Finally, on Tuesday, I noticed a lump in my forearm and then I was certain- it had to be a tumor. Maybe it was lymphoma... Hodgkin's Disease... maybe even Lipoma, another disease I had researched. I decided I couldn't take it anymore and I made a doctor's appointment...again... I had already made one a few days prior, but then cancelled it shortly after when Mikey told me I was a hypochondriac and to quit worrying about it.
The next day at school, one of my students who had been absent the past two days said she was sick with something called Fifth Disease. I said, what in the world is that and are you sure you should be back at school? I googled it that morning at work because I was quite certain that she needed to go home since she had this "disease". As I researched, I realized that I had many of these symptoms, but for some reason it didn't exactly click. When I went to the doctor, I told her all these strange symptoms I'd been having over the course of the past several days. She looked perplexed until I mentioned one of my students had this weird disease called "Fifth Disease". She then looked as if the lightbulb had come on and said, do you have a rash? I said, no. She looked at my chest and said, YOU DON'T CALL THAT A RASH??? I looked down and my chest was covered in a red, lacey rash. So finally, the mystery is solved. The lymph node was swollen because of the virus, the lump in my forearm could possibly be another swollen lymph node (she wasn't exactly sure, but just said to watch it), all that joint pain was because of the virus, and the red cheeks were also a result of the virus.
It is no big deal, it runs its course and there is nothing you can do for it. It is unusual for an adult to contract this because a person can only get this disease one time and it usually happens as a child. I guess I never got it as a child. It's also highly contagious, which would explain why several students at school are out with it, and I sent one home today with it. It's only contagious until the rash appears. Once the rash appears, you can no longer spread the virus. But the problem is that most people don't know what in the world is wrong with them, so they don't isolate themselves and they spread it! Like me! I'm going to watch Grady closely because of course I am always touching and loving on him and I have been contagious for the past several days... I just didn't know it.
So I am VERY happy and relieved to report that I am not dying (that I know of)... I am also happy to report that my joints no longer hurt. That was the worst part of it all. The doctor told me to STOP touching my lumps and STOP getting on the internet researching diseases. I've cut back. But I can't stop cold turkey.
