time capsule...

there is currently

a corner, pantry cabinet

occupying our kitchen.

on the inside,

it stretches from our countertop 

all the way up to above

our 8ft. ceiling.

it is 3ft. wide

and 3ft. deep.

it's always held

holiday, paper

napkins and plates

(on the 5th/top shelf),

a case or two

of sterno canisters

and plastic 

cups and dinnerware

(on the 4th shelf),

boxes of

pasta, rice, cereal,

and cake/brownie mixes

(on the 3rd shelf),

can goods

and jars of 

peanut butter, jellies,

relishes, chutney,

and 

special sauces

(on the 2nd shelf),

and

large containers of

sugars, flour, nuts,

oils, cooking sprays,

etc...

(on the 1st/bottom shelf).

(this cabinet,

though large,

has never been

very convenient...

as a matter of fact,

we have needed

to use a stepstool

in order 

to reach anything above

the third shelf.)

#ididntknowthatwasupthere

~@~

today...

it is empty.

~@~

today...

dale is going to take off

the door and frame,

replace them

with a large piece

of 

drywall,

and mud it closed.

~@~

today...

before dale performs

his magic,

we are going to place

items inside the cabinet

in order to create

a sort of time capsule.

in this time capsule,

we will place 

things

indicative of 

our life on the lane:

today's newspaper,

pictures,

low end currency (;-),

a can of die coke,

a bottle of wine,

one of katherine's baby blankets,

an old ball cap of johns,

a pair of my pajamas,

one of maggie's old collars,

a copy of this month's

kentucky monthly,

and

maybe a few other

odds and ends...

do you have any

ideas?

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx

chronic shingles...

shingles (herpes zoster)

two weeks ago yesterday 

i noticed i was getting 

a new case of shingles 

(4th case since the first of the year)

on my chin.

as you know 

if you follow me,

i have chronic shingles 

(and have had since i was 14),

which occur more 

and more often 

the older i get.

at first 

this case was no different...

itchy, burny, fevery,

achy.

THEN

a few days later,

i noticed i had several 

shingle blisters on my belly!

ON.BOTH.SIDES.

i had already started taking 

valtrex,

which was drying up the ones

on my face.

however,

it was not touching the ones

spreading all over my stomach.

~@~

i called my doctor's office 

but could not get an appointment. 

then i called my dermatologist's office. 

unable to get in for nearly week,

i went ahead 

and made an appointment.

frustrated and miserable, 

i called a local naturopathic physician.

he squeezed me in that afternoon.

when i arrived,

he took me right back 

to an examining room.

doctor: (looking at my chin) 

what have you done 

to get so stressed?

me: i'm not here about the 

shingles on my face.

i'm here about these.

i raised my shirt.

doctor: oh, my God!

(he stared at my rash.)

i need to get my 

magnifying glasses.

(i got a little nervous.)

the doctor returned

wearing said glasses.

he put on a pair of 

latex gloves,

turned on the glasses'

light,

and studied 

my blisters.

as he backed away,

he took off his gloves

and 

removed his glasses.

doctor: well,

i have bad news...

you're too late;

i cannot do anything for you.

you have blisters,

which have already popped.

me: but they ARE shingles?

doctor: yes, they are definitely

shingles.

(i breathed a sigh of relief.)

the naturopath took 

time to talk to me 

about my general health.

he gave me pointers about

a vitamin regiment 

i should try to

so i might be able to keep

the shingles at bay.

vitamin.b.

and

chicken.liver.

~@~

for days

my shingles continued

to divide and multiply;

they spread up to just below

my neck

and down

to just above my belly button.

i shared the above picture

with the 2 d's

to see what they thought.

dana, the nurse,

asked if i was sure they were

shingles

as they had crossed 

my center line.

(honestly, i was still wondering 

the same thing.)

i told her my naturopath 

said they were. 

~@~

i thought my derm appointment

time would never get here.

but, finally,

it did.

the nurse called my name,

and i followed her back 

to an examining room.

nurse: how are you today,

dani.

me: actually, i feel terrible;

i'm miserable!

nurse: oh, no what's the matter?

i proceeded to tell her.

after i told her,

she handed me a gown

and told me she'd get my derm

and would soon return.

when the two came in,

i was gowned and waiting

in the examining chair.

derm: hi, dani, i hear you have a rash...

i.told.her.THE.story.

derm: let's raise your gown 

and have a look at it.

as i started raising my gown,

i heard my derm gasp

(oh, yes, she did),

which caused the nurse

to turn around and take notice.

she gasped too

(oh, yes, she did).

i looked quickly at the derm 

and turned toward her nurse.

me: i told you.

i wasn't kidding.

nurse: (still staring at my torso)

no, you weren't.

the derm asked me to tell

her the whole story again.

she asked the nurse to get her

what she needed to do

 viral and bacterial 

cultures.

after taking the cultures,

the derm asked her nurse 

to take pictures.

when she'd gotten all

the images she needed,

my derm left the room

and was gone for some time.

when she returned,

she told me she'd never

personally seen what i had

on my trunk.

she went on to tell me

the shingles virus

i had on my chin

had apparently settled in

a small heat rash i had

on my stomach...

and spread

in.ALL.directions

and

was still spreading!

she prescribed a very

aggressive treatment of

valacyclovir

and a topical antiviral

(which, thankfully, my dear pharmacist 

was able to compound for me!).

three days in,

i think i'm finally getting this

thing under control!

thank.You.GOD!

~@~

hopefully,

THIS will NEVER happen again!

hopefully,

the vitamin b complex

and weekly chicken liver meal 

will keep my shingles 

at bay.

hopefully,

if you are reading this

because you've happened

onto my blog because 

you, too, have chronic shingles

the vitamin b and chicken liver

thing will help

you too!

if it does,

SHARE!

love and God's blessings,

dani xxx