You're Going To Put Me In An Early Grave..

Cocaine Princess here.

Early Saturday morning at around 2am I suddenly awoken with the feeling someone knocked the wind out of me. It was a strange feeling I had never felt before.

Late Saturday morning the feeling didn't go away. I assumed it was a 24hr bug of some sort. I was standing in front of the mirror getting ready when I saw these little red bumps on my forehead. I noticed the red bumps a day earlier but it had now spread on my cheeks and chin. Wonderful I said to myself, my skin's breaking out. The same little red bumps were on my arms and shoulders and when I turned around it was all over my backside. So much for wearing a backless top. I had the perfect outfit all picked out right down to the matching accessories. I was able to cover the bumps on my face with makeup. Thankfully the breakout didn't happen on the day of my shoot.

I came downstairs and 'A' was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. She noticed right away something was wrong. 'Are you okay?' I nodded yes but I wasn't. It was like an invisible force was pounding away at my joints with a hammer and my head was being squeezed in a vice grip. I didn't want to tell her, she worries enough about me as it is.

The two of us were shopping at a mall in a neighboring city. I was in Marciano checking out the new fall collection. A couple of really cute outfits caught my eye, I would have loved trying them on but I didn't have the strength to lift them off the rack. Each movement I made was worse than the last, painful and uncomfortable. 'A' was staring at me. I did my best covering the pain but it was just too much. 'What is the matter with you? And don't tell me nothing.' 'I think I need to sit down,' I replied. We exited the store and found a mall bench. 'You still think you're okay?' she asked. 'Yes,' I replied. 'A' touched my forehead. 'God, you're burning up. We're going home.' 'But we've only been into one store,' I replied getting up. Well I tried to but couldn't. 'You can't even stand up. For once in your life listen to me, we're going home. End of discussion.' To date that was my shortest trip to the mall ever.

Once we arrived home, getting out of the car and walking from the garage to inside of the house to the family room was a long, painful and excruciating task. But I made it. If she could 'A' would have carried me in but I'm a lot taller than she is. When she handed me the thermometer she saw the red bumps on my hands which I didn't even notice. Examining it she asked, 'what is that?' 'My skin's breaking out,' I replied. 'On your hands?' 'It's a very bad break out.' 'She lifted up my sleeves and then the back of my top. 'It's all over your arms and back.' 'I know.' 'You know? And you didn't think this was an alarm for concern?' she questioned. 'No. Like I said it's a very bad breakout. I'll be back to myself tomorrow.' 'Check your temperature,' she said. I put the thermometer in my mouth and waited for the beeping sound ....It started to beep but before I had a chance to see the results 'A' pulled the thermometer out of my mouth. Looking at the read out she mumbled something. 'I didn't catch that, what did you say?' I asked. 'I said you're going to put me in an early grave. Your temperature is I04,' she answered. 'I'm calling the doctor. Don't move.' 'No problem,' I said back, because even if I wanted to I couldn't.

The family doctor made a house call. His diagnosis. It wasn't a 24hr bug and the red bumps weren't from a bad breakout. It was the chicken pox. I couldn't believe it. 'Chicken pox at my age?' I asked. 'It's rare but it happens,' my doctor replied. 'The incubation period is 14-16 days. Were you in contact with anyone who had the virus then?' 'No, not that I know of,' I answered. 'It's a very contagious virus that's spread through coughing and sneezing. It's quite possible you were around someone who was infected but just didn't know it.' He looked at 'A' and asked, 'I take it you're immune?' 'Yes, I had them a long time ago,' she replied. He then reached inside his doctor bag and pulled out a needle and vial to draw my blood. While sticking the prickly object in my arm he instructed me not to leave the house for two weeks. 'Can't you give me something to make it go away?' I asked. 'Unfortunately modern science hasn't come out with anything yet,' he replied. 'Adults with chicken pox is dangerous if not taken seriously. It can lead to severe pneumonia, an infection of the brain, seizures, neurological damage..... it can be fatal.' He noticed the look of panic on my face and assured me the chances of that happening were slim. Then why bother telling me I thought?

It's been three days and only two new pox outbreaks have occurred. I'm hoping there won't be anymore. The good news, my fever is getting better and the pain in my joints is slowly diminishing. The bad news, I'm very itchy.

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess