20210603 - Shingles

 In early May (2?,) 2021 I started to develop a bit of pain at my armpits.  A couple of days later, a rash started to develop on my chest.  At first, it just seemed to be a bit of a rash.  But it was later determined to be Shingles.  I went on medication for about 7 days taking valacylovir (otherwise known as Valtrex) to try to minimize the impact of the virus.  But there was a lot going on while the shingles was affecting my body.  I also ended up having the COVID-19 vaccine on May 12.  At the same time shingles was affecting me, I also had a urinary tract infection which was treated with ciprofloxacin.  I was having fever and chills.  I was very tired, dizzy, nauseous, and having hallucinations with the illnesses and medications.

Weeks later, the shingles rash had cleared up, but there was pain along the nerve paths on my chest and back especially around my left nipple.  From what I read, the pain can continue for 3 months or more.  

Yesterday, I started to use a vibrating massager on my chest.  It did not seem to do much.  Then I tried the Dr. Ho's electrical stimulation along the nerve paths from my arm pit to the front of my chest.  That actually seemed to help a bit and this morning, the pain was slightly less.

Today (2021/06/03) I went to see a TCM doctor to treat the pain.  He was apparently an expert in treating shingles (located at 2368 E. 54th Avenue in Vancouver) but looked to be retired.  He seemed very professional and knowledgeable.  The doctor proceeded to check my pulse (both wrists) and my tongue.  He then went to place thin strips of cotton balls on my back and chest which he then lit on fire on my skin with a butane torch lighter.  I think it might be called cotton moxibustion.  I was lying down for this process.  This process was intended to extract the shingles virus that were still attacking my nerves.  The burning process was very painful, but ended up numbing a bit of the pain.  After the burning process, he proceeded to use acupuncture needles along my chest and back to extract more of the virus.  The acupuncture was stinging, but not too painful - nowhere near as painful as the burning.  The needles was on me for about 10 minutes and then removed.  The doctor was nice but I had trouble understanding him as he only spoke Cantonese.  He only charged me $70 for the treatment (usually $80, but he gave a $10 discount) and then prescribed some TCM that my mother-in-law picked up and prepared for me.  It was very bad tasting but hopefully, it will help cure me.  I will need to take it for 2 days.  The TCM doctor said that for each year of my age, it would take that many equivalent days to be cured of shingles.  So in my case, after the treatment, I would have to wait another 49 days to be cured.  The doctor said that in the evening, I should take a shower and then use a hair dryer to warm up the nerves in my chest and back.  As I write this, it is later in the evening and the pain is coming back but it is a bit more numb than previous days (i.e. slightly less painful).  Hopefully, there will be some more improvements and less pain in coming days.

CC

20171119 - Grandpa in Hospital

 Just so I have a record in my own mind of what happened, here's my summary:

* At about 5pm today (November 19, 2017), I received a call from Anna Young who is a church friend of Grandpa.  She said that his church friends tried calling him to pick him up for church, but he was not answering.  They later went to his apartment to check up on him, and they found him unconcious in his bedroom.  She told me that Dad was still in China.  And that Grandpa was sent to Richmond Hospital.  I called Dad and he said that he was in China and was in the hospital for eye surgery.

* I arrived at Richmond Hospital at around 7pm.  He was assigned to bed 11 in the emergency room.  But he was not there when I checked as he had just been sent to get a CT scan.

* After about 10-15 minutes, he was brought back to his room.  I spoke to him.  He did not recognize me at first.  Then he asked me who I was and I told him.  He said that he did not recognize me as I got fat.  He was quite lucid and told me his side of the story.

* Grandpa said that 2 days ago, he fell in the kitchen.  But he was ok.  He said that even this morning, he was out shopping.  He had heard the phone calls from his church friends, but he was busy shopping so he did not answer.  He said that he was just in his bedroom when his church friends arrived and they called 911.  He thinks that he is fine and that it was a waste of time.  But he definitely had very noticable bruises on his knees, his elbows, and his face.  Otherwise, mentally, he seemed perfectly fine. 

* At about 7:30pm, Anna Young had arrived to check in on Grandpa.  She was quite talkative and was talking to Grandpa and to the on duty nurse (Shaylene).  Anna seemed to be suggesting that Grandpa had some issue with his heart (though I am not sure how/why she came up with that).  But given the tests he was given, I guess that is what the hospital was focussing on.  She was able to speak Cantonese and so was better able to communicate with Grandpa than I was.  When I spoke to Grandpa, I found out that he had not eaten all day so I asked a nurse to bring some food.  But Anna decided to go out and get some congee for him.  She would be back around 8pm with fish congee.

* While Anna was gone, the on-duty nurse checked his blood pressure (it seemed normal to me at about 151 over 68, if I recall).  Another nurse then came to take some blood for a blood test.  Then another nurse did an ECG test.  I informed the on-duty nurse that I noticed that Grandpa had left pee in a pee bottle and she took it for testing.  About 30 minutes later, she came back and said that the pee was normal, but there was some blood in it so they were going to do further testing.  She indicated that it is possible that older people get urinary tract infections which could explain the blood and it could cause them to be dizzy.

* When Anna came back, she had called the church friend named Simon who was the one that found Grandpa.  He said that Grandpa was found on the ground behind his bedroom door and that Simon had to gently push the door to get to Grandpa.

* The on-duty nurse and I helped to prop him up on the bed so that he could sit properly to eat the congee.  He fed himself and ate about half of the bowl of takeout congee.  He seemed to be in better spirits as he was eating - probably was lacking energy.

* The doctor finally came by around 8:50pm.  I tried to record the conversation but it is a little hard to hear.  He is a Chinese doctor and was able to speak Cantonese to Grandpa.  He told Grandpa that he would have to stay the night.  Grandpa said that he felt fine, so the doctor said that he would get the on-duty nurse to help him up to see if he could walk around;  and if he was ok, he could leave in the morning.

* At around 9pm, I called Dad to let him know the situation and I told him that the doctor had asked if Grandpa would be able to make his own decisions (i.e. power of attorney).  I told Dad that he should talk to Grandpa about that.  Dad spoke with Grandpa and Anna.  After I hung up, I spoke to the on-duty nurse and left Dad's China phone number, Anna's number, and my number.  I left around 9:20pm.