My Shingles Saga

“Wait, really?”  

“Isn’t that an old person disease?”  

“Are you secretly 65? You look GOOD!”

Yes folks, I, at age 34, had to battle shingles on my left leg. I wanted to share my story in case it 1) helps you notice early warning signs and/or 2) gives you a good laugh. If you’d prefer not to read on, I’ll provide a tl;dr summary: Shingles sucks, get the vaccine if you are eligible. Stat.

Phase 1: Nerve Weirdness

In March 2022, I started having some nerve weirdness, or “ghost bruises” as I was calling them. I would wake up in the morning and random spots on my left leg would hurt if I touched them. It wasn’t an extreme pain, but it was certainly annoying! The pain would go away after a day or two, or shift to a new location on my leg. I assumed I was not eating enough bananas and I thought nothing of it.

Phase 2: Hives

In April 2022, a small rash of hives appeared just above my left knee. I first noticed it after shaving my legs and touching wildflowers in the same day. Shaving my legs and just walking outside gives me some form of rash about 75% of the time, so naturally, I thought nothing of it.

Phase 3: Urgent Care and Dark Humor

I started treating the rash with some lotion and anti-itch cream to try to minimize discomfort. The rash still wasn’t awful, and I still assumed it was allergies. Later in April, the hives started looking more like blisters, and a few more hives were popping up, so naturally I Googled my symptoms and went down a rabbit hole. This could be anything from a fungal infection to shingles to skin cancer to spiders hatching inside my skin to… yeah, I wouldn’t recommend going that deep into the rabbit hole.

Out of an abundance of caution, I decided to swing by an Urgent Care. I’ve had similar allergy rashes in the past that have required a steroid/antibiotic/antifungal/whatevs to totally clear up, so I was 98% certain this was the case. I texted my boyfriend to let him know I was going to get it looked at.

If you are like me and use humor to cope with bad news, this part of Phase 3 is very important! I texted “Heading to Urgent Care to have my rash looked at. It’s most likely nothing, but could also be shingles? LOL.

The doctor took one look at my leg, looked at my chart, at me, my leg, back at my chart. “Yep, that’s definitely shingles…and is this correct you are 34? Sorry…” She asked if I was stressed, and in my head I thought…we just hosted a bachelorette party in NOLA during the height of omicron, just finished up a wedding during said pandemic, inflation is super high, my salary is super low, there’s a war in Ukraine, I’m on my dang period… “Nope, nothing out of the norm stress-wise,” was my response.

When the doctor left the room to put in prescription orders, I texted my boyfriend, “Fuck. It IS shingles.” No one’s LOL-ing now.

Phase 4: Horse Pills

So I left Urgent Care in disbelief, on my way to Kroger to pick up some GIANT antiviral meds and essentially a low-dose Benedryl that the doctor prescribed. While at Kroger I also bought more giant bandaids and gauze than I will ever need in a lifetime—I wanted to be prepared for whatever hell I was about to face. I also stocked up on medical tape. And bourbon. I had to take the antiviral meds 5 times a day for 10 days, which resulted in an absurd amount of daily alarms to make sure I spaced them out every 4 hours. (7-11-3-7-11) This schedule didn’t sound tooooo bad until…

Phase 5: Night Pain

I will start by saying that I have been INCREDIBLY lucky in my bout with shingles. I have heard insane horror stories about the pain and discomfort people endure with shingles. But that being said, there were a few nights where I got zero sleep because my leg was on fire, was twitching, was painful, too uncomfortable to roll over or touch anything. The only way I can describe the pain is that it felt like my nerves were short circuiting inside my leg, resulting in a metaphorical electrical fire. Zappy. Twitching. Burning. So f—ing annoying and uncomfortable. Losing a lot of sleep on top of waking up early and staying up late to take meds was NOT fun, and I definitely took a few hours of sick time here and there just to try to sleep in the middle of the day.

Phase 6: Perfecting the Tom Holland Spider-Man Pose

So while shingles was having a good ‘ole time messing with my leg, I was trying to go about my life as normally as I could. I didn’t have a fever or any cold/flu like symptoms as some folks do—I was just tired and twitchy. Other than the few nights of sporadic pain, the rest of my time with shingles was plagued with bandaid pain! I had a giant bandaid covering a splotch of blisters on my left knee, making it difficult to bend my knee without the bandaid ripping at my leg hair. I found it difficult to bend down to do simple things like putting away clean dishes, storing clean laundry, picking up the dog for a hug he doesn’t consent to…so I started sliding my left leg straight out while bending my right. See inspo pic:

Tom Holland poses low to the ground with one leg straight out, the other bent.

I was also tied up with rehearsals for a dance show that opened mid-May. Thanks to my leg’s limitations, one of my final poses in a dance was the Tom Holland!


The singles finished running their course sometime in May, lasting for a solid 4-5 weeks. My symptoms VASTLY improved while taking the antiviral meds, but my skin has been taking a long time to fully recover. Now in July, I am still applying body butter from time to time to encourage my skin to get back to its youthful glow (vs. its current splotchy appearance).

Was shingles the absolute worst thing I’ve experienced? Certainly not. But was it the weirdest and most annoying thing? You bet!

So if you are old enough to get a shingles vaccine, DO IT! Unfortunately, I have 2 more decades to wait, during which time, shingles can totally come back. I was hoping to prevent such a haunting, but alas, even getting shingles young and therefore being prone to it does not make you any more eligible for a vaccine. Until you are eligible then, I recommend stocking up on soothing bath bombs. And body butter. And large bandaids and medical tape for those times you want to go for a walk in shorts because it is damn hot but you don’t want to scare your neighbors with a scaly, blistery abomination for a leg. “Rollerblading accident” is a much shorter (and easier to accept) explanation than “shingles in my 30s.”

I pose in front of the mirror with a giant bandaid above my knee and various scraps of medical tape around other blistery spots.

Fireplace DIY (with help)

For more than 2 years, I had been staring at a so-so fireplace. Nothing was wrong with the setup in my house–it just kinda looked like someone threw floor tiles on the wall. The mantel was nice, solid wood in a very simple design. I liked that simplicity, until the mantel decided to leap off the wall, taking my TV down with it. I reattached the mantel with some heavy-duty support brackets, but I knew its days were numbered.

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Original fireplace setup. It’s alright.

I wanted my fireplace to make a statement—a statement in stone, from floor to ceiling. Sure, I could have hired professionals to do this, but why let them have all the fun of busting out tile and getting covered in mortar? Enter the #NewsomeTwosome, some amazing friends of mine who had recently completed a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace in their home with vaulted ceilings!

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The #NewsomeTwosome fireplace!

Helping with my average-height fireplace wall should be a breeze. (More like a strong gust, but definitely not like a tornado. I count this home improvement project as a success! Things almost all went according to plan!)

So what all did we do?

  1. Removed old mantel
  2. Mounted TV
  3. Removed old tile
  4. Removed some of the baseboard
  5. Built frame out of 2x4s
  6. Attached cement backer board to frame
  7. Cut stone to very precise specs*
  8. Attached stone with mortar
  9. Attached cleat for mantel
  10. Placed mantel
  11. Drank bourbon/whiskey/wine/etc.

*at one point during this project, the following conversation occurred: “Should we measure?” “Why start now?”

The process, in pictures:

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Mantel removed and TV mounted

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Rachel of the #NewsomeTwosome doin’ WERK

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Frame job complete

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Backer board in place

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Look at that 45 degree cut, courtesy of Josh of the #NewsomeTwosome

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Mortaring in progress…

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Voila! The vintage mantel came from a seller on Etsy who specializes in custom length floating shelves and mantels.

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Ready for the holidays!

So now all that’s left (as a Future Randi project) is to clean up the stone, do a little sanding, fill in some gaps here and there and then seal it to keep it beautiful! Oh, and cut up some tiles and lay the hearth. Easy peasy, right? This was a fairly large undertaking for me, and I am eternally grateful for my amazing friends who helped out. We easily saved several hundreds of dollars doing this ourselves, and I love how it turned out! Plus, can we say resale value?! Cha-ching!

The bourbon tasted so good after finishing all this. As an added bonus, bourbon helps clear my sinuses, which were clogged with tile and mortar dust!

 

A Year of Homeownership

It’s been a crazy year! #WorkLife has been busy, with new services like LabArchives and Proctorio underway, while still promoting Carmen, Vita, wireless, the Ohio State app, etc. But the real action has been happening at home. In my new home. That I own. (Pop that champagne!)

My #HomeLife got a major upgrade in the past year! I found the perfect house, put in a bid and within just a few hours, I was in contract! It’s a lovely little house in Hilliard with a massive backyard (Rax for scale):

Rax overlooks his yard, soaking it all in from the deck

Since that photo was taken, I did just a few things to the yard and my outdoor space in general:

  • Powerwashed the deck
  • Had the siding powerwashed
  • Stained the deck
  • Fertilized the yard and battled the dandelion infestation
  • Seeded bare patches of grass
  • Removed debris from along back fence
  • Had rocks and wood barriers removed
  • Fresh dirt and mulch laid for flower beds
  • Had the driveway touched up with a fresh layer of asphalt
  • Replaced three fence posts
  • Had outdoor lighting fixtures replaced
  • Repainted rusty hand-me-down patio furniture
  • Bought a grill and grilled tasty meats
  • Planted 100+ bulbs around the sides and front of the house

Improvements to the inside of the house are just as insane. I’m probably missing about 20 things here, and writing this all out is making me wonder how in the hell I did all this in a year? Do I have a Time Turner and a second self I don’t know about?!?!

  • Had popcorn ceiling removed, new texture installed
  • Had carpet ripped out and replaced with luxury vinyl, throughout entire house except for the basement
  • Had walls smoothed out
  • Had new smoke detectors installed (and they talk! Fire! Fire!)
  • Painted entire interior of house, including garage (basement, kitchen, living room, stairway, office, guest bedroom, master bedroom, bathroom…and three of the four closets)
  • Patched concrete on garage floor
  • Purchased a new washer and dryer and hooked those up (with Dad’s help)
  • Had new lights installed in basement and closet + new ceiling fan in kitchen
  • Cashed in on my one-year home warranty when the AC died – new expensive part installed
  • Acquired a wine rack and committed to keeping it well stocked 🙂
  • Installed new mini blinds and several curtain rods
  • Purchased new couch and chair
  • Purchased and assembled new bed frame, box spring, love seat, nightstand and coffee table
  • Created a presentable guest bedroom, including accents that match the leftover teal paint splattered on the baseboards (Dear Lowe’s: Stop telling everyone they can paint. Not everyone can paint. Sorry.)
  • Reattached the mantle to the wall after it came crashing down
  • Scraped a section of ceiling plaster down because it cracked due to a faulty install
  • Hung various art pieces, including a professional “family photo” of me and Rax
  • Had AT&T rewire the house…three times…just for basic internet
  • Installed a smart lock and smart lights
  • *almost* finished unpacking from the move

Whew! SO MANY THINGS. I must say, I couldn’t have done it without a supportive work environment. When things were breaking or contractors were coming in and out, I was able to work at home. When I needed to leave the office a little early to meet repair workers, my team was understanding. I can’t say enough good things about the work/life balance in OCIO and ODEE. This first year of turning my house into my home could have been MUCH more stressful without a supportive and understanding team.

Now to find more time for this during Year Two of Homeownership! 🙂

Glass of wine in hand, feet propped up, I enjoy my back yard and fire pit