Chicken Pox! What a curious thing. The grumpy face above has not been the general attitude regarding this illness - she's been mostly in very good spirits. I, on the other hand, have been itchy! I have a couple dozen spots, more like welts, mostly on my sides, but some on my tummy (how wierd having chicken pox on top of stretch marks!) and elsewhere. Clare has them all over her torso, on her legs & arms. None on her face yet, and hers are fading fast now.
She broke out with spots on Friday, 3 days after her birthday. Chicken pox are most contagious from 3 days before symptoms show until the last ones scab over. So, that means that everyone who celebrated her birthday with us was exposed! We have our fingers crossed that it will not cause any cases of shingles for her grandparents or anyone else...
Our contagiousness has created an interesting situation. A number of our friends have been on the lookout for chicken pox and the news was greeted warmly:
"We heard that you have chicken pox and we would really really like some!"
"That's great that Clare has chicken pox!"
"We heard that you have chicken pox and we would really really like some!"
"That's great that Clare has chicken pox!"
Like us, they believe that having the illness gives a person greater immunity than the vaccine does. Also, being exposed to the virus ourselves helps our bodies have more resistance to shingles. Here's an article about that: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=12896
And another with general chicken pox information: http://www.909shot.com/Diseases/chickenpox%20facts.htm
That said, I have no idea why I have chicken pox, since I'm told I had them as a child (2 or 3 yrs old?). Or is this a mild case of shingles? It doesn't look like the pictures I've seen of shingles, and seems just like big chicken pox. I am not aware of being exposed to chicken pox since my younger siblings got them, probably 30 years ago, which could explain why I caught them now. And, though it's a bit inconvenient being quarantined (except for contact with friends who *want* to be exposed), it really has not been any big deal.
And I wish the best of luck to those we have exposed!
