173. Chemo More on shingles

 Got it from a reliable source that her nursing colleagues working at medical clinics have said that "since Covid started they have been seeing a lot of cases of shingles especially in the eye."  Thought I should put it out there for your information.  Back later!

172. Blood test for oral shingles result

The result came back for the Varicella Zoster Virus VZV (Herpes) Ab IgM.  It states that the virus is present and that I have antibodies to it but that there was no serological evidence of acute infection.   (The blood sample was taken after the infection had subsided.)  I do not know how to interpret these results.  Mary (former nurse) says this means that I did have oral shingles.  If that's the case it means that the ordeal is not directly related to my present medication which I was afraid of since having oral lesions is one of it's side effects. But it does mean that my immunity is suffering.  Anyway, the problem is resolved and I do not have any infection or sores in my mouth anymore at the moment.  Yes!!!

Perhaps a more upbeat topic next time? 😊  And tomorrow is my 68th birthday!  Going on to almost 3 years since my diagnosis.

171. I haven't posted in a long time. I wasn't sure to renew my blog for another year whether anyone would care to read what I've still got to say. But I've decided: let's give this a go for another year. So I'm back.

 I won't bore you with what I did last summer.  It's too far in the past already.  I'll get right down to the nitty gritty.

I was on 2 different chemo treatments since January of last year.  Both stopped working after a few months.  December 14th I got started on "targeted therapy".  I just began the second round of it.  My bloodwork was promising after the first round but there are of course no guarantees with this treatment either.  Right before the New Year long weekend I thought I was having an abscessed upper molar.  In fact, the whole right side of my mouth was infected to the point that my cheek was swollen also and I had severe nerve pain in my right jaw.  There has been some debate whether or not I had/have oral shingles. In case you are wondering about the symptoms: the right side of my mouth was covered in sores, with bleeding and extremely painful, especially at night.  My right cheek was swollen with red patches and blood vessels creeping up to my right eye.  Thankfully it has resolved since then and not done any damage to my eye or my hearing.  When I went to see the dentist she said that the difference between the left side of my mouth and the right side was "like day and night".  However she could not confirm it to be shingles.  She admitted she did not know.  I was prescribed antibiotics and a mouth rinse.  When I saw a periodontist a week later, he thought it might be shingles but couldn't confirm this either because by then the lesions had healed and there was no more pus or fluid coming out of it.  When visiting the periodontist the right side of my mouth was extremely itchy.  The itchiness disappeared after a few days.  Most symptoms have disappeared and I am free of pain now.  I have had a blood test done since for (oral) shingles but haven't received the results yet.  I'll keep you posted.

Back in a few days.  Keep warm and stay healthy.  SanTeh!