I know of another guy who comes into MS who also has a troublesome rash. I haven't received his permission to make it known so I'll have to tell you by way of PM.

Puffer

Oh man, TJ Jeff, I'm so with you. Six months?! Hell, I'd be mortgaging the house for crack or morphine...if I had a mortgage.

I don't have to tell you how mentally exhausting it is and that, like our CSA (read your story), yeah, it starts to feel like it's normal. The only words of "wisdom" I have are already in this thread. One thing I didn't have with the last bout three years ago was this group of guys to listen to me and help me through. And I've sometimes leaned on 'em hard.

LOL...since I'm healing (at least physically), feel free to hijack the thread. After six months of this sh*t you probably need it more than me.

Lancer - just wanted to offer this - for some virtual relief:

once when my son was suffering an excruciating skin condition, and we had done everything within or power to help him, i was at a store and saw a bullet on a key chain and thought of the idiom, "bite the bullet" - and bought it for him. it didn't give any actual relief - but he liked it anyway. he carried that keychain for years.

So - here is a virtual bullet for you to bite - if you can pry it out of this dude's jaws!

[img:left]http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4687845917985325&pid=15.1[/img]

hope you get some REAL relief soon.
Lee

One thing I treasure about you Lee is that sometimes, as we say in the South, "You jus' ain't right." Ummm...an armor-piercing shell?

Love the story about you son! Lucky kid! I'd say it qualifies you as SuperDad.

Like that you have the sense of humor and neighbors to enjoy it with. I'd forgotten it was similar to us examining debris following Wilma, "Excuse me, is that your roof or mine?" and, "Didn't there use to be a fence here?" On and on...untangling my fence from his tree - oaks are the worst - and vice-versa. fwiw, I was finding shingles everywhere for a year afterwards. "You are about to experience a great adventure...."

(Already put it on the Sandy thread, but too good not to use again)

A lot of cracked houses up in NY by this time.

At least it's mentally exhausting.

Cat on a hot tin roof (no shingles).
Puffer

Y'all jus' ain't right <---which sounds like Big Daddy, huh? (Gawd, Puffer and Jeff, you're LITERATE!). Dad's third wifey was a dead ringer for Mae ("Sister Woman")...squinty eyes, squished forehead/bangs, drunk, controlling, etc. This sounds awful, but in her case suicide was perfectly appropriate.

It was the punch bowl, Honey, the cut-glass punch bowl!

Ummm, do I dare ask how much snow you got Jeff? Need a cat? Even in the 70s I thought these were the coolest things...wiiiiide treads, high visibility cab.


A li'l update. A couple walk-intensive shoots last weekend kinda pushed me close to the edge and, imo, I've dearly paid for it this week, putting myself back to bed for a while. Bitch, bitch, bitch, gripe, gripe, gripe. HOWEVER, a new doc who wants me on acyclovir as a prophylactic...an alternative if you're not getting the $240 shingles shot, or under 50. Completely new information to me.

Puffer, you may want to pass this on: For the skin sensitivity/neuropathy she's prescribed something called Gabapentin - anticonvulsant - and the capsaicin. The wiki on Gabapentin concerns me a bit, though she had no undue concerns. If anyone has experience with it, especially with antidepressants, please post.

Bitching aside, I can tell I'm better and still have Thanksgiving as my goal to be Over It. Actually, I was over it a couple weeks ago, but not Over It.