Day 4 Afternoon Update September 17 2011

I waited until Jani came in the afternoon to help me shower. I peeled off all of the EKG leads they had on me yesterday. I don't think I reacted to their adhesive, but I felt like I had an irritation below my left breast from that one.

After my shower, it became clear that I had another case of shingles breaking out below my left breast area on my thorax. They don't look that impressive, but they have the all too familiar PAIN associated with them. Interestingly, the night doctor, Dr. Peterson, who came when I thought I was having a heart attack the other night told the night nurse Joan that my pain could be early warning of shingles on the way. Trish, the Nurse Practitioner came to look at them and along with  her consultation with the 11th Floor Pharmacist decided to take me off of Valtrex and put me on IV acyclovir 565 mg every 8 hours. Also had me take a Percocet and all was good after that.

The shingles I had before on my left rear end have dried up and are scabbed over.

My White Blood Cell count is now 1.1, but my hemoglobin is holding at 9.2 (anemic), and my platelets are down to 121(just a tad low).