Photos

The pictures are kinda washed-out.  The rash looks much more bright red in reality and there are large white blisters near my midline on both my front and back (they're hard to see in the photos).  I'm told eventually the entire rash will blister, pop, crust over, and peel off.

Since the antivirals I'm on are hard on the kidneys (go figure), I went back to the BMT clinic yesterday for lab work and to re-evaluate my shingles.  My creatinine came back at 1.53, which isn't great but acceptable.  The doctor started me back on Gabapentin (Neurontin), which should help with the generalized abdominal pain I have.  She also switched me to a Fentanyl patch.  It'll provide constant pain medication instead of having to take pills every 3 hours.  I was started on a low dose and so far all it seems to do is make me drowsy.  I'm still taking Dilaudid every 4-5 hours to manage the pain.  Between the two it covers it well, but being on strong narcotics isn't ideal, the combination of the two basically leaves me stoned.  It's better than being in pain, but I'm hoping Tuesday, when I meet with Dr. Oran, we can work something better out so I don't spend my days in such a dug-induced fog.