Ease up, rest, relax, revive

Cold and sore

It probably should be the least of my worries, the irritating but least atrocious human herpes virus flare-up, the cold sore which folklore suggests comes from a feeling of emotional stress and a wearing down in the body. With no mind of looking for the science of this thing, it’s been a strange few weeks of pandemic loneliness culminating with the tragedy of the sudden passing away of my stepmother on Wednesday. [Humanherpes virus]

Looking through the human herpes viruses presents a checklist of events that should hardly be a topic of conversation except at the point of diagnosis in the readiness for treatment. Yet, cold sore many checks, chickenpox check, shingles check, kaposi’s sarcoma check and we are still here.

Tired of the cancer

Kaposi’s sarcoma was the worst experience, presenting as a fungating tumour and cancerous withering of flesh on the soles of my feet, more prominently on the left foot. It took 5 months of chemotherapy to blow that completely away.

Shingles was a strange experience, I had a complete rundown of strength in the week that I had guests in the Netherlands and the day before, I progressive felt strength drain out of me when we visited the Kinderdijk windmills, that by the evening I was barely standing and I was able to make dinner for us.

Those blistering poxes

When they left the next morning, I went to bed, and by noon, from the left arm over my shoulder blade and crossing over my back and unusually over my vertebral column to the right shoulder blade, the blisters appeared. Then travelled to Berlin for 4 nights and returned needing an airport escort in Berlin and personnel to ship me into a cab in Amsterdam. Bathed in camomile lotion, it was all gone in two weeks and thankfully without post-herpetic neuralgia.

Chickenpox was an affliction of childhood, I hardly remember, I know I was covered in spots and I was soon fine. We live with this thing sitting somewhere completely out of view until triggered by some event, condition, or even state of mind. I guess in the main, this is one of those things that we as humans have evolved to contain as much as possible. Keeping healthy in spirit, soul, and body is probably the best guard against it manifesting in one of its ghoulish costumes.

My parents are worried

Off the hinge with shingles

Just about 4 weeks ago I saw blisters appear on my upper left arm and over a day of so, it spread up my arm over the left side of my chest, it amazingly travelled across the entire upper back to parts of the upper right arm.

Now shingles, theoretically should not cross the mid-section of the body, I probably carelessly spread it to the right side not seeing that rubbing my back was bursting the blisters and spreading the virus.

The worst of that phase is over but we are now in what is called the post-herpetic neuralgia stage where the pain radiates just behind the skin where the blisters and then the rashes appeared and dried up – all those places temporarily discoloured and bearable to sight.

The business with mum

As I gained my strength, I phoned mother, I call her Iya, which is mum in Yoruba; to see if she had some home-grown remedy which she seems to always have for any malady.

The conversation we had was too business-like for my liking I was really taken aback, but on reflection, I felt she must have been busy on some important thing that required minimal disturbance.

Me: Hello Iya, it’s Akin

Iya: Hello, How are you? What do you need to tell me.

Me: I’ve been very ill with shingles.

Iya: Is that all I need to know, now?

Me: Yes, that is all.

Iya: You will be well in Jesus Name, bye.

Me: Amen.

Dad, I had it as a kid

So, there I was wondering and considering my mother already had a premonition I was unwell and already had an expectation I would call – later that day, she tried to contact me and even the next morning, we finally chatted again where I explained exactly what shingles was, how I was feeling and got a few ideas for remedy.

Meanwhile, having not chatted to daddy for a while, I called him too and told him I had been ill, he had never heard of shingles and did not think I had chicken-pox as a kid – well, I am glad I had chicken-pox as a kid because the pox on adults is just not good.

So, I explained to him that one usually has chicken pox as a child and its reappearance in adults is indicated by shingles.

They are worried

However, these benign pieces of information shared with my parents had gotten them extremely worried even though their approaches to the same problem were diametrically opposed with me caught in the middle as usual.

My father also used the situation to advance once again the need for companionship, well, my neighbours have been extremely neighbourly and helpful during the more difficult times, single people find ways to adapt and survive – companionship is not a compulsory essence of life even though it can be useful.

Iya’s view had a spiritual dimension to it which one should not discount out of hand, I listened again as she offered more useful advice and remedies.

When I spoke to my father again, he was concerned about the differences between home remedies and Western medicine and wondered if I could get West African remedies consisting of herbs and the possible ritual – well, I don’t think the ritual part would have been to my liking, but London offers an interesting eclectic mix of the Nigerian ghetto in Europe with the possibility of rat tails, cat heads and every scary concoction out of this world.

Viral becomes venereal

Meanwhile, I was being driven to complete distraction at night with severe itching on my back and sometimes down my arms; I had cut my nails and tried to ease the itch with rubbing gently or passing a towel over the affected areas latitudinally back and forth.

Another call from my father included the advice to call a doctor relation of ours who I had chatted to a few weeks ago. The doctor had explained to my dad what shingles was, saying it was a viral infection and what it entails.

By the time my father was on the phone to me, viral had become venereal, I was not going to correct him or explore the ideas between viral infections and venereal infections.

You suddenly realise that of all you will like to discuss with your parents, your sexual proclivities do not rank anywhere in the exchanges, I was glad the conversation was over though worried about what he might have thought I was up to when I really had not been up to anything untoward.

In all, one takes from the situation a sense of how worried the man and lady were, and the link between us so happens to be their parenthood – the healing effect of realising that people so dearly care for you is without peer and I am glad for that.

At my most vulnerable

Unable and incapable

I found myself in a place I never want to return to again, suffering from shingles but thankfully without the pain or the itch I was weakened to the point of vulnerable helplessness.

My being in Berlin for a long weekend only had me do something useful for just 2 of the days I was there, my hotel room was more a recluse but I had the pleasure of meeting Olumide of Loomnie.com though warning him first that if he had never had chicken pox before I was a seriously great risk.

We went to a Nigerian restaurant called Fifty-Fifty at Mainzerstraβe 17, not too far from Boddingstraβe underground station, unfortunately their website does not reflect their activities.

The atmosphere was mellow, the music was good and the food was excellent, the service was also very nice, our outlet here in Amsterdam just cannot compare on all those levels – one will return there but rarely to the one in Amsterdam.

On Sunday, I was completely put out, I had strength for nothing, my flight back home the next day was to be very late because I had planned to do things on the Monday – I could not face that tomorrow that I had to book an earlier flight back home.

It was becoming so obvious that I needed help, my taxi driver walked up to get my luggage, my voice was failing from weakness, and this was not I.

All the help I could get

When I got to the airport, the check-in for my flight was running late, at one time, I was crouched down, then kneeling down; the check-in clerk came round from his side of the desk to lift my luggage unto the belt.

After I was checked-in, the clerk asked if I would like some assistance to get to the plane, in my condition I obliged and at that point I realised, I had never been so vulnerable and helpless like that ever.

I like my comforts, I like service, but they are all as a result of a strong disposition for things being taken care of with expertise, professionalism and well, service.

A realisation in self-pity

As I turned away to go to the lounge, I just broke into tears, the clerk had phoned up the lounge to take care of me, arranged a wheelchair service to take me to the plane, arranged for a caddy to meet up with me in Amsterdam and help me to whatever transport I required.

When I got to the lounge, the lady was expecting me, as I sat down she came over to serve me a drink which again exposed my vulnerability, but she was cool about it and said she was there to help.

45 minutes later, the wheelchair arrived, I was through customs sat in the wheelchair, into a goods lift and then onto a bus because the plane was not on any of the airport gangways. I was first on the plane and others joined some minutes later.

An inaccessible airport

I could not eat but I drank lots of tonic water, the flight was smooth and comfortable, when we arrived in Amsterdam, I had to wait for most passengers to get off. The airport caddy took my rucksack and walked me to the concourse vehicle that I rode to the lift near baggage reclaim.

Interestingly, I have noted many times before, the airport at Schiphol is not fully accessible, I do wonder how those who are more incapacitated make it round the airport.

The caddy helped collect my suitcase and walked me to the taxi-rank where I got a taxi home. My neighbours let me in and prepared a pot of soup for me.

The night was quite easy, one thing I have noticed is when I am ill, I just have periods where I am completely helpless and suddenly I feel strengthen and able to do usual things.

The shingles are now moving past the blister stage to the drying-up stage, I have been spared the pain or maybe I have a higher pain threshold than I thought I had.