October 11, 2008

Just a quick update on how Sadie is and some additional information.

I won't update each day, because we could be here a while and that is just too much. Neither will I bore you the moment by moment play backs of the events of each day. Just a brief update.
Sadie has had a few more out-breaks even as of this morning. However, some of the original blisters are starting to scab over. Remember that we need them to stop coming out and they all need to be scabbed over to leave (which now looks like it will be closer to 7-10 days). The first night Sadie had a lot of pain and had a very hard time sleeping. She also ended up feeling super sick and actually throwing up a few times. They are now treating that and giving her meds to help her sleep better. Three hours of sleep will not be enough to get her well. So, last night she slept much, much better and even slept in until about 9:30.

I found a great site that helps to make clear some of the questions we have been getting as to why she has to be in the hospital with this when most don't. I will link the site I found this on at the bottom if you want even more information.

Why not let shingles run its course? In otherwise healthy individuals, shingles may disappear without major consequence in two to four weeks. But the risk of complications from shingles increases with age, weakened immunity (the body's ability to ward off disease) and delay or lack of treatment. Complications resulting from shingles include post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), which can cause debilitating pain lasting months or even years. Many PHN sufferers are also prone to depression. In addition to PHN, shingles can lead to other serious, acute or chronic complications, including those affecting vision, muscle function and the central nervous system.
Can a person who has never had chickenpox develop shingles?No. To get shingles, one must already have had a case of chickenpox and therefore harbor the varicella-zoster virus in the nervous system. However, the case of his or her chickenpox may have been very mild and unrecognized.

Is shingles contagious? Shingles cannot be caught from a shingles sufferer. Nor can a person catch shingles if exposed to someone with chickenpox. However, a person who has never had chickenpox can come down with chickenpox if he or she is exposed to the shingles rash. Although shingles is caused by a herpes virus, it is not the same virus that causes the common oral and genital herpes infections.

(from me: you can see I had that wrong about how Sadie got Shingles, good to know the facts! The reason she is "isolated" is because they do not want her to expose any of the immune surpressed patience or young children within the hospital. Why they don't children allow children under ten (including her sister) in with her is they feel they are exposed and subject to more cold, etc and could carry something in which would make healing even harder on her).
What other complications are associated with shingles?In addition to PHN, complications affecting vision and/or hearing are possible if shingles appears on the face. For instance, if shingles affects the eye (ophthalmic shingles), the cornea can become infected, resulting in temporary or permanent blindness. In patients with severely weakened immunity, the shingles virus can also spread to internal organs, infecting the lungs, central nervous system and brain. However debilitating it might be, shingles is rarely fatal, except in patients with severely weakened immunities.
http://www.vzvfoundation.org/shingles&phn.html
After reading all this late last night I spoke more with the head Rheumatologist this morning who is caring for Sadie and she confirmed that they were concerned that she could have a larger break out and that it could affect internal organs. This is why she is on the IV anti-viral medication and will continue to be on them until they release us and move her to oral treatment.
So, even though being in the hospital is not fun and we would a) rather be home b) have our entire family together, at least she is here, getting the care she needs.
Thanks again for all of your support and care for Sadie. I will update in a few days.