Hi, folks! Last week was one of
the worst in my life – whole week I was down and out with a bout of Herpes
Zoster. I bet many of you don’t know what Herpes Zoster is! To enlighten you,
HZ is an affliction caused by the chicken pox virus.  It seems the virus never leaves your body
after you have had a bout of chicken pox in your childhood.  It lies dormant in your body for many years
and then one day when your immune system is weak and vulnerable, it attacks a
particular nerve in your body and appears on the surface as ugly red rashes
along that nerve.

In my case, it all began with a
burning throbbing sensation on my right brow. 
When I examined my face in the mirror, I could see nothing out of
place.  Then a tiny bump appeared on my
forehead right above the brow which, at first glance, looked like a
pimple.  But on close scrutiny after a
day or so, I found that it was no ordinary pimple, but a cluster of tiny
blisters.  That started the alarm bells
ringing!  I had some idea about HZ though
I had never seen a real patient before. Anyway, I immediately went to my family
doc who confirmed my fears and started me off on medications right away. The
tiny blisters became bigger and spread all over the right side of my forehead,
eyebrow and eyelid (shutting down my right eye for a couple of days!). It was terribly
painful, making me miserable for the whole week.  Thank God I went to the doctor at the right
time and though the medications didn’t prevent the rashes from coming out, it
did help to control it to a large extent. It could have been worse.

The right medicines, lots of
prayer to my God and plenty of rest – that did the trick. I’m back to my
job.  I’m told that it takes two to three
weeks to get over from HZ, if not longer. 
I guess I am fortunate to have made a quick recovery.  It may take some more time for the scars to
disappear completely. But, hey, I’m alive! 
Isn’t that great?