Meet my little friend, Ramsay...it has been a strange week.

So much for posting every other day, at this point in time a weekly post may be all you get ;) This week was challenging. Allergies started, which has my family hacking and blowing and irritable. More so it has triggered some Ramsay Hunt symptoms for myself.

August 2010 I was diagnosed with the rare syndrome, Ramsay Hunt. The easy explanation is that it is shingles in the cranium and effects the facial nerves causing symptoms that are similar to Bell's Palsy. Once the sores erupt they are accompanied by a very high fever, severe pain to the effected side of the head and vertigo. If not treated then nerve damage sets in causing facial drooping among other weird symptoms.

Not much is known about this syndrome, other than it exists, how to treat it and how to deal with it, as it really never goes away and can fester at any time. If you have ever had the chicken pox then you can get it. Some say that the new chicken pox vaccine can prevent it but given how the syndrome operates that does not make sense to me. Usually times of stress or when your immune system is down is when you get an outbreak. Not all symptoms are the same for everyone.

I belong to www.ramsayhunt.org, a place for those effected to gather and chat. We are of all ages, all backgrounds and all deal with a different set of things. Some have recovered and deal with it mildly every so often, some never recovered and deal with the pain and nerve damage daily. We are hard working, life stressing people. Through this organization I have learned that stress is a major contributor and that taking good care of yourself is key.

My story is that of a miracle as I did not have a primary care doctor at the time and was diagnosed in the hospital ER (after first receiving the wrong diagnosis, which is common). This made it very hard to get a referring doctor to refer me to a specialist. Luckily, I know a person who pulled some strings and got me into the specialist. Which I am forever grateful for! God was by my side during this time, no doubt...absolutely, NO DOUBT!

So, for me, this time the vertigo is back, blurred vision to the right side, ringing/muffled sound in the ear, sensitivity to light, confusion/disoriented, heart palpitations and lethargy. This has made it hard for me to get motivated to walk or do anything for that matter; however, I did manage to get out there four of the seven days this week. So, moral of this story is that I am a fighter so please don't pity me...most of us have some health issue we are dealing with; mine is just rare and weird. Kinda like me!

I forgot my camera on one of the walks, can you believe it? I felt naked but it was nice to just be!

Saturday- The in-laws came up and we walked to the pond. Good times, good times!

Spring is on the way!

Blossoms

 Sunday - Pup and I went by ourselves at around sunset.

I love this part of the trail, it glows when the sun hits it just right. This picture does no justice to the intensity of this experience.

Sunday Sunset

Monday - No walk, too busy!

Tuesday - Today was the day to drop off the heart monitor I had been wearing for two weeks. We are waiting the results and I will post about the experience once we have the results. I have a feeling that the heart palpitations are associated with the other symptoms I am having as I had them with Ramsay before. Pup and I walked and enjoyed the calm before the storm.

Yep, them are clouds!

 Wednesday - No walk, I did not have the gumption to do it.

Alyssa did find a heart shaped potato chip though. Pretty cool!

 Thursday - Forgot the camera! Oops! Walked the usual trail and took the BIG hill! Love the BIG hill!

Friday - No walk, no gumption, lots of work.

So today, I feel a little better. Still sensitive to light, muffled hearing and a little disoriented/scattered. Hopefully, I can get back in to the swing of things this week.

Love and Light my friends!