San Diego

I have been in San Diego now for three full days. I spent Friday drawing gear and getting some information about where I might be going and what I might be doing. Friday night I got to pay a visit to the Balboa Naval Hospital!

Why did I go to the hospital, you ask? Well, last Monday or Tuesday I had some back pain, and on Wednesday I went to Cynthia’s chiropractor and got adjusted. Twice. It didn’t do any good. My ribs hurt too, so I was not a happy camper. This contributed to the discomfort of my flight, as it was difficult to find a comfortable position.

Thursday night (actually early Friday morning), as I got ready for bed I noticed some red bumps on my side, right where my ribs hurt. Hmmm. Coincidence? I looked at my back in the mirror, and...more red bumps! On Friday I talked to Cynthia on the phone and described my situation, and she said “you have shingles!” The doctor took one look at my back and said “she’s right!” So I got some painkiller and anti-viral medication and was on my way. If you don’t know about shingles, see the end of this post.

By this time I was in a lot of pain, and I was glad to have the Motrin. It seemed to help a bit, but I was still very uncomfortable and I had a hard time sleeping Friday night. Saturday was miserable – I felt awful, I hurt, and I was sad to be away from my family. I spent the day moping around my hotel room, feeling sorry for myself.

What a difference a day makes! On Sunday, I decided that I wasn’t going to let myself be down all day again. I started the day by reading and doing some e-mails poolside (gotta love a laptop and high-speed wireless Internet), then joined a friend (whom I met at GA) for worship at the First UU Church of San Diego. Just before entering the sanctuary, I saw another new friend from GA, so we all sat together. I really enjoyed the service – it was full of music and the sermon was terrific. The message was about bearing witness to the joy and suffering in the world – first to let go of our learned responses of ignoring the suffering of others, second to bear witness to them, and third, to heal ourselves and the world. Powerful and moving stuff.

Following the service, I drove up to Carlsbad and enjoyed visiting with a friend from Yuma, then we went for a mountain bike ride. I decided that I wasn’t going to let pain get in the way of my enjoying myself, and you know, I didn’t hurt the whole time. Next I was off to my cousin’s house nearby, where I enjoyed playing guitar with her husband and computer games with their 6 year old twins. It was great to have a “guitar fix” and a “kid fix” all in one package.
Speaking of guitars, today I picked up my new toy: a “Go Guitar,” hand made right here in SD just for me. It is small and light but sounds terrific, and will be a mental and spiritual outlet for me once I get to Iraq.

I was supposed to leave on Wednesday, but the flight was cancelled, so now it looks like Saturday. We shall see! In the meantime, I have a guitar, a borrowed mountain bike, nearby pool and beach, and perfect SoCal weather, so it’s my own fault if I don’t enjoy myself until I leave.

Shingles is a "reactivation" of the same virus that caused chicken pox when I was a kid (as far as I know, the fact that our kids just got over it is a coincidence). When someone has chicken pox, the virus (varicella herpes zoster) doesn't die or go away, it just goes dormant and hangs out on nerve roots somewhere in the body. When the person gets older and her/his immune system is weaker, the virus can be reactivated. This can also be caused by HIV, cancer, or EXTREME PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS. Hmmm, wonder why I got it. Anyway, the reactivated virus travels down to the nerve endings and results in excruciating pain and a chicken-pox like skin rash.