Shingle all the way...

Last Tuesday I found a red spot on my side, no biggie.. just a little red pimply thing. Me, being the sickly person I am, was a little paranoid. Wednesday rolls along and my one red dot manifested into one large welt like thing, and several red dots in a separate area. Since Thanksgiving was the next day, I decided I had better get it checked out asap. Honestly, this story could be two sentences and be over with and you would get the jist of everything. However, I feel like I need to reiterate to the non-believers of the world.... that everything really does happen for a reason.
(Keep in mind that I am in Turtle Lake at this point at my mom's)
Medical chain of events happen like so, continuing from Wednesday.
I call my sister at the Rice Lake clinic (30ish miles away), explain what the thing looks like. She tells me that I should just get it checked out to be on the safe side. Next, I call the Turtle Lake clinic in town, to see if I can get in there, since its only two miles away. The receptionist informs me that there is only one Physician in and that they are booked. She then transfers me a medical assistant (which is what my sister is), who asks me to describe what the rash looks like. After doing so, she tells me she will relay the info to the Dr, and if he thinks its is quesionable and needs to see it, she will call me back. Meanwhile it is 11 a.m and I start thinking I should look for an alternative opinion.

So, I call the Cumberland Clinic (ten miles away). They are also booked solid. Reluctantly, I call back the Rice Lake clinic back and see if I can get in there with someone... anyone. Slight glimmer of hope with an opening in ten minutes, but I wouldn't make it unless I flew. Apparently, clinics are the place to be the day before the holiday...

Moving on to my last option. Urgent Care. I despise Urgent Care. Coughing, sneezing, bleeding, germy people all shoved in one room. Ugh. So, as I am driving to Urgent Care, in Rice Lake, I leave a message for my Nephrologist to call me back if he has any openings. I get checked into Urgent Care and am anxiously sitting there, trying not to get overly annoyed with the snotty kid and the gossipy receptionists. After reading yesterdays news and sitting there for 15 minutes, I check my phone. One new voicemail. Not caring if I am violating some cell phone hospital regulation, I do what any red blooded american would do. Listen to it. My luck finally changed and my nephrologist had an opening for me in an hr. Trying not to jump for joy, I sign my happy butt outta Urgent Care.

My Doc looks at me, and initially says its a fungal infection. This makes sense to me, since I have been exercising more than usual and have been working up a sweat (I know, I rock). Then he starts doing more diagnostic questioning and pauses and excuses himself. He comes back and decides that it actually could be shingles. It doesn't look like the typical shingles outbreak, but I am not the typical patient, either. So, he decides to do a culture (ouch), prescribe an antiviral medication, and warns me about the dangers of shingles and transplant patients. Lovely. Thanksgiving comes and goes, my rash gets worse and becomes more painful/itchy and shingle like. Friday, I get a phone call from my doctor (yes, he actually called me himself) and he tells me that although the culture results aren't back, he is pretty sure that I do have shingles (based on what I told him). This is confirmed with the results that come in on Monday.

So, back to the moral of this story? What would have happened, had I seen a Turtle Lake or Cumberland doctor? Someone who didn't know my history and just sent me off with a cream. Or, even if I had stayed at Urgent Care? I know it sounds off the wall, but the whole time I sat there, I felt uneasy. I just can't explain it. There is definitely a reason why I was able to see my nephrologist and no one else, why the medical assistant from Turtle Lake didn't call me back, why I had such a long wait in Urgent Care. If things hadn't happened how they did, I could have gone two full days longer without either being on an antiviral medication or seeing a doctor at all. I don't want to think about the havoc that could have wreaked on my fragile kidney. Don't get me wrong, I am still not in the clear with this, I have to get my kidney level checked next week to check for any damage. At least I know that I did everything possible to keep myself healthy though.

I will plan on going with my gut instinct from now on and I advise you to do the same.