Shingle Bells!

In yesterday's blog post, I talked about some of the seemingly unrelated symptoms of Crohn's Disease. Today, I am a walking demonstration of a strange manifestation due, in part, to Crohn's: SHINGLES!

I noticed this painful spot behind my ear (pictured) this morning, and had pain radiating across my scalp and down my arm. I went to the urgent care clinic as soon as I could, because I knew any kind of infection might prevent next week's surgery.

Shingles is not caused directly by Crohn's Disease. Crohn's has weakened my immune system, allowing the virus which causes shingles to present itself in a most painful, ugly way.

I have yet to find out if my surgeon will cancel the plans for surgery next week. In the meantime, I'm hiding from babies, pregnant women, and anyone who's never had chicken pox, so they don't get shingles from me.