When most people think about stress, they think about the mental anguish it can cause. But for one local woman, stress manifested itself physically.
Katherine Chartrand, 62, says this past February was a stressful month for her and her husband.
“I had just gotten over flu like symptoms in late February and was feeling quite weak and stressed,” says Chartrand. “During this time my husband had managed to nip his finger on a saw blade which required stitches and our basement had a sewer back-up.
“I prayed that March would be a better month.”
Unfortunately for Chartrand, March took a turn for the worse.
“On March 10, I woke up in severe pain in my right arm,” says Chartrand. “At first, I thought it was from the way I slept, but as the morning wore on, the pain worsened.”
She went to the emergency room at Timmins and District Hospital for answers.
“It was quite extreme, like nothing I’ve ever felt in my life. I told the doctors that I would deliver 10 children all at once rather than go through this pain.”
Chartrand says she was surprised by what they identified as the cause of her pain.
“Upon examination, it was discovered that I had shingles under my arm,” says Chartrand.
According to the Mayo Clinic, shingles is a viral infection caused by the same virus as chicken pox, varicella-zoster, which may lay dormant in your body for years before returning as shingles.
While many people experience a painful rash that burns, tingles, or itches, some people with shingles have no visible rash at all. Shingles can also cause fever, headaches, fatigue, and sensitivity to light.
Chartrand says before the diagnosis, she didn’t think much about the small rash under her arm.
“I thought it was only a rash,” says Chartrand. “It was quite small and looked like I’d scratched myself. I was given a prescription for pain and was told to come back to the hospital the next day for a cat scan.”
As for the cause of her shingles, Chartrand says the stresses of February were likely to blame.
“Most of the time it’s brought on by stress,” says Chartrand. “I certainly was under a lot of stress just before this happened.”
The stress wasn’t over for Chartrand, as she got another surprise the following day.
“I went back to the hospital the next day and had the cat scan,” says Chartrand. “The doctor told me that what I had was two blood clots in my arms.”
“He said I didn’t have shingles.”
Chartrand was sent home with another prescription, but the pain didn’t stop.
“Now I was on medication for blood clots,” says Chartrand. “Nothing seemed to make the pain go away. I was awake more than I slept.”
This pain and sleeplessness is what prompted her to post a despondent message on Facebook in the early hours of Apr 5:
“Here it is 5 am, I'm in excruciating pain once again. Another 5mg of morphine, this is ridiculous, it's like my body has a built in clock timing the pain. My God what do I do?”
Chartrand says she went back to the hospital, and that was when she got yet another surprise.
“As I was putting my top on the doctor noticed the redness under my arm and he said I indeed had shingles,” says Chartrand.
“He looked at me and my husband and said he was so sorry, that he can’t imagine the pain I was in.”
“I went home with more medication for the shingles and the blood clots,” says Chartrand. “It took until late April for everything to subside.”
Still, Chartrand says she is not in the clear.
“The shingles have left, but I’ve been told they can come back and they can show up elsewhere,” says Chartrand. “I’ve asked the doctor if I could have the shingles vaccination and was told that I had to wait for a year to have it.”
Chartrand says she’d seen commercials about the shingles vaccine on TV, but she never paid that much attention.
“The commercials on television show what shingles look like and they talk about the pain and push for people to have the shingles vaccine,” says Chartrand. “This is so important – having this is no laughing matter.”
Chartrand says that it’s hard to understand just how bad it is until you’ve had Shingles or you know someone who has.
“It’s not a talked about subject but going through this I’ve heard from a lot of people,“ says Chartrand. “I’ve heard some stories that are devastating, like the woman who lost her sight because the shingles were behind her eye. Another woman who lost her hair because the shingles were so bad on her scalp.”
Chartrand wants people to be aware of shingles and keep an eye out for it.
“Shingles can show up anywhere,” says Chartrand. “There is no body part that is immune.”
Most importantly, Chartrand says, if you have the option, prevent it so you don’t have to treat it.
“When those commercials encourage you to get the shingles vaccination, get it,” says Chartrand. “I certainly don’t wish this pain on anyone.”
