Minneapolis Woman Considers Relative Merits of Neck Amputation

Pardon me for a moment, but I must whine. Shingles SUCKS. I am miserable. I'm sooooo itchy, and pain is shooting up and down my nerve pathways. My head hurts. My neck aches. I feel like I'm on fire. I can't concentrate. But if I take the Vicadin, as I did yesterday, then I get completely floaty and useless. I feel so sorry for old people who get this all the time. At least with my age, it is expected to go away in a few weeks. On a more practical note, I do not own enough turtlenecks to endure this disease.

Update: I realize it's melodramatic, but I must go into further description. Imagine you have hundreds of little rodents under your skin and they are trying to claw their way out. Plus the outside of your skin is on fire. And then someone is jabbing you in the neck with the freshly sharpened tines of a fork. The tines go under your skin and twist a little bit. Maybe they are barbed or something. And, just for good measure, a constant stream of lemon juice is rolling over those open wounds. Am I shamelessly begging for pity? Maybe. Not that it would help. Maybe I will go sit in the road and wait for a bus to hit me.