Posted by Peter.
Well kids, it never rains but it pours. Mind you, in this case it’s probably the best time for something like this to happen. As Laura reported two posts ago, I had a very sore, very lousy weekend. Now, I realized that I might have pushed myself a tad too hard, but it’s not like I had gone out running or playing a team sport, or otherwise banged my brain-pan around. What did I ever do to put myself flat on my back, exhausted and in pain?
Well, with the onset of a few spots two days ago, we think we know: Chicken Pox.
You see, I never had chicken pox as a kid. Close to a decade ago, Jon and I went and had the relatively new vaccine to more or less eliminate our chances of ever getting it. This was back when it was so new that it wasn’t covered by OHIP, and had to be administered by a tropical disease specialist.
I remember that he gave Jon the vaccine right away, but expressed extreme skepticism that I had missed it in my 35 years on the planet. He suggested, friendly but firm, that I had had a subclinical case and never knew. And while I doubted that, I agreed to a mere blood test. After all, if I didn’t have the antibody, it would be very wise to get the injection: in an adult, chicken pox ranges from debilitating (for a month or more) to life-threatening.
A few days later I got a call to return ASAP, and when I did, I was treated like the world’s first pregnant man. “Please, sit down,” he said gently, as though assassins were everywhere. I got two vaccines over a month (kids get one, adults get two), and that was that. Interestingly, they didn’t know—and still don’t—how or whether the vaccine results in shingles down the line, if indeed it does. I guess the longitudinal population is still too young. (FYI: Shingles is caused by the virus that causes chickenpox. Even after its defeat, it takes hold in nerves and stays dormant. Decades later, for some, it reawakens as shingles.)
Anyhoo, my little surprise is what’s referred to a wild-type VZV: something got through the biological radar, but in no way is it serious. The pox themselves are a mere 12 or so, clumped on my neck and upper chest. They don’t even itch, and they’re already halfway through the cycle. The worst part of it were the symptoms that compounded my concussion symptoms, just before they appeared.
So I’m just in public quarantine for a few days, until these little suckers crust over. I find bending down hard, and it’s easy to overexert myself doing minor chores, but otherwise I’m not feeling it. Anyone who has had the chicken pox before can come to visit—they’re in no danger of getting re-infected—but I can’t go out, not to the store, not to the dog park.
BBC Sports is using an interesting bunch of mascots for their Olympics coverage — much more original than the usual snoozefest montage of slo-mo athletes and trumpet fanfares. Based on the 16th Century Chinese novel Journey to the West, and created by British musician Damon Albarn and British artist Jamie Hewlett (co-creators of the virtual rock band Gorillaz), this animated spot features the characters Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy, who use their skills in fighting and magic to defeat their enemies. This cartoon is itself an adaptation of Albarn and Hewlett’s opera version of the novel that features Chinese opera singers, acrobats and martial artists.
It looks like the BBC are getting blanket applause for this better than the run-of-the-mill usual tripe we are expected to watch. When will entertainers realise that the human kind want something different. Instead we are treated to re-runs and re-makes. Bravo to the BBC!