Guess Who Has the Chicken Pox

Or, in med-speak, guess who has what is likely a localized atypical reaction to a varicella vaccination.

I never did get chicken pox as a kid, so when I began to work at the hospital, Employee Health decided that I should be immunized. This way, if I came into contact with chicken pox at the hospital, I would probably not get it. I agreed with them: the last thing I want is chicken pox as an adult.

Well I got the chicken pox, through the very attempt to avoid it. An itchy irony.

Thankfully it is only a few bumps on my right forearm. I feel fine, and it doesn't look like it will spread. I am, however, contagious, and Employee Health sent me home. I can't go back to the hospital campus until I have "crusted over," which will mean that I am no longer at risk of infecting anyone else. Until then, the risk to patients is too high.

I will miss being at the hospital, but I do secretly hope that I don't crust too quickly. I might finally sit and read Athanasius's Letter to Marcellinus, and even watch some more of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1. Perhaps I will get a few posts up here on the blog, which I have neglected since I started at the hospital.

I hope much less secretly that this minor irritation does not get any worse.