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I was in hospital for just under two weeks. Every day I was put on IV drips of anti viral medicine, as well as pills and eye drops. I also had to see an Opthamologist (eye specialist) to make sure the shingles hadn't spread into my eye. They luckily hadn't, but was still put onto special eye drops just in case. He wanted to see me again before I left.

Things started to improve the longer I was there. The blisters started to turn to scabs (which was a good sign even though it sounds worse). Even though I was starting to feel better, the doctors wanted to keep me a few days longer to finish the medication I had started.

When I was eventually allowed home, I was sent home with even more pills, strong anti virals and follow up consultations with the opthamologist and haematologist. The opthamologist had a thorough check of my eyes and said that my right cornea was inflamed and gave me lots of eye drops and creams and told me to come back and see her the next week. The haematologist didn't have that much to say. However at this point, the whole right side of my head and face was really itchy. From my nose to the top of my head. She gave me some anti-histemines. They didn't work.

I went back to the eye doctor the following week, she said my cornea was better, but the skin looked much worse. She told me to carry on with the drops and see a dermatologist. We managed to get an appointment with my dermatologist the same day. Even though she had already signed me off, she was happy to see me again. Interestingly, she said it's not actually anything to do with my skin causing the irritation. It's the nerve endings in that area of my face which are re-building due to the shingles having caused them damage. She said that any topical creams wouldn't help and prescribed another round of steroids. She also mentioned an injection, which isn't available in this country which is normally used to cure this sort of problem. I have a follow up appointment with her next week after my course of steroids is finished, and if they've helped, we shall carry on as normal, but if not, she said she will consider the injection.

The fun never stops...