Sonja called this morning, and Andrea broke out with Chicken Pox overnight. We were all together for five solid days, and I had her wrapped in my jacket and cuddled up close to me at the burial site.

I am due to fly out of here on Thursday, to have a weekend get-together with two friends I haven't seen in years. I've had chicken pox AND shingles, but am I in danger of taking the virus to Florida with me?

Help! It's been FAR too long since I dealt with childhood problems, and my two never even got chicken pox.

Pam,

I think you only get it once. Masaki? Amanda?

Wating for the Dr.'s here. But I think once you have had it, it lies in your body forever, and that's how it comes forth later as shingles in some people.

I don't know how accurate this is, but two of my friends have told me that they came down with chicken pox twice. "Is there a Dr. in the house" to address this?

Pam, I hope you and your family are coming along as well as can be expected, under such sad circumstances. Take care, please!

Pam,
I think I've been told that chicken pox is passed on when one has a fever or when the rash appears. I hope one of our Dr.s will set us all straight.

Betty

Viruses usually don't last long once in the air but I would take precautions and wash anything that came in contact with the sick one. A shower for you would be good to. wash wash wash

Thanks, y'all! I've bathed several times since we got home, and have washed all the clothes. I really wasn't in major touch-contact except at the grave-side part of the funeral. And she didn't run any fever until last night.

I wasn't really thinking, I feel like I have my immunity but didn't want to put my friends in any danger.

Pam, I would have worried too. But it sounds like you've got everything covered. You've been through enough already. Take care.

Olivia (jhp) has it right. Good handwashing should make sure that it takes care of the issue. You should have immunity at this point from "recatching" chicken pox but you never fully clear it out of your system. Technically, once you've had chicken pox, you're not supposed to get it again but there are always exceptions ...

Regardless, Pam, you should be OK at this point.

Masaki

So nice having a medical family on, er, board.

Thanks!

;)

Ditto what my other half said. I have seen a few people who had chicken pox twice but they were few and far between.

Knew what you meant, R :)

Masaki

Funny this thread started where I can ask Masaki for more free medical information. Today Jes told me her boyfriend had been referred to the ER by his doctor (it is a holiday) for a skin problem. He has shingles! She said, he cannot pass along shingles to an adult, but he can pass on Chicken Pox to a child.

I said, can he pass along Chicken Pox to an adult? And she said, I think I have already had chicken pox. I said, I am not sure. I have four children, but one of my daughters had one of them on her forhead in the middle. Check to see if you have a pock mark there. I don't think that message got through.

Sonja is kind of worried, too; she had the double vacccination called for in an adult, when Justin was a baby (he'll be 9 soon). Since Andrea's didn't last, is SHE going to get it? We'll have to just wait and see, I guess. Rich doesn't even remember whether he got the vaccination when I was nagging about it or not (why do mothers waste their breath?), but he really wasn't around Andrea that much. (Story here; we were in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. Some idiot girl went into labor prematurely, at the lunch thingy after the funeral. She filled and consumed a hefty plate full before she announced that she needed Rich's attention. Poor guy, he just buried his dad and then has to go to the hospital with an idiot. She didn't end up having the baby, because the hospital gave her a muscle relaxer, but I personally wanted to wring her neck.)

As to Andrea, apparently she isn't having a difficult time. Sonja is using Aveeno cream on her, and giving her Benadryl at night. Poor baby.

The biggest problem now is that we (the medical profession) are not exactly sure how long the varicella (chickenpox) vaccination is good for. There have been some studies that show waning protection after about 10 years or so. Whereas, if you actually catch chickenpox, then the immunity is good for lifetime. So in a sense, it's almost better to catch chickenpox as a child to make sure that you don't get chickenpox as an adult (it tends to be a much worse disease in adults than in children). As to whether getting varicella immunizations as a child is necessarily a good thing in terms of future immunity, only time will tell ...

Masaki

Masaki, I just decided that on this board, I am never going to ask you a medical question again. It is too intrusive as you are here to enjoy "another" life. Sorry for what I have asked so far. Not fair to keep you "on duty" after hours, or you would not want to post, as you so generously do about Crusing which is the main point of this board.

Sonja is almost hoping that Justin (at least) will go ahead and break out with it. It has been almost exactly 10 years since Andrea had the vaccination, but only 8 for Justin. Sarah is probably WAY too recently vaccinated, so she more than likely won't get it.

Olivia, I really don't think he minds and you guys rarely ask so it's not an intrusion!

Pam, hope Justin's case is as mild as Andrea's should be break out too!

Masaki you are our offical LCT Doctor. Without you Olivia may of taken mescaline for sea sickness

(i'm sorry that still cracks me up)

Pam - hope everything goes well!

Olivia - like Amanda said, I don't mind. It'd be different if I was answering medical questions every night but you guys rarely ask and I'm happy to share the knowledge that I have.

chip - that would definitely have been worth a picture in the Hall of Fame if Olivia had actually taken mescaline for her sea sickness. :D

Masaki

You mean, I'm NOT supposed to take mescaline? I thought for sure I'd read that here, so I asked a local teenager to find me some. I thought I was all prepared for my cruise.

I have to admit, though, I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do with this little cactus thingy he gave me...I mean, what do you do about the pricklers? :p

LeeAnne, being an East coast girl, you might have to clue me in on what the cactus thingy is!

Karen. Peyote, same as mescaline. See how I've educated myself since I mis-called meclazine mescaline? I don't think my kids will ever let me forget that one!

Karen, remeber the movie Young Guns and the scene where they are all in that Canyon. That's mescaline. When I was an EMT for a vol. fire dept mescaline was a very popular drug and we got called on some cases. Nota serious situation but people on this drug have no idea what planet their on.

Olivia I will never bring this up again I promise.

Chip, not a problem, I have to laugh all the time at myself, my kids see to that! My naivete in this subject stems from my age or something. I was right on the "cusp" of the drug revolution, and as it was coming on, I chose to say no, it was so easy back then to do so, as at my college it was a "fringe" thing, something the SDS'ers did. But with 4 children in their 20's, I certainly should have known what mescaline was! That's why it was funny when Jes offered to send me her Grateful Dead records!

Is mescaline, cactus? Is it the same stuff as that Petyote mushrooms or buttons or whatever?

Karen:

I will not admit to expeimenting with any of these substances...at least not here, anyway.

For your reading pleasure...

Magic Mushrooms or shrooms in the vernacular

Mescaline

And finally peyote...

Robert, I read all three links and figured out that peyote is not a mushroom, its a cactus. (I think!) What is mescaline, then? It is a cactus, too?

Karen, I start with the simple

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=peyote

That was great, Olivia! So mescaline is peyote, according to the dictionary.

mes·ca·line
An alkaloid drug, C11H17NO3, obtained from mescal buttons, which produces hallucinations. Also called peyote

Now I am hip and down with the drug lingo!

HOWLING, Karen!!

Well tequlia is supposed to made from the mescal plant. I'm sure while that was the case in the 19th century they have been making without using the cactus for many years now.

But when I was a we lad there was a mescal tequlia that you could only get in Mexico that was supposed to be made from the mescal plant. I used to have my Father pick up a bottle since he went back and forth in a light plane. I didn't bother to tell him about the what was in it part. He thought it was just Tequlia.

We drank it expecting the Indian Gods to come and show us the true meaning of life. All we got out of it was double vision, extreme nausa and one hell of a hangover. I think that was just a something somebody made that there was real mescaline in that stuff.

When I got married the first time, we spent our honeymoon in Puerta Vallarta. We went to a night club and as naive as I was, I ordered a Margarita. Big Mistake. it was made with Mescal Tequila. I had ONE drink (I also weighed 105 lbs). I did not remember anything except getting into a car and being carried back to my hotel room by my then husband. I woke up at 2 PM (14 hours later) with a hangover that I still remember
and I have not ever been so impaired as I was with that drink. I lost an entire day of the honeymoon. I haven't had any tequila since then.

ooops, double post

The tequila that we had on MINT was much better than that. Now the good stuff is made out of blue agave which doesn't have the same hallucinatory effects as mescal does (at least, I'm pretty sure it doesn't ... :D )

Where's our resident tequila expert (Gato) when we need her?

Masaki

Kathy,
Oh, poor thing. Tequila hangovers are the worst.
You know what they say.
1 tequila
2 tequila
3 tequila
floor
Betty

Yep, Betty. That summarized it in a nutshell, stoppiong at One Tequila.

Say some prayers for us tonight, please. Sonja started running a fever this morning, and she feels pretty yucky. She's 41, she doesn't need to get this now.

Andrea's case was incredibly light, Sonja's convinced hers will be, too. So far, Justin and Sarah seem to be just fine.

Pam,

I'm sure Masaki will come in, but just make sure Sonja stays in contact with Dr. I had it as an adult at age 32 after kids had it. At that point, I had never felt so bad, primarily due to low grade fever for a week, in additon to the itching etc. Dr. kept saying "Call me if you get a stiff neck, etc.," I didn't ask why. When it was over, I learned that , in an adult, pneumonia is the least complication, with meningitis and encephalitis also possible. I was fortunate to have none.

I'm not trying to scare you, just be aware. All this was before vaccination available, so probably not as bad now.

Will be thinking of you all; please keep us posted!!

Thinking of y'all, Pam.