Guess what? I have chicken pox!

I thought you’d be interested to know that I am currently down with chicken pox. Yup, sick with chicken pox (CP) at 31 years old. But I guess it could be worse. I could be 45 or older and be ill with it.

Well, actually, I’m not “sick” sick. I had fever (at night) during the first two days. And as of yesterday, I was fine. But what was weird was that I had these scarily humongous pustular acnes on my face. Or at least I think they’re acne.

Well, they don’t look like the “liquid” in the CP blisters on my hands. Those are yellowish but clear. The ones on my face were/are yellow and thick – like your typical pustular acne. But what was different was the fact that they were bigger than usual. One was 0.5 cm wide. That’s pretty big for a zit, even by my standard, and I should know because I’ve had zits since puberty.

Well, whether or not they are acne, I don’t dare to pick them. Even my husband who loves to pop my pimples is discouraging me from picking on my skin. He said that they could be CP and if I pick them, they could leave permanent scars.

I have to admit that it’s hard to keep my hands off of my face or body. Malaysians believe that when you have CP, you’re not suppose to shower or have a bath. At the most, you can wet a towel and pat yourself with it.

I read on the Internet that Westerners recommend an oatmeal bath to calm the itching. No such luck if you live in Malaysia! I have a feeling that people around the Southeast Asian region, at least, subscribe to the “no bathing” rule.

For an acne-prone person like me, not bathing and washing my face are certainly a recipe for getting zits and what-have-yous. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to have all those zits, which, I have to add, are drying up and shrinking. That’s good news of course!

But I don’t think the blackheads on my nose are going anywhere unless I give my face a good scrub. But of course I’m not going to do that, lest I scrub a chicken pox or two and cause more damage. No thanks!

I have no issues about being quarantined in my room. I’m rather enjoying the chance to watch movies which I have downloaded and read books which I have been meaning to read.

What I can’t wait to do is take a bath and wash my hair!

I’m even thinking of going for a spa post-CP! Wouldn’t that be the best time? Enjoying a good body scrub, massage and having a delicious ginger tea drink after? Aaaaah…. that’s my idea of bliss!

Until then, I can dream.. or maybe I can plan from now on. I saw an advert for a local spa in H a r i a n M e t r o recently which offers affordable packages under RM150 for Syawal.

Well, I’m off to research now. Bye!

P/S: Because of my CP, I didn’t have much of a Raya celebration to speak of. But it’s okay. I’ll have plenty of open houses to go to soon, I’m sure.