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My friend just had chicken pox. In fact, she is still ’spotty’ as how she describes herself. We had an interesting online chat about our common experiences on chicken pox.

One of the main difference is the medication. I had my chicken pox twenty years ago. That time, never even heard of any medication for chciken pox. Nowadays, there are plenty. The most interesting common point is that traditional treatment is very much alive. She is also under going traditional treatment similar to mine.

I had chicken pox twenty years ago when I was still university in Penang. I discovered it when I was in the computer lab. Those days, there were no laptops nor wi-fi. Desktop computer was considered a luxury item. Everyone went to computer lab to do their computer programming assignments.

While debugging the program code, I scratched my head and felt it was watery. I scratched again, there was water again. I never had such experience before. In the evening, when I went back to my dorm and took of my shirt, I saw a few blister-like spots on my chest. Immediately, I went to the medical clinic to consult a doctor. He confirmed it was chicken pox and gave me 2 weeks medical leave.

The biggest problem was to go back home. It was a 4 hours journey by bus. I could only go back the next day. I was prepared for the worst.

The next day, there were many spots on my body and face. True enough, I could not get a direct bus to my hometown. I had to transit in Taiping and get another bus to get home. During the journey, more spots started to appears on my body and face. I had to buy a newspaper to cover my face. I pretended to read the newspaper the whole journey. I guess other passengers must be wondering if I was a leper or someone suffering from STD diseases.

With traditional treatment plus pampering from my mother and grandmother, I was cured after two weeks.