susannah i hope you get to the bottom of whatever it is soon so you can start feeling better. when i had shingles (I was still 56 at the time) in late april/may it was sooooo very painful. they were little red bumps in clusters around the right side of my torso. I know they say they're only on one side, but i'm a firm believer in our bodies don't always follow the textbooks. at the hospital the night I went to the ER they told me that most of the pain i was feeling was probably from the shingles, and less of it from my appendix thing. (Not sure I believe them, but... there it is.) whatever it is, feel better soon.