Shingles and Shots

Do you know anyone who’s had shingles? Probably not if you’re young, but at my age you know someone who has suffered from them. From what I hear it’s a miserable experience.

We vacationed in Cancun, Mexico one summer. Our hosts owned a lovely time share and invited us to share it for two weeks. It was a pleasant visit, marred in part because the wife was suffering from shingles. I got a close up account. She was either in a lot of pain or she was wiped out from her pain meds. I thought she took too many pain meds, but I wasn’t the one suffering the pain. I have to go on her assessment.

Not only did she have a painful rash, but some people didn’t want to be around her. Some people shouldn’t be around some with shingles and those are people who have never had chicken pox. Strange as it may seem, you can get chicken pox from someone who has shingles. So, as it happened both my husband and I had chicken pox as children and weren’t in danger of catching shingles from her. Most of the time I didn’t even think about it.

However, having had the chicken pox as a child, I am now a candidate for shingles. The virus sometimes hides in your body, later to emerge as shingles, not chicken pox.

When the subject came up at the doctor’s office today, I remembered clearly my friend’s pain and her feeling of being contagious to others. I also remembered how long my mother had it, and how often she’d complain about the pain. She wasn’t a complainer, if she said it hurt, it was notable.

When the doctor brought it up, I agreed to have a shingles shot – one to keep me from getting shingles. It was fairly painless until the insurance specialist told me my insurance wouldn’t pay for it and it cost $200.00! TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS?????? I was amazed, but I went through with it anyway. If I came down with shingles, the insurance company would pay. I guess my potential pain and inconvenience isn’t a factor. The office has agreed to put in for it anyway. You never know with insurance companies, do you?

Marilynne