my mom told the story of getting into an argument over the phone with my pediatrician when i was a young infant. my brother had come home from kindergarten with chicken pox, been diagnosed by the doctor and now i was showing legions. doctor kept insisting that it was 'impossible' for a 3 month old to get them-that baby immunities protected from it. my mom gave up fighting him on it so i never had an official diagnosis but responded to the same treatment he had prescribed my brother. mom did say that if you have to have 2 kids with chicken pox at the same time that having one that wasn't capable of coordinating their movements to scratch made things allot easier.
op (and all others) with shingles-so sorry, hope you feel better soon.
I remember that I brought Chickenpox home from 1st or 2nd grade, and my mom made no attempt to separate the younger kids from me. My aunt brought my cousins over to play -- on purpose so they'd get it too /get it over with.
With no vaxx and the only treatment being Calamine lotion + time, moms wanted all their kids to get Chickenpox at once so they could be DONE with it. The idea of avoiding it (thus avoiding Shingles later) was just not realistic.
This may have changed with the latest Medicare updates for free vaccines, but my DH got his Shingrix at CVS and each shot cost him $188. That could be a barrier for some. I got mine for free at my doc's office under my regular non-medicare health plan
I hate that's a realistic barrier ... but most of us won't get Shingles, with or without the shot, and I get why people choose to risk going without. But I hate that they have to make that choice.
I don't remember whether I paid for my Shingles vaxx (it's been a couple years), but I know I paid out-of-pocket for my Pneumonia vaxx because I was "too young" ... even though I'd had Pneumonia two years in a row. I just had a booster ... I'm old enough now that insurance paid, but I would've paid out of pocket. I love not having Pneumonia.
Please everyone get the Shingrix vax, even if you have to pay out of pocket. I got shingles in my optic nerve 4 years ago. The pain was staggering. I had $300 eye drops to preserve the vision in that eye. The virus traveled down the right side of my face, and went into the nerves in my teeth. Thank God that part was only for a couple of days.
I have lingering nerve pain everyday now. I do have Gabepentin for it, but it isn't very effective. What is effective is opioids, which are impossible to get. This outbreak changed my ability to work, and daily life. Please get the vaccine.
Your story is awful. Anyone who can read that and say, "No thanks, I'll skip the vaxx" ... well, I just don't understand them.
I read something about the Covid vaxx ... apparently some people who caught Covid /were very sick and hospitalized were saying, "Give me the vaccine now! I'll take it now!" Some people don't understand the difference between prevention and cure.
Mrsstats, you’re in good company.
