Shortly after I woke up Saturday morning, I rushed to my kitchen, grabbed a couple gel-packs from my freezer for my jaw (this TMJD is always the worst in the morning) and looked out my little kitchen window. I saw the gorgeous sky & trees gently sweeping their branches in the breeze and told myself:
As soon as you have your coffee, get yourself cleaned up; you’re not staying indoors today.
I wanted to walk up to my local barbershop and see if they’re open yet, then go to Rite-Aid and see if a shingles vaccine was available.
Shingles?? Yep. My sister has been dealing with a recent bout of bad back pain, tingling, numbness & blisters on her hand & fingers. Her boss thinks she has shingles, her doctor says she’s not. She got relief from a steroid prescription, but who’s to say what’s next. All I know is, I’ve heard how painful & serious shingles can be.
When I arrived at Lincoln Barbershop, I was surprised to see their red & blue striped pole rotating out front. Yes! Their door was propped open with a sign “YES WE ARE FINALLY OPEN”. I peeked in, saw my barber Rose and her sister Angie cutting two men’s hair. Rose said “Dougie Fresh! Look at your hair!” I reminded her the last time I was here was Valentine’s Day. She said “Well, I have good news, and bad news.” I said to give me the bad news first.
She said “We’ve had to raise our price to 20.00.”
Ouch—well, they’ve been charging $14.00 since 2009, so I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. I asked “What’s the good news?”
She said “We only cut by appointment now… isn’t that what you’ve been asking for years? My next opening isn’t until Wednesday at 11am. But if you wait 30 minutes, I can do yours next as my noon just cancelled.” I wanted to hug her.
(Here’s the shop, and that’s me up above, right after coming home from my first haircut in 4 months.)
I gave Rose a big tip, said I’d see her again in 4 months (I was kidding) and crossed the street to Rite-Aid. I ran into Jim, my 70 year old neighbor from my old apartment building. He asked what I was up to. I told him about the shingles vaccine.
He told me I was a worrywart, and I told HIM that 1 out of 3 people age 55 and over will get shingles if they’re not vaccinated. 1 out of 3! Jim said I should focus on getting my jaw straight again, but added my haircut looked nice. Thanks Jim.
I did get the first shot (you get 2, spaced a couple months apart). When I asked how much it cost, they said zero, as long as I had health insurance. The pharmacist warned me that for older people (55 and over), Shingrix sometimes came with some “pretty adverse effects”. HE WASN’T KIDDING.
Around 2am, I awoke with a start. shivering very hard all over. I checked my thermostat, it was 72F in here. What the heck? I awoke again a few hours later, every muscle in my body aching and feverish. I took my termperature, 101.3.
My first thought was I caught the coronavirus—I could barely lift my head off the pillow. Then I googled Shingrix, and learned the flu-lke symptoms are pretty common and can typically last 1-3 days. I spent the entire Sunday in bed.
At least I’m halfway there to not having to worry about those awful shingles in the future, and wound up with a great haircut too. I just hope my sister is okay.
Congrats on the cool haircut. That has to be a relief. I'm still waiting. Bummer on the awful reaction to the shingles shot. That doesn't seem fair. Still, I have had shingles and you don't want to go there. Sure hope the reaction eases soon though.
ReplyDeletePatti, thanks so much for the kind words--you've been on my mind since I read your brief blog this morning, I sure hope you get that awful toothache taken care of soon. Those are the WORST--period. And wow, you've had shingles? Thanks for sharing that, I'm glad I went thru with that vaccine now (still fighting off it's effects, darn it.) Sure hope we hear from you soon.
DeleteI had the original Shingles vaccine, the one that is 50% effective. It cost $17 because it was not covered by insurance. This was years ago. Now, there is a better Shingles vaccine which is 95% effective in 2 doses. But it costs over $200 co-pay after the insurance company pays $40. I might end up getting it, though I would not want those side effects, either.
ReplyDeleteGigi, you are well-informed! Everything you said is EXACTLY right (and what I shared with my sister last night). Yes I went with the 95% effective 2 shot vaccine. I just wonder why mine had no copay, nothing? My sister's husband was going to get it a couple years ago, they wanted $600.00. I think he should check again.
DeleteNothing cheers a fellow up like a good grooming, huh? You were wise to get the shingles shot. My nephew said his bout of shingles was so painful that he considered doing himself in. Sure hope your sister gets correctly diagnosed and treated for her mystery affliction.
ReplyDeleteFlorence, my gosh you said it. I wish I'd taken a "before" pic, I looked like Bobby Goldsboro circa 1970! Thanks for the good wishes about my sister, and I'm so sorry about your nephew, but YES I read that others considered the same because of the pain. Scary stuff.
DeleteShingles is no joke! My bout was in 2006 and I still remember the pain. Worst pain ever. A month of quarantine and then scabbing.
ReplyDeleteMy husband needs a haircut desperately. Gr-daughters have threatened to braid it soon. He has a massive head of hair.
My gosh, another shingles survivor--I sure am sorry Susan, but I appreciate you sharing. And I hope your husband gets that cut soon!
DeleteYou look very nice, Doug! She did a lovely job. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI got the Shingles shot as soon as I hit 60. My mother had shingles and she said the pain was so great, no one can understand how awful it is until they’ve had it. She still can’t wear a bra because the nerve endings are sensitive on her chest. My daughter got it near her eye when she was about 28. My husband had it when he was in college! With all that going on.... I couldn’t wait to get the shot. The army hospital won’t give it to you until you’re 60. When the Shingrix shot came out and said it would give you 90% protection, I was first in line for that too. Art and I got it at the same time and we both got lethargic for a couple of days. We didn’t expect that. But by the 4th day we were back to normal energy levels. When we got the 2nd shot, we were expecting to get hit by that same tiredness, but this time nothing. We didn’t get affected at all. Weird. I hope the coronavirus vaccine will the the same.
Kay, my gosh I sure was sorry to read about your daughter, Art & your mom... (I did read that about the pain, ugh how scary.) But thank you for sharing your Shingriz story, ever since that first shot I've been wondering how the second injection will be, I hope mine is the same as yours & Art. What a strange thing shingles is.
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