Sorry to hear this and hope you recover soon. Incidentally, it wasn’t Dr Salk’s polio vaccine that left you with a circular scar. That scar came from the smallpox vaccine.
I have had shingles four times. The first was when I was in my 20s, and it came on during a week-long backpacking trip. It was across my torso. I didn't know it was shingles until I got back. The most recent time I got it was a month after the first shingrix injection (age 52). It was on my back and I assumed I had pulled a muscle or something until my wife noticed the red dots. I had to wait six more months to get the second shot. I don't think it's immune system related. I have no memory of getting chicken-pox (my parents didn't recall it either), but I wonder if it's like HPV; most of us have it in our bodies, but it only shows itself in painful physical form for some.
But it's your message of being grateful for the health you do have that stands out most for me. It's easy to shake our arthritic fists at aging and our parts not working as efficiently and easily as they once did. It's always good to be reminded that our bodies are rentals.
I hope to be in as good as shape as you when I'm 68! I better get back to the gym -- the pandemic ended my membership and then I figured I could do most of the same stuff at home. But there is something to be said for physically going to a gym to keep the practice focused.
So I will make an appointment to get the Shingrix vaccine. Thanks for the recommendation. What do we have if we loose our health? I know a couple of guys who have had this.
I hope you are pain free with no permanent damage soon, man. Thanks for this.
Oh Jeez Jim! Sorry to hear this! I, too, got shingles about 2 years ago. It NEVER crossed my mind that I could get something with such a silly name. I had been getting some pain in my upper back but I was also a massage therapist so these kinds of things come & go. I was at my chiropractor waiting in the room and decided to just have a looky-loo in the mirror and I was flabbergasted at the huge red spread across my back! My doc came in and said "yep, looks like you have Shingles". Sent me right to the doctor for a med that keeps it from getting worse and I think that altho it was painful for months it was no where near the pain/damage you have incurred. Maybe it was the early intervention. This was around the time of Covid vacs, boosters, etc. and when offered a Shingles shot I said no. I don't know if having it once decreases the change of recurrence but I may revisit getting the shot. It's something no one wants to encounter. I hope you get some encouraging help.
Sorry to hear this and hope you recover soon. Incidentally, it wasn’t Dr Salk’s polio vaccine that left you with a circular scar. That scar came from the smallpox vaccine.
My friend Jim, I am stunned.
Stunned and shocked to read of your painful suffering.
I am deeply sorry for all the distress
you have been going through.
It is awful, and it brings me to tears for you.
Thank you for telling us.
I am honored that you trust us, your readers, with the raw truth.
Thank you that you know we are here for you.
Yes, gratitude is the way forward to a renewed life!
Always!
And, I believe it is all about trust now.
Trust in God, trust in your doctors,
trust in your friends, trust in your body,
trust in your mind.
As far as your mind, I have good news:
While you cannot know for certain
if it is possible to recover completely from the physical damage from shingles,
I can assure you that it IS possible to recover completely
from the mental/emotional "damage" from this disease.
I use quotes because mental/emotional "damage" is NOT written in stone.
It is not permanent unless we identify with it and give it a lifelong home.
Instead of doing that, we must challenge ourselves to discard it,
deconstruct it, leave it out in the cold where it belongs!
We must ask: "Why would I want to play the victim of shingles
by embracing/succumbing to the idea
that I have been mentally/emotionally damaged???
When we stuff this banana peel question down our gas tank,
we disable the unconscious mental "damage" mechanism.
By doing so, we allow our emotional pain and trauma to heal.
Eventually we transcend it to the point that we become
mentally and emotionally stronger and healthier and yes even younger
than before the painful malady occurred.
I wager you have already previously experienced
this rather astounding transcendence.
And now, your mind is once again coming through the pain,
unscathed and triumphant, even as you write to us here,
like a ship built to withstand and sail through any storm.
I have had shingles four times. The first was when I was in my 20s, and it came on during a week-long backpacking trip. It was across my torso. I didn't know it was shingles until I got back. The most recent time I got it was a month after the first shingrix injection (age 52). It was on my back and I assumed I had pulled a muscle or something until my wife noticed the red dots. I had to wait six more months to get the second shot. I don't think it's immune system related. I have no memory of getting chicken-pox (my parents didn't recall it either), but I wonder if it's like HPV; most of us have it in our bodies, but it only shows itself in painful physical form for some.
But it's your message of being grateful for the health you do have that stands out most for me. It's easy to shake our arthritic fists at aging and our parts not working as efficiently and easily as they once did. It's always good to be reminded that our bodies are rentals.
I hope to be in as good as shape as you when I'm 68! I better get back to the gym -- the pandemic ended my membership and then I figured I could do most of the same stuff at home. But there is something to be said for physically going to a gym to keep the practice focused.
So I will make an appointment to get the Shingrix vaccine. Thanks for the recommendation. What do we have if we loose our health? I know a couple of guys who have had this.
I hope you are pain free with no permanent damage soon, man. Thanks for this.
Oh Jeez Jim! Sorry to hear this! I, too, got shingles about 2 years ago. It NEVER crossed my mind that I could get something with such a silly name. I had been getting some pain in my upper back but I was also a massage therapist so these kinds of things come & go. I was at my chiropractor waiting in the room and decided to just have a looky-loo in the mirror and I was flabbergasted at the huge red spread across my back! My doc came in and said "yep, looks like you have Shingles". Sent me right to the doctor for a med that keeps it from getting worse and I think that altho it was painful for months it was no where near the pain/damage you have incurred. Maybe it was the early intervention. This was around the time of Covid vacs, boosters, etc. and when offered a Shingles shot I said no. I don't know if having it once decreases the change of recurrence but I may revisit getting the shot. It's something no one wants to encounter. I hope you get some encouraging help.