Doctor talk

On Wednesday, as long as I was at the doctor's office, I decided to get my shingles vaccine.  See, when you had that case of chicken pox back in the 2nd grade, you got over the symptoms, but the virus took up residence in your nerves, hiding behind the tangles of synapses, playing poker with the cold sore virus while they waited to mature.  Herpes simplex can re-errupt as a cold sore, or as sores on other moist, tender parts.  And chicken pox can come back as shingles - a burning, itching, torment that can, at worst, cause permanent nerve damage.  (The old myth that, if the shingles that appear on your waist get so bad that they completely encircle you, you will die, is not true.  It happened to my mom, and she lived another 50 years.)

Having observed this burning, itching torment, I decided to avoid it if possible. I was a grownup and got my shot.  Of course, I studied all the possible side effects first, but I forgot that they would couch it in doctor talk.

You know, when you are having a pelvic exam, and the doc says, "You may feel a twinge," and the next thing you know, you have tears rolling down your face and there are dents where your hands were clenching the sides of the cold metal table?  Twinge.  Right.

Or, during the colonoscopy, he says, , "You may experience some discomfort." And then you would scream like a little girl if only you could get enough breath?  Discomfort.  exactly.

So the possible reactions to a shingles vaccine include ". . .some temporary reddening and itching at the injection site."  This swollen, hot, tender spot about the size of a demitasse saucer and red as an aroused babboon's butt - this locus for a desire to grab the steel brush off the grill and SCRUB, this sensation that has gone on for 35 hours now, is a "temporary reddening and itching."  At least I didn't get the ". . .giant hives, throat swelling shut, and fever of 103."  If they say THAT in doctor talk, what must it really be like?

When my mom had shingles, the doctor came to our house twice a day for a week and gave her a shot to keep her sedated. Since I'm just experiencing "mild discomfort" I get by with hot packs (to short out all sensation in the area!) and focusing on other things.  I am listening to Terry Pratchet's book, "I Shall Wear Midnight" and sewing.  Pictures soon.