Turning 50: The Shingles Vaccine

Yesterday I faced the stark reality, that I’ve truly turned 50 in December. With the number 50 comes a reality that you really are over the hill. Now I am not going to argue about how far down the hill I am at right. Oh, my health struggles are my struggles and they’re different for everyone. What I want to talk about is the benchmarks all of us have to hit when we turn 50. No, I am not going to dive in to procedures like colonoscopies or bone density tests. Fun fact, while I was told to wait till 50 to get my first colonoscopy, it turns out the age standard changed in the past few years. Now doctors are recommending screening for men to start at 45. Why you ask, I’m not a doctor and I am not pretending to know why. I just do what I am told, because I don’t want to be “would a, should a” person.

That said, I am a strong advocate, if you have insurance, do a yearly physical. My reasoning for seeing my GP at least once a year for physical, which in all honesty is more like 4-5 times a year, is not because he is easy on the eyes. It’s because I grew up with parents who didn’t always put their health first before their family. My siblings and I can count past 10 fingers the number of holidays and family celebration days, we spent visiting a hospital. It’s not fun. My lesson learned, if you are not going to live a life working out every day and eating responsibly, then you need to have honest conversations about your health with your doctor.

I digress, sorry! Back to the topic at hand. The one homework item you need to be aware and take seriously when turning 50, are vaccines. Yes, the hot topic in the media or “culture war”, another term we are going to watch get butchered and mis-used in politics and religion. I am not here to argue vaccines are safe or dangerous, okay, maybe I am a little. What I want to point out, while laying on the couch, taking the photo I posted on this post. Is vaccines are about protecting not only yourself, but you family, your friends, the people you walk by at the grocery store or even the people you are sitting next to on a plane.

Now vaccines suck! I will admit that I have a reaction to almost every vaccine I’ve ever taken. From my days as a infant, to a teen and into  adulthood. I always complained about how uncomfortable or painful my joints are. In 2008, before our oldest was born, my spouse and I had just gotten a series of vaccinations in prep for her arrival. While he went to work the next day, I was supposed to see my parents, instead I was in bed. Two days after getting the shots my parents decided to take a drive down to check on me instead. After making them lunch, I shared my joint pain from the shots, and my dad and mother both remembered me complaining about joint pain a day after me getting my vaccine shots, each was at a separate age. That’s when I realized that my genetic reaction to the shots were key, the reason why, my mother complained of the same discomforts when she got the shots.

This genetic link is very important to this post. Before we touch on that, I know some people want want to jump on autism bandwagon and preach to me or the world about the science involved. My take on this narrative is always brush up on your reading. It’s very easy to pick data or celebrity comments to back up a statement that vaccines cause autism. My go to response when parents or anyone speaks in such manner. “Before we talk about vaccines. Have you bothered to do genetic testing to determine if you carry one of the 200-1000 genes connected to various levels of autism?” And before you tell me, there is no such thing, the Autism Spectrum Disorders Panel is a simple blood test that scans at least 75 genes linked to autism. How do I know this, we had to do this panel back in 2008 and in 2010 when we started our IVF adventure. Why is this important, studies have shown that at least 80% of children diagnosed with autism, have at least one biological parent who carries a gene that triggered the mutation for autism. Now before you say well that leaves 20%. Keep in mind, that remaining 20% is fractured into various alternative causes. Vaccines is still debated, because studies still haven’t proven definitively vaccines are a culprit to the autism mutation. So technically they really don’t hold a place in that 20%.

Regardless of the 20%, the whole reason why vaccines were first developed in the Ottoman Empire in the early 18th century was to combat the spread of smallpox. The practice of vaccination would continue to flourish for other outbreaks in thousands of communities throughout history. Now yes, people are genetically prone, like me to have adverse reactions to vaccines. This was heavily present during the COVID pandemic, when I took my mother to all four of her vaccine shots. The next 24 hours was filled with symptoms for her and I, usually under the same roof, to help monitor my mothers declining health. Meanwhile my spouse and  two of my children didn’t have any reaction other than sour arms. That said, those vaccines shots I attribute to my mother’s unicorn status being iron clad till the day she passed away in late 2022.

While the world was shutting down in March of 2020. My mother had already battled cancer, and recovered from CHF, which resulted from her chemo treatments. Although she had 8 years of good heart health thanks to a medication treatment. The combination of depression, and not staying active caused a relapse of her CHF. By April 2020 she would enter into a quarantined hospital for a few day to get help in recovering from her CHF. For the next 2 1/2 years my mosther struggled with her CHF, which resulted in 12 hospitalizations. On average she stayed between 2-30 days in a hospital and after 8 of those hospitalizations she recovered in a rehab facility, convalescing anywhere from 10 days to almost two months. In 2021 alone, I had calculated she had spent just over 4 months living at home. Which means she was in and out of hospitals and rehabs just over 7 months in that one year. Where am I going with this, in all that time. My mother never contracted COVID during her stay. She probably tested over 100 times during this two and half year period. We even had her testing at home when symptoms would arise. So between the amazing work healthcare did in caring for patients and providing a safe environment. And the vaccines my mother received starting in December 2020. She managed to escape the dreaded COVID virus.

Why am I sitting on the couch? Well, during first physical after turning 50. It was time for me to get my shingles shot. Like clockwork, my usual symptoms arose. And I turned into a moody baby, that my husband has to take care of. He truly is a saint. He wants to move the moon for me. I just want to be left alone power through the symptoms. I am such a Sagittarius! Shingles is no joke. I’ve seen grown adults get shingles. And it’s such a painful and debilitating virus. Like cancer, I wish it on no one. With the wars being waged online about the measles vaccine right now. It’s important to talk about the need for vaccines. The measles vaccine nearly almost eradicated the virus. Unfortunately, there are people with cult like tendencies, who believe their beliefs or knowledge is far more superior than science or even common sense. This along with the power of celebrity in our culture, has created ticking time bombs such as measles outbreak.

I don’t get vaccinated because of have to, I’ve always done it because I am well aware there are people around me, who benefit from people be responsible about their health and others. Because they might have a medical condition that make them more susceptible to viruses and diseases. That’s why I put up with the borage of symptoms that I get after getting vaccine shots. I know my mother felt the same way. She also, had a close friend who was very susceptible to viruses. I guess you can say I took her lead growing up. No matter the reason, vaccines save lives that you only may cross your path for less than minute. In that minute, people run the risk of catching something that will send them down into the spiral of health challenges. Be mindful of your vaccinations. With the measles outbreak, it had us rechecking all our vaccination as a family. As a result, Clem and I were sure that we got a measles booster during our vaccine updates in 2008 or 2012. Sadly my hunt was not a success. Instead we are getting the measles antibody test done, to see if our childhood shots are still good enough. Right now the AMA quote the effective antibody response for vaccines given in the 60’s and 70’s at 95%. But we only received one shot based on our childhood vaccine cards. So better to know more about how our bodies will potentially reactive to this outbreak.