The doctor suggested I get a shot for tetanus. This was after several weeks of "fixing" my newly arthritic knee with a cortisone/steroid shot. I had heard rumors about tetanus shots, but I couldn't remember when I last got one. Oh, sure, go for it, I said.
After the nurse pricked me with the needle, I told her, "Oh, that's not so bad." She smiled. Did she smile because I was complimenting her, or because she knew the pain that would follow?
Tetanus is a musculature injection. That upper arm ached for several days afterward. In fact, a full week later, I still have a bruise.
In spite of the knee injection, which hurt in a different way, and the tetanus shot, I asked for another shot, if you can believe that: an injection against shingles. The medical term for it is Zostavaccine, otherwise known as Zostavax.
I had read about it in one of the pricey medical newsletters I get - but if I can get the shot, that newsletter will have paid for itself. Unfortunately, my clinic, Lifelong, did not have it, and did not expect to get it. So, they gave me a prescription. I knew it would be hard to fill.
I've gone to my regular got-to-have-it-now pharmacy, Long's, and she immediately knew they didn't have it. I called in to my mail-order pharmacy, CVS, and they said they don't send that to individuals. Hmmm....
I will pursue this next week. I'll probably have to try the larger spots like Wal-Mart. One friend on Facebook suggested I try Sav-On drugs, as she had hers administered there....but in Nevada.
My partner had shingles. My son had shingles just last year. My father had shingles, which made the last years of his life terribly painful. I'll keep trying.
Posts
