When I was in for my physical a few weeks ago the doctor recommended that -- along with my normal diagnostic bloodwork -- I get a shingles vaccine. "There's only about a 50/50 chance you have symptoms like fatigue, shivering, nausea, etc.," she tells me. Thanks but no thanks, I said. I'll clear my calendar before I go in for that one. 50/50 is non-trivial odds. Then I went home and told Mary and she informed me I had to get it because shingles suck so bad and supplies of the vaccine have been low at times. So I scheduled it for yesterday late in the day.
After I checked in at the doctor's office, the pleasant nurse took me in an examination room and was getting me ready for the shot. We were having a quick discussion of it and she told me that most people don't get sick from the shot but that most people were sore after getting it. I told her that I was highly susceptible to psychosomatic symptoms and she goes "Aren't most men?" We had a good laugh at that one.
The fact is, I am a little sore this morning but it's completely trivial compared to the day to day soreness I have continually from doing sports and exercising consistently, and particularly compared to the clearly tennis-related pain in my right shoulder, about which I really should have asked her. I had just been given a clean bill of health on the shoulder from my two office mates, each of whom has a PhD in some sort of science, one of whom is an athlete. It's not a rotator cuff injury, and I have plenty of range of motion. Still, I might have asked the actual medical professional in the room if I hadn't been fixated on the whole vaccine side effects question. Sigh.
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