My dear husband and resident man-of -teel broke down this fall and got his first flu shot in years. Actually, the hospital where he works was quite adamant that all employees get the shot or wear face masks into the foreseeable future. So Hiram chose the lesser of the two evils and bared his arm.
Since abandoning his armor-plated principals, he’s experienced the following:
A strange rash on his right shoulder and upper arm.
Twenty-four hours of chills and body aches followed by several days of feeling normal except for a low grade temp.
An internet-aided self-diagnosis of the strange rash as shingles.
A trip to the doctor confirming the diagnosis and an okay to return to work.
An admission of a burning sensation in the affected area if he thinks about it.
Even the doctor wasn’t sure if the flu symptoms and the shingles were separate or related incidents. And who knows if there’s any cause and effect between the flu shot, the flu symptoms and shingles?
But much bigger questions remain to be answered in the future:
Will Hiram get the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available?
Will he get the shingles vaccine at age 60?
And after seeing her man of steel suffer, will this woman of aluminum get either flu vaccine when they’re finally available at the clinic?
I’m not making any predictions. To find out, you’ll have to stay tuned for the next exciting episode….
