Scattered Thoughts . . .

Back in May, I got my first of two Shingrix vaccinations in an effort to avoid developing Shingles.  Shingles, alone, is bad enough but an illness such as this would more than likely compound problems with my primary illness so I wanted to do whatever I could to avoid that situation.  The good news is that I had absolutely no reactions after my first shot other than a slightly sore arm for a day or two.  Other than the sore arm, I felt no different than any other day.   After the first shot, you are supposed to get a second vaccination within two to six months.  I did that a week ago and, honestly, didn't expect any difference in the way of side-effects or reactions since my first shot was so unremarkable.  I was wrong. I was told to expect flu-like symptoms...  that didn't really happen other than perhaps some initial body "aches".  The body aches very rapidly progressed to inflamed joints and inflamed nerves.  My joints felt like a red hot marble was injected

I just thought I'd write a quick update on Sheila's treatment problems.   After the ER visit a few weeks ago, Sheila's Oncology team decided that the significant symptoms she was experiencing were probably not due to her new treatment drug.  Since they were fairly certain that the treatment wasn't presenting these significant symptoms as side effects of the treatment drug, we came up with a plan to get back on the treatment plan and give it a shot again. Unfortunately, Sheila was back on this particular treatment drug only two days before one of the significant symptoms appeared again... and now it is only a week later and both of the significant symptoms that landed her in the ER are back again. At this point, we're both quite certain that these are actually side effects of her cancer treatment and they are far too severe to be tolerated for a long term treatment plan. Right now, these symptoms are more mild than the first time around but it is still only a m