Claire & Christopher

One thing you need to know about my Dad is that he’s very active. In fact, fitter than me or fitter than most of my friends and family members. He’s on the move constantly. Always up and about. Yet he has had shingles twice¹.

The first time Dad had shingles, I was only about 8 or 9 years old. He thought it was some sort of rash, so he just left it alone, but after a while he discovered that it was getting very painful. So he went to see a doctor, who told him it was shingles. He got treatment and it took about one and a half weeks to clear.

When Dad had shingles for the second time around, he was in his 60's¹. And he came out one day, saying "Look, take a look at this," and there were rashes on his forehead and a little bit on his torso. He said that there was stinging pain², and I could feel that he was undergoing this pain because he did not wipe his face and wash. He would wake up a few times at night because of the pain on his forehead and body.

I was worried about him being homebound, not being able to participate in his daily activities. So I feel getting shingles affected my Dad, professionally and personally during the few weeks or so he had it. I could sense his frustration having to stay home for that couple of days. His energy level went down. He cut down on his physical activities because the perspiration would cause his body to feel uncomfortable. He avoided contact with people he loved, like his grandchildren, and his gatherings, because he was worried about passing on the virus to anyone else, anyone who had weakened immunity.