Nurse Maisie and Getting My Shingles Vaccination

A day of rest after my shingles vaccination.Nurse Maisie and Getting a Shingles Shot

“Have you had your Shingles shot yet Mrs. Fisher?” asked Dr. Ortiz.

That was one of the first questions my new primary care doctor asked me at my appointment.  I had not, and she instructed me to get the first dose while up in Michigan this summer.  Thank heavens I had Nurse Maisie around when I got my first shingles vaccination.

Photo courtesy of Six

I did some research before getting the vaccination.  Not only can a case of shingles be painful, it can lead to many types of illnesses.  My doctor mentioned that shingles might lead to Alzheimers.

According to the CDC, ‘shingles can lead to serious complications’ including long term nerve pain.  A recent Harvard study also found that getting shingles can lead to a higher risk of long-term dementia. 

Getting the vaccination is an easy way to prevent shingles and other potentially serious complications.

I am terrified at the thought of having dementia or Alzheimers.  I have friends who had loved ones with the disease and it racked these families with pain and heartbreak watching their family member's decline. 

When they forget who we are.

My step-mother also died of complications from Alzheimer’s and it nearly killed my father trying to care for her. She didn't want anyone near her except for Dad and she sometimes wandered.

So, this past Friday, I was making a number of doctor appointments for the fall on the phone. I decided to get the vaccine that evening.  Friends said that Friday is a great day to schedule your shingles vaccinations. 

The two series vaccine can cause severe cold like symptoms for many people.  While I didn’t have much of a problem with Covid vaccines, too many friends warned me what a punch the shingles shots pack.

With no big activities on my weekend calendar, I decded to get my first dose of the vaccination and headed to Walgreens that evening.  My arm hurt at the injection site, but I felt otherwise fine. 

Around midnight Friday was a different story, and Saturday wasn’t any better.  I was achy and exhausted and had no appetite.  I tried to participate in a local celebration Saturday, but after one hour, I was wiped out.

Luckily, Nurse Maisie was ready and waiting for me when I returned to bed.  Maisie is my nurturing Welsh terrier. 

Nurse Maisie

She bathes and bosses Winston, her brother, around daily and has done so since we got him.  At 7 years old, he knows better than to express displeasure when she aggressively licks him. While never a mother herself, she sure knows how to care for her canine and human pack. 

Nurse Maisie reporting for duty.

Maisie pays particular attention when I am laid low.  Saturday morning, per usual, Maisie pushed the door open to the bedroom and jumped on the bed for a wake up kiss and scratch.  When she sensed no movement from me, she approached slowly and sniffed. 

The Nurse resting her head on my leg.

Winston watching from another room. Maisie is a solo caregiver.

After refusing to move a hand for her morning pet, she moved closer to my side, circled once, and fell into my hip.

I'm right here Mom.

And there she stayed until I got up for one hour.  When I returned to bed and climbed back under the covers, she returned to my side and never left.

Even a nurse like Maisie gets a nap break.

A long time ago, I had a big beautiful black cat named Bouche.  He was equally as good a nurse, minus the insistence on licking me. 

Dear sweet Bouche my feline nurse for 20 years.

Bouche could tell when I wasn’t well and would appear from nowhere to sit on the bed close to me.  He never slept near me otherwise.

Maisie at work.

If you have an animal that is nurturing, you know how comforting this can be.  Though it will never take the place of a human being who brings soup

The human touch, courtesy of Wix.

and can take your temperature, the love a pet gives, is a different kind of chicken soup delivery mechanism.  If you are looking for pure devotion, there is nothing more comforting than the love of an animal.

Back on the trail with Maisie and Winston.

On Monday, I woke up feeling bright, chipper and, ready to start the week.  Maisie stepped out of her nursing role and returned to the bossy girl I so love.  She pushed the door open, leapt on the bed, and demanded a morning pet while she gave my face and neck the first bath of the morning.