I've just recovered from a bout of Shingles, which broke out about a month after my radiation was finished... and all of that following chemo. I know it's not earth shattering, but just when I was hoping to start feeling better, it was hard to go through something painful when it seemed like it could have been prevented by a vaccine. Now that I've read a little more about Shingles, it seems like it's something that is happening to a lot of people after chemo and radiation.

Are any doctors paying attention to this? Should all cancer patients be advised to get the Shingles vaccine before they go in for surgery? Would this allow enough time for the immune system to respond to the vaccine before chemo starts? For the patients who don't get chemo, wouldn't the vaccine be a good idea anyway?

I'm so sorry you had to face this after your treatments and Shingles are awful, I think they're associated with a lowered immune system so it would seem logical to me that an outbreak could follow cancer treatments but maybe the incidence is not high enough to give a warning to all cancer patients??

Tricia Keegan...From Ireland Dx July '05 IDC 3/9 nodes pos..triple positive..a/c x 4..Taxol/herceptin x 12
Herceptin 1yr ..rads x35 oophorectomy Aug '06
Currently taking Arimidex /Zometa 1 x yearly
Carepage- survivortricia

Funny that this should come up today. (not funny for you pspg) My doctor told me he wants me to get a shingles vaccine in a few months. I'll get the pneumonia one first and then a few weeks after that the shingles. So I guess some are but I'm sure some are still not. I'm sorry you had to deal with that after everything else. From what I understand they are extremely painful. My mother in law had some accupuncture to help with the pain after months of dealing with it. Take care!

Jeni Samples,45
Diagnosis: IDC, Stage 2, Grade 2, Triple Negative 7/15/11
Bilateral Mastectomy
Extensive family history, BRAC1+
4 A/C,4 Taxol done 12/7/11 
Hysterectomy 12/30/11, radiation finished 2/12

Shingles is a virus lives dormant in people who have had chicken pox. When the immune system is weakened the shingles can activate or reactivate itself. I had shingles about a year before I knew I had cancer and my dr. always wondered why I got it as I was not in age bracket for it, hmm..interesting...I wish you the best...hope you are felling better soon...

50 yrs, Rt breast lump found 4/12/09 during shower. 5/7/09 Organs, bones & head clean. 5/8/09Bilateral Mastectomy/ skin sparing surgery, implantation of skin expanders, removal 3 lymph nodes,one pos., tumors 1.5 cms x 0.8 cms & 0.8 cms x 1 cm, one tumor surprise, hidden. DX:Mixed Lobular and ductal adenoca. rt breast with badly defined borders.
Est. Pos. nuc. ( +/+++) Prog pos. nuc. intense ( +++/+++) Her2- non-amplified, KI-67 pos. less than 30%