Thanks for all the welcomes and good wishes. Thankful to report that the meds are helping since the swelling and pain is considerably less this evening. And no, I never had the shot to prevent them since I never knew whether I had the chicken pox as a kid and my Mom couldn't remember either--I am 75 and she passed away last summer at almost 97---I am the oldest of 5 kids so there was a lot to remember thru the years. Our son had shingles on his face last month also but since he lives in Wi. and I haven't seen him, I can't blame him for giving them to me.