This is very interesting. Thank you, all. Sincerely. I am going to do some more research on this before going to see my Rheumy. Finally, I get to put my MPH skills to use 
I always wonder how much of our medicine and treatments (and cautions) are based on good evidence and how much of it is to cover the doctor’s you-know-what. Unfortunate reality for the type of system we have here 
Here’s a very long CDC article about MMR, wherein it mainly cautions against the vaccine for folks who are HIV positive and bone marrow recipients.
I still get steroids. I wonder if this is the reason he cautioned me against it. (I haven’t read the whole thing- I just ctrl+F’ed for steroids after I saw that first line.)
ETA This is from my one medicine’s website:
From the article referenced in my earlier post:
Obviously, an immunocompromised individual should take their trusted doctor’s advice over anything else as individual circumstances (like Romani’s) can dictate other strategies.
I am learning a lot in these last few days.
Mr R is attempting to get his vax records now from his parents. I’d bet my last dime though that they didn’t keep track of it. He is concerned too about possibly bringing something home- especially since the whooping cough incident. (He has since gotten a Tdap booster though).
Our pediatrician kept our kids records for awhile. We haven’t seen him for over a decade, so the allergist whom we did see in the interim has the most current and accurate records. Unfortunately, she closed her office last year and I don’t think the records have been completely transferred to the docs we requested yet (she had a large practice).
Our kids had the usual childhood vaccines but not positive whether S got the menningitus or HPV vaccines–I’m guessing he didn’t. D did because she was still around & I made sure she got them. I also made sure both kids have had HepA & HepB vaccines. There sure are a lot of vaccines! Not sure when either had a booster of Tdap and whether it’s time to have another.
Just talked with my favorite pharmacist. He reassured me there is NO shedding of MMR that puts loved ones and housemates of vaccinated folks in danger. Just FYI. Valerie
S17 is having his pre-college physical next week. I am going to ask for a varicela titer to be done. He had the chicken pox at 8 months so he never had the shot. I wasn’t aware that children who had it very young may not develop enough immunity until I read it here. Better safe than sorry. If he needs the shot, I can get it for him before he goes away. If he doesn’t, that’s one more worry alleviated.
@HImom I am going to specifically ask about this again. I think he’s saying no because of the explicit warning that is on my orencia medication.
Now that there are outbreaks around here, maybe he’ll weigh that it’s worth the “risk.” 
@techmom99 I am in no way certain of that early chicken pox thing… it’s just something that I thought I read. Either way, the tither sounds like a good idea. Good luck!
For grad school, D had to have blood work done to show immunity to chicken pox since we didn’t have doctor verifying. When the doctors office put all their shot records online, nurse asked us about it but we had no proof other than they wrote a prescription for anti-itch medicine for younger D (and photos/pox mark on cheek) - but you didn’t bring kids in for chicken pox with no complications, you stayed at home! Hence the blood test down the road, which of course showed she had immunity. What a pain but now we have proof.
Both Ds got chicken pox a week apart - the following month (literally) the vaccine came out!
The pharmacist was pretty clear that it does NOT pose a risk to others, which is consistent with the CDC article I posted. It’s best to run pro va con of vaccinating your spouse and housemate past your prescribing doctor, of course.
I was surprised to learn from my pharmacist that most in HI in the mumps outbreak had it previously. I didn’t bother getting the títere, I just got the MMR. When they did a MMR títere of my vaccinated D last year, her levels were low, so she got a booster. I suspect I and my kids and H do not have robust immune systems, so we are more likely to benefit from boosters anyway.
I found out during my second pregnancy that I had inconclusive measles immunity on a blood titer. The next month, there was a major epidemic and I had to get my first child vaccinated on his first birthday - 3 months before they recommend. I couldn’t get the vaccine myself until I gave birth so I was really worried those months since I commuted into Manhattan, where the disease was widespread. That’s why I have no problem getting a titer for S17 and he will get the shot if needs be.
@techmom99 I’m so sorry you went through that. Too scary
Absolutely better safe than sorry! No reason to risk anything since it’s such a simple blood test.
Well, we have 89 mumps cases now – the total rose 10% since the other day. I’m glad I got a booster.
My husband is an internist and had a bone marrow transplant the day before Thanksgiving. He can start getting re-vaccinated next fall. He stayed out of work until almost April because of the late flu season.
Every case of mumps I hear about equally scares me and makes me angry.
@Mom24boys I’m so sorry. I understand the fear and it’s nothing any of us should have to go through on top of all the medical things.
D1 had all her vaccinations on schedule. This past fall she was required to have a HepB and chickenpox blood draw when she started a new job at a short-term rehab care facility. Imagine our surprise when both came back negative! She requested another draw at a different lab and the results were the same. She had a severe case of chickenpox at 7 months and the hepB series starting at birth. So she had to begin the HepB series again and have a chickenpox vaccine. I also asked her to get a MMR titer to see what happened with that series; it came back weak, but immune. She opted to have that one again.
She is not required to have anything rechecked; if she doesn’t seroconvert, a third series is considered ineffective.
I have some questions concerning chickenpox / shingles immunity.
Can it be assumed that if a person has had shingles, he would be immune from getting chickenpox?
If you get the CP vaccine, will you also eventually need to get the shingles vaccine to protect against shingles?
If a person’s titer for CP comes back negative, would the shingles vaccine be pointless? If so, would it be wise to do the CP titer before getting the shingles vaccine in order to determine if you should actually be getting the CP vaccine?
H and I had chickenpox back in the day. Both of us got shingles and have also gotten the shingles vaccine. As soon as D is old enough, she’s planning to get the shingles vaccine. She’s had chickenpox and shingles as well. All 3 of our shingles incidents were separate months to years apart and no one got it from another household member.
None of us got títer tests before or after vaccines.
Well, you can’t get shingles from someone with shingles. People with no immunity to chicken pox, however, can get chicken pox from someone with shingles.