I'm so sorry for this news!  I'm crying for all of you.  :(  hugs

Has Claire had Chicken Pox? Shingles isn't contagious unless you haven't had Chicken Pox.

If you can go and spend time with your Dad, that's what you need to do.  Sit and talk to him and tell him everything you ever wanted to say to him.   Hearing is the last sense to go, so in time when you think he can't hear you, he can.  So don't stop talking to him :)  And don't be afraid to tell him some jokes to make him laugh.  

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi