Vaccines!

So, Tuesday was the big day:  the day of my vaccinations!

Vaccines are viruses and bacterias (either dead or alive) that doctors put in your body. When they are put in your body, your immune system attacks the disease, kills it, and then keeps a "memory" of it. Then, if your body ever runs into that kind of illness again, it can easily attack and kill it. 

 I don't like the idea of getting tons of vaccines,  but people who don't have them run the risk of getting sick, especially overseas. Whenever a person goes to a new country, they need to be vaccinated so that they do not catch diseases that are common in the other country, or worse, carry them home and give them to other people.

So, today I drove to the Family Medicine Clinic at St. Peter's Providence Hospital.
I got a little lost, so I was about 7 minutes late. I walked as quickly as I could towards the building.

I checked the sign: Yep, St. Peter Family Medicine. That's where they have the Travel Clinic.

Late or not,  I still got there in time to fill out all my paperwork.

After my paperwork was done, I was called into an examination room, where the nurse (whose name I have unfortunately forgotten, but she was very nice) asked me some questions.

I look thrilled to be here. That's because I haven't had any shots yet!


A few minutes later, two doctors,  Dr. Samantha and Dr. Angus came in to talk to me. Dr. Angus is an intern, which means he finished medical school, but has to do some practicing before he can be a doctor all by himself.  Dr. Angus was pretty cute, and he had an accent! Angus is a Scottish name, and he definitely sounded British.

Dr. Angus told me all about the possible dangers of visiting India, and he, Dr. Samantha, and I talked about what vaccinations I should have.  We also talked about protecting myself from other diseases such as malaria and rabies. 

Dr. Angus told me that every day, after I put on my sunscreen, I should cover myself with DEET, which is insect repellent. (Bugs don't like it, and they will not bite you.) He suggested I use a product with about 35% DEET. The stuff I already have is not strong enough, so I'll have to buy another bottle. I'm going to buy 3M Ultrathon Insect Repellent 12 Lotion, as that's what the U.S. Military uses, and it has the best reviews of any DEET repellent I've found.

Dr. Angus also suggested I use a permethrin wash on my clothing, such as Sawyer Brand Permethrin Clothing Repellent , which you soak your clothes in, and then it's good for six washes. I don't know if I'm going to do this for a few reasons. First, permethrin is very poisonous, and there is evidence that it causes cancer in mice. I'm not a mouse, but I also don't want to risk it.  Plus I am only taking three outfits with me to India, all the rest of my clothes I am buying there, and they would not be treated. 

So, after we discussed what vaccines I needed, we decided I needed to be protected against Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Tetanus, Diptheria, Pertussis, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Typhoid.

Luckily it wasn't as bad as that sounds, as it only ended up being three shots and some pills.
Look at me getting a shot. Doesn't that look fun? It wasn't.

One shot was Measles-Mumps-Rubella. The next shot was diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis. The third shot was a blend of Hepatitis A and B. I need to get two more booster shots in the next six months or so in order to be fully protected, but I should be fine for this trip. 

Here the nurse gives me a shot in the other arm. We don't want to put it all in the same place. Wow, she got me right in the tattoo!

The docs also gave me a prescription for Malarone, an anti-Malaria drug. Malaria is a nasty disease spread by mosquitoes. The Malaria risk is actually pretty low this time of year in Chennai, but better safe than sorry.

Raja always takes his anti-malaria pills when he is in India, so I will, too.

This prescription is very expensive.The doctor told me it would be about $100.00.

Just as a side note, my grandpa got malaria in WWII when he was fighting in the Phillipines.

When I got home Tuesday night,  I took the first of my Typhoid vaccine pills. There are four, and I need to take one every other night.  So I took the second one tonight (Thursday), then the next one is on Saturday, then the last is on Monday.  I have to take it either two hours after eating or one hour before eating. I took it at 5:40 Monday, then ate dinner about an hour and a half later.Look at how happy this little capsule looks. That's because he is still alive!  Vivotif is a live vaccine. Live vaccines contain living microrganisms that have been grown in a lab. They are grown so they don't make you sick when you take them, but they are enough like the illness that you build up the antibodies to the disease.

Here is a close-up of the box, and the pill, and all that. The capsule is specially made so that it will not dissolve until it is in your small intestine. 

I took the pill out of the foil and got a big glass of water. You're supposed to take the pill with water. Here the pill is on my tongue. It didn't have a taste.

Then I drank down a whole glass of water. 

Yum, yum! Typhoid is delicious! (just kidding. Don't do this at home, kids.)

The first night, I created this schedule and checked off the first box, so I will remember to take it every other night.

After all was said and done, I became the proud possessor of this Lifetime Immunization Record, which I can carry with me to show I've had my shots. Oh, and that yellow thing is the invoice (that means the bill.) Insurance doesn't usually cover travel medicines, so the travel clinic always makes you pay up front, then ask your insurance company later if they'll pay you back for some of it. Down in the lower right hand corner is the damage... $382.00!! I had to pay them that much, and I had to have the shots.  It doesn't seem fair! 


To make matters worse, for the last few days I have felt woozy and feverish, with headaches, chills, and sweats as my body tries to build resistance to all these diseases. Both of my arms really hurt, especially my right shoulder. Yesterday I couldn't lift anything without wincing in pain. It was hard to sleep, because every time I turned over, I was going "ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!" 


But you know what? It's all going to be sooooooo worth it. I have no doubt in my mind.
Up next....Packing!


P.S. I know I mentioned before that I had some other mini-trips planned? I'll do a little post on that as well. 

P.P.S. Be good!