Shots!

As you may know, I have a major issue with needles. Shots, blood drawing, IVs - you name it. When I had to get an IV to have my wisdom teeth out the doctor had to give me Valium to get it in. Every time I have blood drawn I pass out. My doc in LA (love him) tells me that this isn't necessarily all in my head. Its a self preservation mechanism. Like if a tiger was chewing your leg off, you probably wouldn't want to be awake for that, right? While hopefully I won't have to test that theory in Africa, I appreciate the sentiment. At least I know I'm not crazy.

Anyway, today my mom and I went down to the County Health Department to get all of the vaccinations we need to travel. The ladies down there were fantastic - super friendly and knowledgeable, and there was no wait. All in a pretty painless experience. Oh yeah, except for those nasty shots!

On the shot menu today was:

Yellow Fever

Hep A

Hep B

Polio

Tetnus

We also got a round of Typhoid vaccine pills that we have to take. We'll start those in a couple weeks. Apparently you have to take them on a completely empty stomach and then not eat for a hour, but the downside is that they can make you REALLY nauseous. So more fun to look forward to! In the mean time my arms are just SO sore. It feels like I got punched really hard. My left arm hurts more than my right - thats the one that they put the big dog stuff in like Yellow Fever and Hep.

Oh well, its all worth it. And the great news is that all of this stuff lasts at least five years, so I can go on lots more adventures without having to get all these nasty shots again! Yay!