Vaccinations

Last Friday something frightening happened to me.

I received my first vaccinations.

Yes, I know immunizations are typical here in the United States and I'm sure all of you have had some in your life; but you see, my mother has always been wary of vaccinations and so none of her children received them until they left the country for missions or travel. Although ILP cannot recommend I receive any vaccinations, www.cdc.gov recommended that I guard against viruses with which I may come in contact while overseas.

I got a tetanus, HEP A, HEP B, and a MMR. The tetanus hurt like a bee sting and it's still bruised. Because of my mother's opposition to vaccinations (due to a negative reaction one of my brothers once had) I had preconceived notions about the side effects and reactions to getting malicious diseases injected into my body: I feared permanent paralysis, serious mental disabilities, and even death, to name a few. Also, my mother and the doctor neglected to tell me that a natural side effect of a tetanus shot is a heavy limp due to the disease being shot into my muscle. All that said, when my left arm began to feel like lead I began to imagine all the above reactions were happening to me.

And then my mom calmly said, "Oh, and the tetanus shot will make your arm heavy. So make sure to work it out for the rest of the day or you could get a Charley horse in it."

Ah, thank you, mother. Better late than never, right?

The only other side effects I experienced was slight disorientation. I'm usually absent minded but that day I honestly could not focus on anything; it was the strangest feeling. Normally, my mind wanders to other subjects, places, people, ideas. That day it just wandered...nowhere but everywhere all at once.

Needless to say, those close to me thought I was pretty hilarious. But, I'm still alive and disorientation and humiliation for a day is better than the 7 shots to my stomach I hear I'd have to get if I contracted tetanus.

It's just one more completed step toward China!