Shots

[smokingboot]

All right, wake wake wake and come back...

This project has eaten my head to the extent that I didn't realise I was running low on Letrozole. I wish they'd give me more than a month's supply at a time!

My body didn't respond well to that marker, but I feel better now. Today, hospital results, let's see how that thing is doing.

This being R's 50th birthday year, our intention was to go somewhere very special. The surgeon agreed that it would be better to do this before my procedures start, cos that'll be me stuck for a few months. It was going to be the Galapagos, but El Niño's peaking and let's face it, iguana skeletons, empty seas, and a sick wife are not great omens for one's golden year. So we have reverted to an earlier plan, Vietnam and Cambodia. And that means shots.

I am phobic of shots to the extent that even writing about them is difficult, but it's all discipline. I'm expecting the usual suspects; Hep A and B, Diptheria, Typhoid... what's the other one? Tetanus? But I have had the full course of tetanus treatments the NHS prescribes over a lifetime. Maybe I can skip it.

Ah but. The rabies shot. Eh, really? I gather it's a course rather than the one. Unpleasant.

So today I'll ask the surgeon if I need to check for adverse effects.

Yeesh.

Comments

[mallorys_camera]

Vietnam & Cambodia!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Omygosh!!!! YES!!!!

You will have such a fabulous time!

I don't know when the last time you got vaccinations was, but they're able to use much smaller gauge needles than they were able to use even a few years back, which should lessen the discomfort considerably. In the States, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis are typically given in one poke, so you might want to check on that—maybe if you're up on yr tetanus, you're also up on diphtheria & typhoid? Just a thought!

[conuly]

Rabies is a miserable disease, and if you get bitten by some very small animals, such as bats, you may not even realize you were bitten until it's too late. That's not how you want to die.

But I have had the full course of tetanus treatments the NHS prescribes over a lifetime.

...does the NHS not recommend that every adult get a tetanus booster ever ten years? In the US there is no "full course of tetanus boosters over a lifetime" - they don't stop giving you to the TDaP until you die.

[smokingboot]

You're right of course re Rabies. I hate it but it has to be done.

Re Tetanus, my last shot was probably about 7 years ago when I got bitten by a stray cat. They said that was my full five and that I should be all right unless something serious happened (bitten by horse, rusty saw through foot...) cos the vaccine decays but not much and not fast. But I wouldn't be surprised if they've changed that policy.

[smokingboot]

Do you remember when you suggested the culinary trip?

Maybe we can arrange something similar over the coming years, depending on what life and fate bring us ❤️❤️❤️

[conuly]

To be clear, rust doesn't cause or spread tetanus. The disease is endemic in the environment. I'm not sure why people associate it with rust in particular, but any large or dirty wound, especially a puncture wound, is very risky. (Even scratches are a risk if you're not vaccinated, though less of one.)

[mallorys_camera]

Yes, I remember. 😀

And I would love to go journeying afar with you & R!!!

[mallorys_camera]

The CDC says a tetanus shot protects for 10 years. That's the American policy, at least! But I can't imagine American tetanus is that different from UK tetanus. 😀

[asakiyume]

The rabies shots that you get prophylactically only buy you a little extra time to get to a hospital--where they still have to give you more shots! Still, definitely worth it (says I, who have a phobia of rabies!) I did get the prophylactic rabies shots, though, before I went to Timor-Leste. I was going way into the countryside, and if I did get bitten, I would have to travel for a day to get anywhere with a hospital that could give me the post exposure shots.

... As it turned out, I didn't get bitten--hurray! But I liked having that extra protection.

The shots were no worse than any other shots--it was three.

I would love to go to Cambodia--hope you enjoy yourself thoroughly!

[smokingboot]

Yes, 10 years is what's generally cited by the NHS.

[smokingboot]

Thank you!

Got to say, I love your adventuresome life!

I think due to time constraints, we'll be having a 2 shot treatment for rabies. Didn't know that it would only buy one more time! But in that kind of situation, as you say, extra protection is always welcome.

[smokingboot]

That's so interesting, thanks! I had no idea that Tetanus wasn't specifically connected to rust. I wonder where that came from?

[asakiyume]

Rabies really does terrify me, so I researched assiduously re: the vaccine. Here's the relevant information:

"PrEP[pre-exposure prophylaxis] doesn’t eliminate the need for additional treatment after rabies exposure. What it does eliminate is the need for post-exposure rabies immunoglobulin administration. It also decreases the number of post-exposure doses of vaccine needed. Rabies PrEP also may provide some protection if post-exposure rabies treatment is delayed or if rabies exposure goes unrecognized." (Source is a page from the American Veterinary Medical Association)