Shot
This week I kept getting poked with needles!
The first one was a test for TB. This is where you get a protein injected in your arm. It cause a slight bubble under your skin. The bubble disappears. The immunizers come back a few days later to check to see if you have a bump. If you do, you may be carrying TB. Fortunately, I'm not.
The entire school got tested for TB. This makes sense because there is a history in Canada of whole native villages getting wiped out by TB. But that was before penicillin ...
My next needle was for a flu shot. I've never gotten one of those before. But I thought, what the heck. It was free and it was happening in the school. I haven't had the flu in years but as a teacher you get exposed to these things all the time. And I don't know about you, but I hate barfing. Hence, why I hate getting the flu. Hence, why I got the flu shot.
The one that hurt the most was the flu shot. My arm still hurts. Ouch!
The first one was a test for TB. This is where you get a protein injected in your arm. It cause a slight bubble under your skin. The bubble disappears. The immunizers come back a few days later to check to see if you have a bump. If you do, you may be carrying TB. Fortunately, I'm not.
The entire school got tested for TB. This makes sense because there is a history in Canada of whole native villages getting wiped out by TB. But that was before penicillin ...
My next needle was for a flu shot. I've never gotten one of those before. But I thought, what the heck. It was free and it was happening in the school. I haven't had the flu in years but as a teacher you get exposed to these things all the time. And I don't know about you, but I hate barfing. Hence, why I hate getting the flu. Hence, why I got the flu shot.
The one that hurt the most was the flu shot. My arm still hurts. Ouch!
posted by Small Town Teacher @ 6:04 PM
2 Comments:
At November 18, 2006 1:56 PM,
Vancouver Island Mommy said…
Okay, here comes the nursey stuff, straight from your big sis. Firstly, today's strains of TB are very hardy bugs; penicillin won't touch 'em. In fact, if you had TB you would be taking a combination of heavy-duty antibiotics for up to a year!
Secondly, the flu that the shot protects from is influenza; this is quite different from the "stomach flu" which is often a mild case of food poisoning. This flu is similar to a cold but you usually get much sicker (i.e. you're in bed for a few days at least) and it lasts much longer. If you've been sick with a fever, chills, and fatigue and it's taken a couple of weeks to feel like yourself, you've had the flu.
For the future is a tip from yours truly; get your shots in your right arm. It hurts less over time if you move the arm around, and you tend to not favor your dominant arm the same way you favor your non-dominant arm. This is especially true if you have to get your tetanus shot (if you haven't had one since junior high you're way overdue), because that one hurt like a sonofabitch.
Okay, I will now take off my nurse's hat.
At November 18, 2006 4:23 PM,
Small Town Teacher said…
See, this is why everyone needs a nurse for a big sister!
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