Shots

Before Christmas break I decided it was finally time to catch up on some really important immunizations.  As a baby, I had a strange reaction to my second round of shots - I cried for two days straight but didn't have a fever or anything to indicate that I was sick, other than the totally uncharacteristic crying.  My mom decided that I would not get the rest of my shots to be safe.

I went and saw a doctor on campus and told her about how I reacted and how I'd really like to be immunized for certain things, especially meningitis.  She was extremely helpful and asked for any written information that I might have on my immunizations.  Unfortunately, when I went home my mom and I discovered that the only immunization record I had, a little yellow card, had been lost.  My mom wrote up a note about my reaction and what she could remember about my shots.

This morning I got a phone call from the doctor who is helping me figure out the entire situation.  She said that if I had experienced a fever or seizure as a reaction, then she wouldn't have been that worried.  Sounds weird, doesn't it?  Apparently those are common reactions and when you react like that, it's easier to figure everything out.  She then said that my reaction was very uncommon, so there is definitely cause for worry.  I have now been referred to a doctor at the McMaster hospital, who is the president of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.  Sounds fancy.  She's eventually going to contact me about her plans.

The first doctor guesses that this is what will happen: First I'll need a blood test to figure out if I am actually immune to anything from the baby shots because I never finished getting them all.  The blood test will also determine if I have developed a natural immunity to anything else.  I had no idea that could even happen.  Once they know what I'm susceptible to, they'll decide when and how to give me the shots that I want.  I'm most likely going to have to hang out at the McMaster hospital for a day in a "clean room" so they can monitor me after I'm given the shots.  Then I'll never get threatening letters in the mail again about not having certain shots!  Yay!

I'm really terrified about this blood test though.  I have a thing with veins.  I haven't had a blood test since I was two years old, and I still remember it being terrifying.  It's a really unreasonable fear, though.  Ugh, I feel queasy just thinking about it.

The Last Little Bit...

A few days after I got back to school, I had an anxiety attack. I've never had this before. It was scary. I was having this intense chest pain that would not go away. The on-campus emergency team was called up to my room, and they told me that they couldn't find anything wrong. For some reason, right after they left, I had about an hour of relief. That was around 6:00am - the first sleep I had all night. But then it woke me up again, and it was worse. I went to the clinc, where a nurse couldn't find anything wrong with me that could cause the pain, just like the other people. She started asking how "other" things were, and I couldn't help but cry. She told me that this type of pain was common with anxiety. The doctor looked at me and told me the same thing. I was then sent off to get an EKG (which told the nurse my heart was normal), and x-rays.

I've been trying to get in contact with this chaplain/counsellor that I've had recommended to me, but I haven't gotten a response from her. I suppose it's the alternative to those anti-depressents that there was talk of.

Last night my mom had a second allergic reaction to the anti-sezure medication, and it was worse. Erik took her to the emergency room. They gave her a ton of stuff through IV, I guess... I'm not entirely sure what happened. Erik had to go back around 2:00am to try to pick her up, but I guess that they weren't done with her. She came back a little after 6:00am by taxi. And then went to work. I wish she wouldn't do that. And I wish that I could be there to take care of her. I don't like that my little brother has to do things like this... he's still a kid and should be worried about getting his summative done and going to movies.

But on a happier note, my dad got Facebook. Everyone should add him so that he feels special. :)