Shots

Have I ever mentioned that I hate needles? Because I do. So much so that I don't even give blood. I know this probably makes me a terrible person, but I can't stand them. This is one of the many reasons I have never gotten a tattoo and why it took me 24 years to get my ears pierced.

So imagine how I felt when I realized that traveling to Africa would mean, you guessed it, getting shots. After checking with the CDC I realized that I would need 3 vaccinations for my journey. Yellow Fever, Hep A, and Hep B shots. I went for my yellow fever shot a little over two weeks ago. Sit back and let me tell you the tale.

As I mentioned above I hate needles and I get extremely nervous whenever I have to get a shot. Knowing this I asked my friend Paige to go with me to get my shot. So Paige and I set out to the Health Department to get my first shot. I was only able to get the yellow fever because they were out of the others I needed. So we're patiently waiting for my number to be call (24 in case you were wondering). As we're sitting I started to get more and more fidgety. Paige finally looked at me and asked what was wrong. It was at this time that I informed her of my hatred of needles. Finally one of the nurses came up to me and handed me the info sheet on yellow fever. I began reading over the sheet out loud to Paige. When I started reading the possible side effects section (you know this could cause fever, headache, severe nerve damage, etc.) she ripped the sheet from my hands and told me to calm down. A couple minutes later the called my number. Paige asked if she needed to go back with me and I told her that I think I could be strong and do it alone.

So the nurse escorted me back to what looked like a regular office and sat me in a chair. She looked at me and asked if I was in any way pregnant. I told her "no" to which she responded, "are you sure?" Yeah lady I'm positive. 10 seconds later I was back out the door. The shot hurt just a tad. It was quite a pinch if you ask me. Then of course my arm burned a little bit afterward. But the important thing is I survived and didn't suffer from any random side effects.

Yay me!

Tomorrow afternoon I will venturing to the Health Department in Lewisville to get the rest of my shots. I'm not sure what to expect though. I looked into getting these shots at a couple of places and it seems that Hep A could possibly be a 2 shot series and the Hep B a 3 shots series. Ask me how excited I am about that.

45 days to go.

Countdown to Africa!

For those of you who may not know, in 50 days I'll be winging my way to Africa. That's right, I'm crossing the big blue ocean and going on what's sure to be the vacation of a lifetime. Granted, I've already been to some amazing places across the globe but what makes this trip stand out is that I'm making the journey there and back solo. I'm not gonna lie, that makes me really nervous. Sure I've traveled many a times but always with my family or a large group. It's safe to say though that my excitement outweighs my nervousness.

Some might wonder why I'm traveling to The Dark Continent. But if you know me at all (which if you read this blog you must because I doubt that I have a secret following for this thing made up of strangers) then you know it's to go and visit my best friend Sarah and her amazing husband Matt (that's them down below). They've been working in Sudan for the last year doing amazing things for Samaritan's Purse. Since they moved over there we've always talked about me going for a visit and that time is finally here. So, I thought it'd be fun to use the ol' blog to document things I'm doing to get ready for the trip.

As you can probably tell, if you're a dedicated reader, Insanity didn't work out so well. I think we lasted all of two weeks with that little venture. Oh well, I guess you could say it's better to have started and failed then to have not started at all.

Anyways, from now on I plan on updating you with all the little tidbits I feel like sharing as I prep for the longest vacation I've taken in awhile. Some fun things have already happened so I'll share those is other little blurbs.