Wow! Am I new at this, or what?! So here’s what happened —
On Monday night I was going through the CDC, WHO and Embassy of Tanzania web sites, gathering information about the health precautions that I would need to take before, during and after my trip to TZ. I was going to a “travel doctor appointment” (sounds cute, doesn’t it?) on Tuesday and I wanted to be prepared with as much information as possible. Now I wrote this post, “A very scared Dr. Trot,” in the middle of a medium-sized freak out as I was trying to process the rather large volume of frightening information that I’d gathered.
Well after my appointment on Tuesday, I thought I’d update you on what had happened. Most importantly, that I had survived! My intention was to copy the prior post into a new one, editing the list of nasty topics 1-10 that I had highlighted the night before with the actions we had decided to take. In contrast, what I actually did was edit the original post, effectively deleting it and replacing it with my, now out of context, survival story! Big booboo Dr. Trot! 😦 Having realized my mistake, let me put things back in context for you with just a brief explanation of that terrifying info gathering session…
So, on Monday night I diligently went though each website, CDC, WHO and Embassy of TZ, taking notes like the anal nerd very normal person that I am. As I went, I became more and more and more and more concerned about WTF I was getting myself into! Seriously, it was like it would never end! Here is the list I generated of crazy shit that can kill me and the corresponding unpleasant preventative action that I thought I would have to take…
1. Routine vaccinations:
a. MMR – check
b. DPT – check
c. Polio – need a booster?
d. Seasonal flu – REALLY? Dr. Trot does NOT like the seasonal flu vaccine. Not here, not in TZ. I do not see the point of injecting myself with live (albeit attenuated) virus that some quacks at the CDC have decided to be the most likely that we will see this flu season.
2. Hep A & B vaccinations – need A (I think), got B in high school
3. Typhoid vaccination – need
4. Yellow fever vaccination – need
5. Rabies vaccination – need?
6. Anti-malaria drugs – need atovaquone-proguanile? And I need to take from 2 days prior to departure through 4 weeks after I return?!
7. Dengue fever – ?
8. Cholera – ?
9. Tetanus – got it already
10. Meningitis – need?
Holy god! Right?! That’s a lot of really nasty illnesses and 7 vaccinations! Seriously?! This little “travel doctor appointment” was sounding far from cute at this point! I was thinking that honestly, these people have got to be sadists! There was no other explanation! A girl has only two shoulders and two butt cheeks! Where the hell are these seven vaccinations going to go? And so the freak out began and the original post.
I hope “3 slices of cake and a new piece of jewelry” makes a bit more sense now and I hope I’ve learned my lesson on NOT editing out previous posts!
DrTrot 