Nervous Nurse's Needles & The 2-for-1

I really don't have an issue with needles. I don't mind getting my blood drawn, and don't get nauseated at the sight of a syringe. Most of that ease comes with the idea that the person wielding the needle is a trained professional. That being said . . .

Thursday morning I was scheduled for Hep A & Tetanus boosters. I think the nurses drew straws to see who would have to poke me as they huddled around the vials in a tight circle. The unlucky nurse, looking nervous, brought in the two syringes. I did my best to alleviate her stress by pretending to be distracted by my cuticles or the chart of sport injuries on the wall. In other words, giving her room to do what she does without feeling the pressure of my eyes.

I vaguely remember the last tetanus booster I received. It was after I had been attacked by the neighbor's German Shepherd. The sensation was that of being punched in the arm over and over and over and over and over . . . and then a constant ache that didn't subside for 24 hours. I was prepared for the discomfort figuring that memory usually exaggerates, so it’d be a minor annoyance this time around.

Well the “Hep A” booster hit my arm like a ton of bricks in slow motion. Nervous Nurse took a couple practice line-ups to my arm after wiping it with not one but three alcohol pads. I thought she must’ve been mistaken, that she was probably giving me the Tetanus shot first, because from the moment the shot began the discomfort slid down my arm and into my neck. It hurt much worse than my memories had suggested it would.

As she prepped for the second shot, I used an alcohol pad to massage my arm. Damn that hurt, I thought. She hit me with the second shot, which managed to feel just as uncomfortable. At this point, I figured that in her nervous state she had perhaps hit a nerve since my elbow was tingling. Nothing can be done now, so just grin and bear it.

Friday was Alex’s turn, and when he returned from the doctor’s office he said, “I have some bad news”. There had been some confusion during my vaccinations the previous morning. They had accidentally given me Hep B instead of A, so I needed to go in Saturday morning for the intended shot (free of charge, of course). I was initially quite annoyed because my arm had a welt the size of a golf ball, was fiercely hot, and painful to the touch. However, Dr. Park is a very gentle man and it wasn’t as though they had intended to give me a freebie vaccination.

Booster shot reaction.

The moral of the story? Shit happens, but even shit can have a silver lining (please don’t paint that mental picture). Dr. Park gave me some free meds to deal with the swelling and was very apologetic. Though the Hep B was a pain in the ass, that shot completed my Hep B series . . . and completed it for free.

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