Tetanus shot
Easiest shot I've ever had! I didn't even feel the usual prick, and it doesn't look like it bled!
People always freak out when you tell them you have a doctor’s appointment. They look at me incredulously when I tell them that I’m not sick. I just schedule regular check-ups and other routine maintenance. I don’t really understand why nobody (especially if you have insurance!) else seems to be in the habit of doing this besides me. My co-pay is $20, which isn’t that hard to come by.
When I was 24, we moved our trailer to a lot 2 blocks over. Part of the process was removing the fence, which left post holes at the end of the sidewalk. As the sun went down, I made a misstep and put a foot down one of the holes. I rammed my shin into a sharp cement corner. I still have the crater shaped scar. I reported the problem to my doctor who asked me when I had my last tetanus shot. How should I know? She had my chart. After a little digging, she admitted that if I was on a normal schedule, I’d have received my last one at age 14, and that I should get a booster every ten years. It was right on ten years, so I got one. When I was a kid, I didn’t pay any attention to shots. I hated them. I didn’t know what kind I was getting, or how often I should go back for it. Nobody discussed that with me. This is the first time I’d been told anything about one since I had become an adult.
I turned 34 recently, so I went in for my tetanus booster shot. In ten years, the only other shot I’d had was for numbing purposes only. The internet tried to convince me that this was the shot that was going to hurt badly and leave a lump in my arm for days. In reality, the guy who did it was a pro! There is usually a pinching sensation that can range from uncomfortable to OUCH! I literally did not feel this one happen. He slipped it right between the nerves, I guess. Easiest shot ever! See ya in ten years!
Here’s the problem. Nobody is volunteering information about what other stuff I might be missing. If I hadn’t made this appointment based on something I found out by accident 10 years ago, no one was going to tell me. In fact, if I hadn’t gotten hurt ten years ago, I wouldn’t have gotten that one either. Where do I go to find out all the other things I’m not making doctor’s appointments for?
