Travel Vaccines - Tetanus and Hepatitis A

I'm one of those people who avoid doctors like the plague and haven't been to one in a long time. Prior to getting a physical last year to clear me for the Visian ICL surgery, I probably hadn't been to a doctor since high school. Yeah, it's been that long.

But since I really want to travel, I figured I better get going with these shots as some need multiple doses in order to be effective. I've also got to do this while I'm still employed, because who wants to pay full price for these expensive vaccinations and visits?

I made an appointment and went in to Queens Medical Center's Travel and Immunization Clinic on Tuesday for a consultation. They have a person there who specializes in overseas travel, which is rare in Hawaii. I think the only other place is Straub Clinic & Hospital. Because my friend just came back from Africa and China, I went with her referral to Queens even though Straub is just minutes from my work place.

After a brief consultation, I decided to get the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) and Hepatitis A vaccination. I've already got my Hepatits B done. I've never liked needles, but I have to say that these shots weren't all that painful. I'm not sure if it's due to the fact that the person administering the shots was good or if my childhood memories were just blown all out of proportion. Anyhow, they didn't hurt too bad . . . or so I thought.

On Wednesday, when I woke up in the morning I noticed that my right arm was a little stiff. The nurse had warned me that the Hep A shot would feel as though someone punched you in the arm, but it was the Tdap arm that was throbbing. When I got home after work that day I had to take an Advil. I even fell asleep while waiting for a friend to call me for dinner!

Now, two days after the shot my Tdap arm is still killing me, and I've got this huge pink welt on my arm. I think the medicine is slowly spreading throughout my arm. It doesn't help that I've got sensitive skin so the inflamed area is probably larger than normal. I'm still dead tired, although this could also be due to work as we're extremely busy this week planning for a company retreat. When I got home from work today, I actually felt like going to sleep at 4:00 in the afternoon. I got chills (another side effect of the shot), which I found ironic since it was so damn hot outside. All in all, these shots suck.

The nurse gave me some literature on shots to prevent rabies, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever. It's hard to decide which ones to take though (and if I really need them) because my travel plans are so wide open at this point. I'd rather be safe than sorry so I might end up getting all the vaccinations I can get in case I change my mind and really do want to visit Egypt or Thailand.

Oh, and my exit strategy at work has been revised due to my shot schedule. I definitely have to stay through February now as I need to do a second dose of Hep A six months from now. March would be the earliest I could travel.

Bad News - No Japan For Me

I just checked the USA JET website and am sad to report that I wasn't selected for an interview. *frown* Ah well, at least I tried. At this point, I'm not too bummed about it because I wasn't one of those people who were betting everything on it. I was hoping I'd at least get an interview, but I suppose it wasn't in the cards for me. At least I still have a job right?

A special thanks goes out to everyone who helped with the application and for writing reference letters. I'm sure they were wonderful. I guess this was probably a bad year to apply since there were a record number of applicants (more than 5,300). However, that's what happens when you do this kind of stuff on a whim. If I had given living abroad more serious thought, I would have applied years ago. Then again, I probably didn't have this wanderlust going on back then so traveling didn't even come to mind.

Now that I know I didn't make it, I can concentrate on other things. I am still seriously contemplating spending a couple months backpacking through Australia and New Zealand with Elle. She and I will probably have a good time just getting lost.

I have also read an entire blog written by a local guy who did a cycling tour through NZ and is backpacking it through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It's a guy named Dug, who seems to be from Maui, and his blog is called Rompingground. He's already been gone for over a year. Amazing! While I definitely cannot live up to his long-distance biking, the WWOOFing sounds pretty interesting and a good way to learn about a foreign country and really get to know its people.

Now, I know what you guys are thinking. And yes, I am definitely a city girl (which is why I love San Francisco so much). But I think I can kick it in the backwoods as long as I'm doing something interesting like milking cows or herding sheep. I'm not sure about clearing the land as Dug did, but I'm game to at least give it a try.

So I guess the main point is that my future is wide open. (I was getting a little stressed out as Elle and I would talk about Australia and NZ but couldn't really do much because everything hinged on a reply from JET.) I plan to reevaluate the next year or so of my life and see what direction life will take me. Moving up to San Francisco is still a possibility, but I don't think I can do it without a job. That'd take some cojones that I do not have right now.

Knocked Off While Getting His Rocks Off

Who would've thought that the man who played an ascetic monk on the boob tube would die because of a mishap during some kinky S&M sex? You think I kid, but it could be true.

Apparently after more investigating and an autopsy, Bangkok officials think this may be the cause of death for David Carradine, especially since there was no suicide note. Family members and friends all deny that he would committ suicide. No comments on whether or not they think he'd participate in some Thai S&M during his time off the movie set. Interesting, no?

While this is a little shocking (the dude was in his 70s for crying out loud), I find it funny in an almost absurdly morbid way. I'm not laughing about the fact that this guy died. I'm giggling over the way he might've died. Who would've predicted this would be the way they'd go out of this world? Geez, what a way to go. And most mothers are worried that you're wearing clean underwear. How about NO underwear, Ma? How 'bout that?

You can look at it as the absolute best way to go (while doing the deed). Or you can look at it as the most embarrassing position to be caught in. This got me on the train to morbidville and I started pondering how I'd like to die if I got to choose. Here's what I came up with:

1. Kick the bucket in the middle of an ice cream eating contest with a gigantic glop of ice cream in my hand and my face planted in a 21 scoop sundae. Sounds heavenly to me.

2. Dying peacefully in my sleep sounds like a nice way to go. However, I'm afraid I'd start to attract the extended family of roaches who live in my building and that they'd start nibbling on me before my stink alerted the neighbors. Guess there goes the open casket route.

3. Just so my name would live on, I'd like to go in some exciting/devastating/awe-inspiring manner. I'm not really sure how though. Croaking while doing some kind of Evil Knievel-like move involving a lot of rings of fire atop a moving airplane while riding a motorcycle blindfolded sounds kick ass.

4. Being the last person alive aboard a spaceship looking back at the dead earth while hurtling uncontrollably toward the sun sounds like a poetic demise.

5. Turning into a popsicle in the vast lands of Antarctica while exploring icy caverns in the name of science makes my death sound noble and gives me a chance to get jump started once technology figures out how to unfreeze me and jolt me back to life.

So how would you like to take your last curtain call if you had the choice?

RIP David

Wow, just got online and the first thing I saw was a story reporting the apparent suicide of Kung Fu star David Carradine. He was found hanged in his Bangkok hotel room.

It seems his career was going well and that he was in Thailand for a new movie. According to imdb.com, he had six movies in post-production and one in pre-production. He also had an illustrious acting career and had been in a ton of movies. This is an unfortunate tragedy.

Growing up I loved watching Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Carradine had a kind of calmness surrounding himself as Kwai Chang Caine. Very zen-like. I loved his relationship with his tv son Peter, played by Chris Potter. Their fighting styles, one ancient and one contemporary, complemented each other well. It was a great show.