Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I am a pincushion

I [finally] mailed my application to SIT for the Balkans: Post-Conflict Transformation program about two weeks ago. I got my conditional acceptance right away and I've been working on getting the confirmation materials squared away.

I had my physical today and started the vacinations. I went to the Northwest Nurse Practitioner Associates, which is located by the zoo, and had a really good experience with the NP there. She's really informed and informative. NNPA could be the answer to "What do you do when you have a student health center that has great services until you actually need them?" She spent over an hour with me, discussing not only my history & doing the physical/tests/injections, but also giving general advice for staying healthy here and, of course, while I'm abroad.

Right now, I feel like a pincushion - I got scratched for my TB test yesterday at the health center and, today, I had blood drawn for a CBC and got a Tdap injection (Tdap is for tetanus, diptheria, and pertussis - vaccination against pertussis is especially important, she said, because of the great chance of me interacting with children while conducting my ISP in country). Luckily, I don't mind needles! I'll be starting my Hepatitis A and typhoid vaccines at a later date.

The TB test will be read tomorrow and the rest of my labs (CBC and urinalysis) should be back by Monday. Fingers crossed.