Suck it up!

It's just rough sometimes. Immunizations for Nigeria has been a rough spot! I have hit dead ends for weeks on end! The first round of shots was in our wonderful doctor's office, familiar and (although it was still shots), not so bad. It was simply the updates on U.S. shots. Then came the pursuit of "everything else." I am sure, without exaggeration, I have clocked at least 6 hours on the phone. It is the trouble with living in a small town, I suppose, but nobody would treat the boys. We knew we would be in Portland, so we visited a Travel and Immunizations clinic. 7 injections for me, 5 for Jack, 4 for Ben, and it didn't go well. Plus we get 8 days of every-other-day pills that make me nauseous! Oh, and it was $2600! Jack and I got the flu symptoms, which made the drive home from Portland miserable. I had to pull over and rest - but I'm thankful for the cool weather and the boys' video games that made a nap in the van possible - twice.


I have much to complain about how that clinic handled us, but suffice it to say that I should have put my foot down at the time - the highly upset person waiting in the lobby caused us to be pushed out before the process was complete. AND for 3 more days I have been on the phone trying to get the days 7 and 21 follow up shots for rabies. In Portland, that is not a big deal, but if you live in Wenatchee... I am not kidding when I tell you that I finally had a long talk with the state health department and contacted every possible place in Seattle, Yakima, and Spokane - to no avail!


BUT - after a copious email to my doctor detailing all the things that wouldn't work, and practically begging him to get it from the E.R. - HE IS! So, we are spared two more drives round trip to Seattle (or Portland, since I was striking out in Washington) for the day 7 and day 21 shots. Oh, how we love Dr. Kolde and happy endings! Thank you Jesus!!!


One sad note, we had the TB skin test and were told to have it "read" just by showing it to our doctor on Thursday or Friday. When we went in at 1:30 p.m., we learned it needed to be read by 11:30 a.m. - so we have to repeat the test. Bummer! Especially since we sat next to our doctor at soccer for an hour Thursday night and could have said "look!" The document clearly states that it needs to be between 48 and 72 hours, but I didn't read it. I just trusted the doc in Portland. Bless her heart. Our appointment was certainly stressful (imagine chasing a boy around the room with a loaded needle), and I'm sure the complainer following us didn't offer to buy her lunch! She has left two voice mails for us, giving us information she would have told us in the appointment. One said - "as I was lying in bed thinking of your family last night, I remembered..."

So, sometimes you just have to SUCK IT UP. As I dropped off my boy at school, I said - you're feeling bad today, and emotional, so give yourself extra grace, give extra grace to those around you, but finally, SUCK IT UP. I have been repeating the same to myself.

So...
I have learned to be more persistent and protective of our needs. I'm sure glad I wasn't already in Nigeria for all of this.

Pray that my boys will be up for more shots by Tuesday!!!