No one likes getting shots. That is not a shocking revelation in the slightest, but it is something that I feel the need to bring to light for the moment. Back in late fall when everyone was getting their flu shots, I was strutting through life thinking we didn't really need them. After all, why go through the pain of making the kids get shots when there is no big swine flu fear swirling around like there was a couple years ago and no major media hype about how bad the flu is this year. Perhaps the most convincing bit of fact is that the flu has been around forever, we've never regularly gotten the flu shot and we've always been just fine. Not to mention the scary things you read and hear about these days in regards to kids getting shots. This one became paralyzed that one slipped into a coma and another one thinks she's a horse now. No thanks, I'll pass. I don't want horse-children.
Just when I had written the whole thing off, little by little I start hearing of people all around me getting the flu. It started with just someone I know knows someone who has it and then in no time at all I knew of at least 3 individuals and families first hand that have it. It got me to thinking that maybe for the children's sake at least, I should look into some flu shots. I didn't think it would be a huge deal. I'll make an appointment with their pediatrician and bring them in and the worst part will be that they'll cry when it happens. Maybe I'll get my flu shot in front of them so they see me take it like a champ and it won't be so bad for them. As for my husband, well he won't get a flu shot no matter what.
In preparation for all the flu shots, I let my job know I would be leaving work early on Friday to get it all taken care of. I figured we all might have some sore arms and maybe a little fatigue so we will have the rest of Friday afternoon and all day Saturday to get back up to par. I called the pediatrician to set up the appointments and was surprised to find that she's all out of flu shots and will not be getting any more in. What I can do is go to the office, pick up a written prescription, bring it to a local pharmacy, get the flu shots filled there, bring them back to the office and have the doctor administer them to the kids. Not exactly convenient, but I'll do it. I was advised to just check with the pharmacy the day of to be sure they still have a supply, because many pharmacies have been running out. I called and they confirmed they do have a supply, and it would "only" cost $15 per vaccine to have it filled. I have three kids. That's $45 right there. Then we have to go back to the doctor's office and pay for our co-pays too? That's another $20 each! We are up to $105 now. I don't have $105. I don't even have $5 really.
As with everything, I turned to Facebook for help. I found that I could go to several local pharmacies for free flu shots. The only problem is that they really only administer them for adults. I called all over town and no one had them for kids. This was becoming a disaster. Friends told me to try their doctors and I did, and they DID have the vaccines. Plenty of them. But I wasn't allowed to have any because we aren't patients there. They didn't care that my doctor didn't have any. I finally found ONE pharmacy that had children's doses, but it was about 30 minutes from my house. Good thing I decided to leave work early. As I left work I decided since I didn't have to run back and forth between the pharmacy and the pediatrician's office like I had originally expected to do, I may as well take this extra bit of time I have to get my long overdue oil change. The "express service" ended up taking over an hour. Just my luck. By the time I got home, there was only a half hour of school left for my little guy so I just let him finish out the day instead of take him out early like I had planned. By the time I picked him up from school, got everyone organized and fed a snack, it was after 4pm. I may as well wait for my husband to get home now - it's only another 25 minutes. Maybe I'll even guilt him into getting his flu shot too seeing as how the kids had to have it done.
By 4:30 we were finally on the road and headed to the flu shot clinic. We called to be sure they still have flu shots available and they did. Good news. It was now getting dark, freezing cold and pouring rain. I had not factored in one major setback; traffic. I didn't realize there would be so much traffic so early and headed in this direction. It was horrendous. What would have been a 30 minute drive turned into an hour in wretched weather, traffic and with a car full of complaining children. Neither I nor my husband were totally familiar with the area, so I tasked my husband to following the map on my iPhone and let me know exactly when I should turn. It doesn't help that I have terrible night vision - and that he has terrible iPhone vision I suppose because he didn't tell me where to turn until after I passed it. It went a little something like this...
Me: babe I can't drive and look at my phone at the same time, follow that little dot and tell me when it gets near the turn so I know when to get into the turn lane and turn.
Him: ok
Me: Um, I can't see anything is this our turn?
[long pause]
[pass the intersection]
Him: I don't know, I think that was it back there.
Me: well did the little dot go over the turn??
Him: what dot!?
Me: THE DOT I TOLD YOU TO WATCH AND TELL ME WHEN TO TURN!!!
Him: I don't know, I don't know how to read this stupid thing
Me: just forget it. Give it to me. Can you see that sign? I'll turn here.
Him: no you can't turn there.
[pass the intersection]
Me: what do you mean I can't turn there, everyone else just turned there!
Him: I don't know!!! It looked like you can't turn there!!!
Me: ok just help me figure out how to turn around!!
[4 miles out of our way we finally pull into a shopping center and swing around]
Me: please, I can't even see the lines on the road from all this rain, please pay close attention and just tell me where to turn
Him: I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO TURN!
Me: WE JUST CAME THIS WAY!! HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW!? I'm just going to turn here.
Him: You can't turn here
[pass intersection where we absolutely could have turned there]
Me: this is ridiculous
Him: YEA I KNOW
Me: NEXT TIME YOU F**KIN DRIVE!!
Him: whatever
After 20 minutes of essentially driving up and down the street cursing at each other, we finally turn into the correct shopping center with the Pharmacy. We were both miserable and the kids were sleeping. We had to drag them out of their comfy warm car seats in the cold and the rain and carry them in to get their shots. So glad this whole ordeal is just about over!!
As we walk up to the clinic frazzled, soaked and lugging sleepy children on our shoulders, a nice nurse came out snapping off her rubber gloves. She ever so sweetly said "I'm sorry, we JUST ran out of vaccines." Every fiber of my being wanted to punch her right in the face. Fighting tears I said "but we just drove over an hour in traffic and in the pouring rain!!!" as if this would somehow make more flu vaccines appear. Defeated, upset and frustrated we turned and retreated from the store without any protection from the flu.
It's amazing how I went from not thinking we needed the vaccine to being convinced we should get it and then suddenly on an impossible mission to get them! I was so upset about the whole thing that I didn't even want to talk for the rest of the drive home...which took well over an hour since we were now stuck in rush hour traffic going the opposite direction and not moving at all. My only hope now is that we are just lucky enough to not get flu as we have managed to pull off in many years past.
Except that THIS one year, we wouldn't be so lucky....
...to be continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment