Tetanus

Well after 25 years of no tetanus shots... I am fully vaccinated again. Funny thing is that they did a blood test and it turns out that I was never not fully protected. Yep, I went for 25 years without ever getting a tetanus booster and still had 8 times more antibodies than I needed to be fully protected. Makes you think doesn't it.
Anyways, I should problay back up and explain that as a child I had a severe reaction to the tetanus vaccine. At the time, I think, my parents were told it was an allergic reaction, now I know that it wasn't an allergic reaction, just a really bad local reaction. Honestly, I am still not sure what the difference is but apparently it makes a huge difference. So, as I child I was just told not to ever get the vaccine again, wore the alert bracelet... the whole deal.
Then I get here to our training and they say- nope you have to get the vaccine and we know an allergist who can desensitize you and give you the vaccine. Let me explain what desensitize means... it means not just one shot but about 15! Okay 15 is an exaggeration but really I had 11. They just inject it over a longer period of time and in smaller amounts. Not fun! What was fun was that my friend, Nicole, didn't want me to have to go alone so she took me and we got to sit and chat for hours at a time. We both have 3 kids... so uninterrupted adult chat time never happens. It was great!!!
So 4 long doctor visits- totaling over 8 hours of my time, lots of pokes, oh and sharpie marks all over my arms because they mark with a sharpie how much they are injecting you with each time... I am now fully vaccinated against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis!