The Saga of Who The Hell Knows? Part the Second

I had my follow up appointment with my specialist today. We'd gotten results from my blood work about half a week after the first one, and the doctor had said my vitamin D was low. She prescribed me 50,000 units to be taken once a week.

"Huh," She Who Must Be Kept and I said. "That seems kinda high. But are not doctors and we will trust that the doctor knows what she is doing. After all, we are paying for these services."

Today, I got to the office (AT EIGHT THIRTY THIS FREAKING MORNING!! BLAAAARGH!) and promptly went back to the room, which is a refreshing change of pace. We waited for only five minutes before the doctor popped back.

She complimented my nail polish and liked that my nails and toes matched before sitting down. I'm feeling a hundred times better than I was. For almost a week now I've woken up with no joint pain at all. I simply get up and shuffle to the bathroom to get dressed for my day. I can even sit up on my own.

"So what exactly was my vitamin D level?"
"Oh, nine,"
"Really? Well, what's normal?"
"About thirty."
"....What?" SWMBK and I said in unison.
"Yeah, I don't see it that low. You really should get out more. But I'm not sure, given your sun allergy, that your body can even process it correctly."

NINE. My level is NINE. How is that even possible!?!? The doctor was impressed with my progress and weight loss and told me to keep it up. I got a multivitamin (which is not Flintstone's, but a real grown up kind), told to finish this course of vitamin D, get my blood checked, and if she finds it unsatisfactory, we'll do another course. Regardless, I'll get checked again in March and will most likely need another course anyway.

But you know what? I am completely fine with that!

"Shaddap and Take Your Shot. "

I really hated going to the doctor when I was young. Wanna know why? Because I didn't like shots. I still don't like shots. Also, I was pretty sick when I was growing up (asthma, chronic sinus infection, muffed up tonsils that resulted in surgery) and frequently needed a blood draw.

Being that I was such a dramatic little thing and had veins like a Spaulding ball, I would sob and freak out, and make everything worse. Finally FINALLY they would get a vein going, milk the vials, and set me free with bruises.

Know what kind of makes me mad? That there are a bunch of parents now that don't want their children to get vaccinated. There was a study that some how linked vaccines to autism. ...Okay.

I know I'm not a parent, and I know I don't have an autistic child (though I have had several play mates through out the years that had Aspberger's Syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum), but you know what? You can live through autism. You can go on to leave a full, normal, lovely life with that disorder. Especially with all the strides we're making in research and development and teaching and all that.

You might not live through whooping cough. Or measles. Yeah, I know back in the Dark Ages they were normal illnesses that everyone went through. Now they are not, and there is no reason we need to suffer. We are just baaaaarely clinging on to Herd Immunity right now. And every time someone decides not to have their child get that shot, that goes down a little bit.

I understand that some people won't do it for religious reasons. I understand some children are allergic (like, kill you kind of allergic not the itchy throat kind) to vaccinations. I don't understand that whole; "JENNY MCCARTHY SAID MY KID WOULD GET AUTISM!!!111!!!one"

But maybe I'm crazy.

A couple months back, at my Community College they had a free vaccine clinic set up in the dining room. As nasty as that sounds, it was sort of nice with neat little curtains set up. I went and I got my D-tap. Diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

I'm twenty years old, I'm scared of shots, and I went on my own accord to get jabbed with a needle, holding tightly onto the hands of some of my friends. My shoulders were sore for days and days. But you know what?

I DID IT FOR THE CHILDREN!!! WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!?!?

Well, I did! So get your kids jabbed in the arm, okay?