Last week, after much prayer and consideration, I took Madalyn to the public health department to get her H1N1 flu vaccine. I have a friend who lives down the street that told me about the public health dept giving them out for free. Mark and I had talked about it and we had agreed that yes Madalyn would be getting the h1n1 vaccine this year. We couldn't afford not to with infant twins in the home and someone who has a lung disease. It would be dumb of us not to get the vaccine.
The easy part was knowing that we were going to have Madalyn get it... The hard part for me was whether to give her the shot or the nasal spray. She received the flumist nasal spray for the regular flu but I was a little more nervous about the h1n1 flumist. Now, I know that it's definitely a weakened "live" virus that's in the nasal spray and I know that it was fine when she received the first nasal spray for the regular flu but something didn't sit right with the H1N1 flumist. I was simply a little worried about the fact that it was a "live" virus - with having the babies and Mark. The chance of something occuring from the flumist is slim but I just wanted to be careful. On the other hand, the shot that the public health was giving out did have thimerosal in it and that made me a tad nervous as well. All of the ones that Carle has are free of thimerosal but they aren't giving them out yet. So, I was in a predicament and I had to weigh the options.
I called Mark's CF doctor and asked what they thought about the flumist and they said that Mark would be fine if Mady got it. I know everyone has opinions on both and I know I probably was making a bigger deal out of it than I should but in the end neither Mark not I felt comfortable giving Mady the flumist when the shot was available.
Mark headed over one night last week to see if he could get one as well but the place was packed and they wouldn't give him a vaccine (only the mist which he can't have!) so they headed home. Mady cried on the way home because she couldn't get a shot. Most kids cry because they have to get a shot and mine cries because she wasn't able to get one!!?? I'm positive she didn't know what was coming. The next day I headed over with her before they began giving the shots. We were already #17. She stayed pretty close to me when we were there and you could tell she was a little hesitant of her environment. When it was our turn I wrapped Mady's arms around me and held her close as they stuck her in the leg. She didn't make a peep! I was so proud of her! She was so proud of herself all day telling everything that she got a flu shot and she didn't cry! She loved showing off her sticker!
On another note, today Mark was able to get his shot as well. I have been praying for days that he would be able to get his somehow because I've been worried about him. He's at higher risk because he has cystic fibrosis... that coupled with the fact that we have infant twins and he works in healthcare just makes it an all around scary situation. So, I've been praying that somehow he would be able to get his vaccine. Today he was in Pinckneyville, IL and he was making some cold calls for work. He happened to step into a doctors office where they told him that they had all just gotten their H1N1 vaccines. The lady said they were free for those who worked in healthcare. He jetted out and headed over to this particular church where he was supposed to be able to get his vaccine. At first she said he couldn't have his because he was over 24 years old. Mark told her that he was high risk and gave his story... twins, CF, works in healthcare. She passed him along to the nurse and he was able to get his vaccine for free! I'm so thankful! I know it's something small but it's definitely an answer to prayer for me. With him visiting doctors offices and health care offices all day every day the risk for him catching something is very high and I am just so thankful that he was able to get his vaccine to hopefully protect himself!(Mark's additions: Ironically enough, as a Laboratory Sales Consultant, I sell the H1N1 confirmation testing. I'm riding a pretty high wave right now that will probably be crashing down after the turn of the year, but business is business. I also got a boost when the Health Dept stopped doing the testing about a month ago because they were overwhelmed. Interestingly enough, they publicly nominated my lab to do the testing, so I get phone calls all the time to sign up hospitals for this particular testing. I'll do anything to get my foot in the door. Thank you Lord)
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