I chose the shot...

I recently discovered that in order to register for classes at the University of Florida I have to have an updated record of my vaccinations and some of them are mandatory before they will allow you to register... Who knew?!?  I really thought I was done with shots unless I step on a nail or something unfortunate but apparently not!  This should have been a simple thing to resolve, but unfortunately the Murphy gene expressed itself and made it much harder than necessary.  My Mom has not been able to find her copies of my medical records, they are in storage somewhere but we aren't sure where.  This shouldn't be a problem since there should be at least two other places that have my records, the public school I attended for several years and our old pediatric office.  It just so happens that the pediatric office disposes of records if the patient hasn't been there with/in the last five years.  Mom tried the school and after searching through several vaults they were only able to locate an Evelyn Garland.  This is really disturbing b/c they are supposed to keep your records for like twenty to thirty years, Mom has an unconfirmed suspicion however that they got mad and thew our records out when Mom and Dad decided to home-school us.  Last resort was the health nurse, who only had record of one MMR vaccination, I had to have record of two...  It's not like I've never had these shots but in order to prove it I would have to run a titer which is exceptionally expensive.

So I was facing three options.  Pay for a titer (which involves needles), claim that vaccines are against my religious beliefs (which it really isn't a conviction for me so I didn't feel comfortable doing that), or get another free MMR shot to complete the two dose record (which also involved a needle... oddly enough this is the only vaccination that was really required since I'm not going into a health field or an international student).

I chose the shot.

It hurt, but was over quickly.  The whole experience made me really think about what I would choose for my kids, whenever they come along, though.  I made it through all the shots that Mom and Dad chose to give me as a baby, and the one I took last week, but the list of possible side effects they hand you before those vaccinations is terrifying, especially when you consider all of those things happened to someone in order for them to be on the list.  Not to mention the fact that unless you request otherwise they prefer to give children like five at once instead of one at a time.  Mom was also saying that unless you request (sometimes demand) otherwise nurses are ready with vaccinations as soon as you baby is born!  What a welcome to the world!

I'm also odd because I feel that some vaccinations have been developed because it is considered a social norm to sleep with more than one person before you are married, if this is happening then maybe you would benefit from HPV and Hep vaccines.  But if you are trying to live a clean, God-honoring life these are not normally needed.  Before I get jumped on, I'm not saying its wrong to get these vaccines or that no one should have them, in fact if you are traveling abroad without some of these you are putting yourself in danger.  I am saying that some serious consideration should be implemented on the parents part before allowing the M.D. to poke your baby... What am I going to do for our children?  I'll get back to you on that!