bumps in the road

One of the requirement for the Peace Corps is the varicella, or chicken pox, vaccine. You need the vaccine if you didn't have it, and if you had it, you need a titer to prove that you have had it. Sounds simple enough, right?

I believe that chicken pox could keep the oven mitts industry in business as much as cupcake makers and brownie bakers. I mean, what else could keep children and adults alike from scratching themselves silly every time there is an out beak beside those massive mittens? I was 6 when I had it. I don't remember much about it except for a single bump on my face which was itchier than the rest . I still have the scar from that bump to prove it, so now I just need a titer and my journey of never ending blood tests will be over.

Or so I thought.

My titer result came back negative, and just like every other lab tests result I have been getting this few weeks. So naturally I assumed negative mean it was a good thing, as opposed to positive, like my TB skin test. Right?

Or so I thought... again.

The varicella test is one of the test in which negative actually means I that have to to something about it. It indicates that my body's immunity to chicken pox is weak, and I might have a chance of getting the chicken pox again if I'm exposed to it, and if I do, it'll be twice as painful.

Give me a freakin' break. Nothing that happened to me while I was in the motherland is helping me out. First the TB vaccine, now the chicken pox. And positive and negative... now those tests are just playing with my feelings! Oh well, one more needle injection. Exactly one week until I leave for Vietnam, this is the last thing I need to do... I hope. And I can now cross having a lung X-ray off my list of things to do.

Happy International Women's Day!