Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Long Shot

Saturday was my flu shot day.

Normally, in the past, they delivered these to my office where someone would come by my office and stick me and leave.   Oh - clean. it. up. !!!

Alas, there is no office anymore, ergo, no one to give me an inoculation, which could leave me open to disease and / or a nose full of snot. This was unacceptable to me.

I did receive instructions from the corporate office to go to a Walgreens to get the deed done.  Naturally it could not be as easy as walking into the store, showing my paperwork and getting stuck.

I will give them this, they were very nice about it as they tried to work through the snafu of not knowing how this was supposed to work and then successfully complete the entire billing process.

This is nothing new to me.  It is nothing new to them.  I know they do voucher programs all the time.  But when you have a few thousand stores, I am guessing only a few hundred of those might see more than a handful of patients each like me, so every time is a new time for them.  Or there abouts.

It finally got to the point they said they'd figure it out later and just gave me the needle in the right arm. Oh, and the serum.

I know that people do not like needles, but since I've been like 20, they've never bothered me - be it blood draws, IVs, Novocaine shots, etc.   I don't have to watch it go in, but the slight pinch is nothing.  However, I do know grown men who pass out at such acts.  The pharmacist was going through all the possibilities how I might react to the poke and I chuckled and said I'd be fine.  And I was.

Prior to age 20, I had a healthy phobia of needles.  I'm over it.

Yeah, my arm is a little sore because I didn't pre-plan.  The ideal is to take one Tylenol and one Ibuprofen after the shot and that kills the pain and any inflammation. But I didn't have any on me and I wasn't buying a bottle of each just because I was in a pharmacy.

While there, I did buy something new for my ever-present wart.  I know, Birdie wants no pictures. Prescription like strength it has, but it resides behind the counter without needing the script.  You have to axe for it.....not that I knew exactly what I was axing for, but the pharmacist was helpful. I started the treatment on Saturday, so we will see how it goes.  It has a frightfully strong percentage of "active ingredient", so hopefully my thumb won't fall or burn off.

If that happens, trust me, you're all getting pictures via blog and Facebook.  Maybe even 4x6 glossies.



Song by:  Aimee Mann

7 comments:

tornwordo said...

There are a lot of things behind that counter. That's how I got the sun box.

Birdie said...

Thank you! :)

A nurse practioner at our local Minute Clinic told me the secret to a painless shot: completely relax the muscle; poke the needle quickly, like a dart; and gently press the syringe to slowly administer the serum. Totally pain-free during and after--a first!

Theaterdog said...

You have just ruined all my fantasies of you naked.
Because I still have a healthy phobia of needles.
I will pay for all the 4x6's, I am rich, but only before this post.
Be well!
Ouch

anne marie in philly said...

ummmmmmmmmmmm, like the opening shot! woof!

I got my flu shot at spouse's office for cheap - $10. spouse works in the healthcare industry, so it was subsidized by his employer. around here, walgreens wants $30.

Ur-spo said...

I just got my flu shot today as well
Good for both of us. It is the proper thing to do.

Erik Rubright said...

Ugh. Needles. Is it weird I hate them?

rebecca said...

Cheesecake!