Today, Ken and I went for our second round of vaccines. We each received three vaccines, one of which was the dreaded yellow fever vaccine. You know it’s going to hurt when the nurse specifically told each of us before she even started to give it to us that we must not pull away while receiving the vaccine. Funny, she had never mentioned that with the others. But there was good reason for the instructions for the yellow fever vaccine, although the others weren’t spectacular either.

And, as usual, I feel crummy after the vaccinations. The wheezing started while I was still in the office, and now my throat is raw, my head feels like it’s going to explode, and I feel generally yucky. I’m know I’m mildly allergic to some preservatives in injections, but we’ve never isolated which ones because I’ve never had a full-blown anaphylactic reaction. An allergic reaction is definitely better than yellow fever. Or polio. Or meningitis. Or hepatitis. Or typhoid. So it’s worth the risk, as long as my epi-pen is handy.

But now the worst of the shots is over, and I just have to go back for one booster in February, to confer lifetime immunity. There’s a good chance we’ll even travel before then. We actually have been so thoroughly vaccinated now, we are good to travel just about anywhere, except rural areas of Asia during Japanese encephalitis transmission season.

But our hearts are set on Kinshasa, and every needle stick, aching arm, low-grade fever is worth it to bring our kids home!

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