Sunday, December 9, 2007

The Yellow Card You Want to Have

Most of you know I'm not the most athletic of the Crosbys. That being said, I've watched enough sports to know that Yellow Cards are not good. However, there is a yellow card that you want - it's to show the World Health Organization that you are not a carrier for some sort of crazy disease. I don't know if any of you have seen I am Legend, but after seeing that flick, I want every vaccine out there :)

Do you know how many diseases there are in Ecuador? Lots is the answer according to the Center for Disease Control. I thought I had paid a lot of attention to Andrea right before she left. I know she went to the doctor's a few times, had some fiasco with the dentist paperwork and that she agonized over how to pack for the next two years. How did I miss the immunization process? I had no idea there was so much involved in a simple trip to South America!

First you have to get an appointment with a Travel Clinic. This in itself can be an arduous task. Mom and Alex were able to get an appointment together at Dartmouth Hitchcock and I traveled to the Infectious Disease clinic in Nashua. Apparently there is a shortage of appointments available and doctors willing to provide the shots! I was told that DH only provides travel clinic appointments on Thursdays from 1-5. Lame. The good news is that the two clinics said we needed the same vaccines. The sad news is that intramuscular shots hurt!

So now we have been appropriately vaccinated against Typhoid, Yellow Fever and Hepatitis. In addition, we're all carrying prescriptions for antibiotics such as Cipro and drugs to help with things like altitude sickness and "travelers diarrhea" which is somehow different from regular diarrhea!

It's becoming "crunch" time. Just 7 days until we meet up with Andrea! Time for us to get our lists finalized and our bags packed. I'll update you all on the Chaos that is our planning process shortly!

No comments: