If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try Another Doctor’s Office

After hearing from many of my neighbors about how difficult it was to find the H1N1 flu shot, I called my doctor’s office. No problem. He fit me in that morning, no lines, no waiting - in and out of the office within 10 minutes.

I’d also heard that the H1N1 vaccine was supposed to hurt more than seasonal flu shot. Maybe it depends on who’s giving it. No pain and all gain for me.

A few neighbors said their docs weren’t giving the shot at all because the paperwork was onerous. So I expected it would take more time to fill out the papers than it would to get the shot. But it didn’t! So I asked the nurse what the squawk was about. She said she had no idea. I signed my name in three places on three different clipboards and headed to work.

I called my son in Atlanta, and he reported a similar experience. While at the pediatrician’s office for the baby’s well check, the whole family received their vaccines. The pediatrician was adamant. Said he’d seen what happens to the little ones who get really sick. No one was leaving his office without a vaccine as long as he could help it. I’m relieved.

Now that I’ve had both flu shots, I feel free to go to the movies, go out for dinner, spend hours in a bookstore, stand in line at Starbucks (venti decaf skim cap), shop for groceries or get on a plane without fear of seasonal or H1N1 flu or the horrible, lingering airway inflammation, coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath lasting months after recovery from the virus.

NEW: Adverse Reactions to Vaccines is a special supplement to Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (October 2009, Volume 103, Number 4, Supplement 2) just released by the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI). World-renowned allergists and immunologists wrote and edited this supplement for primary care physicians and allergist/immunologists who encounter patients (or parents of patients) like those of us with an elevated risk or history of adverse reactions to vaccines. Find out more at Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) in my blog post, To V or Not to V: This Is the Question.