Wednesday, October 13, 2004
I don't need that arm, I've got another one...Today was spent going through the SRP process (Soldier Readiness Processing). SRP consists of filling out a myriad of forms - placing your name, rank, social, and today's date on everything you can think of. SRP also consists of lines. Lots of lines. Lots and lots of lines.
So I spent most of the day sitting in line waiting to be seen by this office or that office so that I could fill out more forms. The offices had names like AG1 or MED1 or AG2. Then came MED3.
MED3 is where they screen you for your immunizations and give you your shots. Since my shot records failed to make it from FT Dix to FT Bliss, I "volunteered" for the full complement. Eight shots. "Ugh" I thought, "This is going to be rough."
I don't know what it is about getting shots, but I always get woozy. First I start to feel a little sick to the stomach. Then I get light headed. Next, I feel all the blood flow out of my head, and shortly thereafter I'm sitting in a chair (or laying on the floor) in a cold sweat watching the room spin in circles as little colored dots dance in front of my eyes.
It's not that I'm nervous or scared, because I'm not. Well, maybe a little nervous. But not that bad. I really felt quite good today about getting the shots. There just is something about my body and pain. God forbid something happens in Iraq. I'm more likely to die from shock than from the injury itself. I got woozy when I cut my hand a couple years back. And let me tell you, today was no different. I just wish I could have gotten some pictures. *lol*
All in all, I think I did pretty well. They drew 4 viles of blood (and tore my right arm up in the process. You should see the bruise!) Then they moved to the immunizations. I got through 5 with no problems before my body gave out on me and told me in no uncertain terms, "I really don't want to be here doing this anymore." I let the medic know I wasn't feeling so well anymore, and proceeded to sit down. Although I was feeling pretty crappy, I got through shots number six and seven (which I vaguely remember). However, a civilian doctor happened to walk by just as the medic was finishing and saw me. Evidently I didn't look very good, so he insisted I needed to lay down.
The funniest part of all this is that here I sit, green as an apple and sweating profusely working very hard not to pass out (how embarassing would that have been), and the medical staff are trying to figure out where the cot is to lay me down on. They finally figured out that someone else was already on it (at least I wasn't the only one!) "What do we do? Where's the other cots? Someone took them. Well what do we do with him?" I was more than willing to just lay on the floor, but for some reason the medical staff didn't like this idea until they decided they had no other choice. Personally, I thought the cold floor felt good once I was allowed to go there.
So, after a couple of minutes I felt better, got back up, and went over to get my last shot: small pox. Have you ever read about the small pox vaccine? They actually include instructions for caring for the injection site after your receive the shot. It's that involved. Let me share the details of this little guy.
First, you have to keep the injection site covered with a bandage for about 21 days, because the site is infectious and could spread the virus to others if it touched them. They say a blister forms after about 3 days (hasn't happened yet), meaning the shot is effective. It then scabs over after a couple more days. The scab falls off somewhere between 14 and 21 days, and you have to keep the site covered for 3 days after that. The bandage you use to cover the blister/scab is infectious so you have to take great care when disposing of it. They even recommend sleeping with long sleeves on so you don't accidentally pull the bandage off, touch the injection site, then touch some other part of your body. If you did that, you would then develop small pox blisters where ever you touched. If you rubbed your eye, for instance, you'd get a blister on your eye and lose your eye. God forbid you touch your, um, nether regions if your hands were contaminated. You can read all about it at the Army's small pox site. The small pox vaccine that is, not touching your nether regions.
I also got the first of the anthrax shots. That one was the worst in terms of pain. It burns! It's odd, the shot itself doesn't hurt but about 10 seconds after they give it your shoulder burns like mad! Man, it felt like someone hit my shoulder with a hammer a couple hours later. It is so tender. The slightest touch and I'm well aware I've received the shot. Forget lifting my arm above shoulder level.
So, that was SRP day. Lots of boredom and waiting punctuated with moments of dizziness and laying down. Sounds a bit like a weekend of sitting around drinking with nothing to do, doesn't it?
So I spent most of the day sitting in line waiting to be seen by this office or that office so that I could fill out more forms. The offices had names like AG1 or MED1 or AG2. Then came MED3.
MED3 is where they screen you for your immunizations and give you your shots. Since my shot records failed to make it from FT Dix to FT Bliss, I "volunteered" for the full complement. Eight shots. "Ugh" I thought, "This is going to be rough."
I don't know what it is about getting shots, but I always get woozy. First I start to feel a little sick to the stomach. Then I get light headed. Next, I feel all the blood flow out of my head, and shortly thereafter I'm sitting in a chair (or laying on the floor) in a cold sweat watching the room spin in circles as little colored dots dance in front of my eyes.
It's not that I'm nervous or scared, because I'm not. Well, maybe a little nervous. But not that bad. I really felt quite good today about getting the shots. There just is something about my body and pain. God forbid something happens in Iraq. I'm more likely to die from shock than from the injury itself. I got woozy when I cut my hand a couple years back. And let me tell you, today was no different. I just wish I could have gotten some pictures. *lol*
All in all, I think I did pretty well. They drew 4 viles of blood (and tore my right arm up in the process. You should see the bruise!) Then they moved to the immunizations. I got through 5 with no problems before my body gave out on me and told me in no uncertain terms, "I really don't want to be here doing this anymore." I let the medic know I wasn't feeling so well anymore, and proceeded to sit down. Although I was feeling pretty crappy, I got through shots number six and seven (which I vaguely remember). However, a civilian doctor happened to walk by just as the medic was finishing and saw me. Evidently I didn't look very good, so he insisted I needed to lay down.
The funniest part of all this is that here I sit, green as an apple and sweating profusely working very hard not to pass out (how embarassing would that have been), and the medical staff are trying to figure out where the cot is to lay me down on. They finally figured out that someone else was already on it (at least I wasn't the only one!) "What do we do? Where's the other cots? Someone took them. Well what do we do with him?" I was more than willing to just lay on the floor, but for some reason the medical staff didn't like this idea until they decided they had no other choice. Personally, I thought the cold floor felt good once I was allowed to go there.
So, after a couple of minutes I felt better, got back up, and went over to get my last shot: small pox. Have you ever read about the small pox vaccine? They actually include instructions for caring for the injection site after your receive the shot. It's that involved. Let me share the details of this little guy.
First, you have to keep the injection site covered with a bandage for about 21 days, because the site is infectious and could spread the virus to others if it touched them. They say a blister forms after about 3 days (hasn't happened yet), meaning the shot is effective. It then scabs over after a couple more days. The scab falls off somewhere between 14 and 21 days, and you have to keep the site covered for 3 days after that. The bandage you use to cover the blister/scab is infectious so you have to take great care when disposing of it. They even recommend sleeping with long sleeves on so you don't accidentally pull the bandage off, touch the injection site, then touch some other part of your body. If you did that, you would then develop small pox blisters where ever you touched. If you rubbed your eye, for instance, you'd get a blister on your eye and lose your eye. God forbid you touch your, um, nether regions if your hands were contaminated. You can read all about it at the Army's small pox site. The small pox vaccine that is, not touching your nether regions.
I also got the first of the anthrax shots. That one was the worst in terms of pain. It burns! It's odd, the shot itself doesn't hurt but about 10 seconds after they give it your shoulder burns like mad! Man, it felt like someone hit my shoulder with a hammer a couple hours later. It is so tender. The slightest touch and I'm well aware I've received the shot. Forget lifting my arm above shoulder level.
So, that was SRP day. Lots of boredom and waiting punctuated with moments of dizziness and laying down. Sounds a bit like a weekend of sitting around drinking with nothing to do, doesn't it?
[Posted by Mark @ 6:52 AM]
