Been feeling lousy since Tuesday and so preoccupied with feeling lousy that writing a blog post was out of the question. Too busy moaning.
Last fall I read that there's something of a measles epidemic going on, mostly because some parents (don't get me started) have declined getting their children vaccinated.
Also, in some parts of the world vaccinations aren't routine, and travelers get exposed and travel home with the disease, which is very contagious.
The CDC advises people born before 1957, when the vaccination became routine, not to bother with a measles vaccination because they assume everyone born before that had measles as a matter of course. But I knew I hadn't, which my doctor confirmed via blood test.
I read up on side effects of the vaccination (known as "MMR," for Measles/Mumps/Rubella) and stalled. But at my physical exam two weeks ago, the doctor reiterated that I should get a vaccination. When she got to brain damage as possible complication of measles in adults, I said, "All right, do it." So she did. It stung. But nothing else happened.
Ten days later, I woke up feeling lousy: headache, body ache, eyeballs so sensitive that it hurt to roll my eyes. Terrible sinus congestion, body sensitivity. By post-injection Day 11, I had a rash at the injection site. I e-mailed the doctor. "Hmmm," she wrote. "It could last a week."
In the meantime, I had appointments to keep and a quilt to finish for a Saturday deadline. Cancel, cancel, cancel--everything but the quilt. Yesterday morning I couldn't stand up without feeling faint. I drank a lot of water and retreated to my reclining chair. By the afternoon, I'd recovered enough to make it to my quilt group's drop-in, and those merciful friends helped me hand-stitch the binding.
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| Me in the most comfortable chair, with Rebecca and Ann helping with the binding |
Each morning, I wake up thinking, "What fresh hell?" Not too much this morning, except feeling a bit faint.
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