I Got My H1N1 Shot!

Yup.  I got my H1N1 vaccination.

Can you believe it?

My morning didn't go QUITE the way I had anticipated.

But one must be flexible you know.

Around 8:30am, I decided to head over to "case the situation" and I was just about to leave when John came in from his deer hunt (it's deer season for the next two weeks).  So that delayed my departure.

We decided that perhaps he should take me to the clinic to avoid my having to worry about parking.

Then I remembered that I wanted to try to make an appointment with my doctor.

So I had to wait 'til 9:00am to do that.

It's impossible to get through to my doctor in the morning.  I tried repeatedly but couldn't get through so I gave up -- deciding to leave that 'til I got home after getting my H1N1 shot.

We left the house at about 9:20am to go and "case the situation" but I took all my paraphernalia with me (chair, snack, drink, magazine, etc) in the event that I was going to join the line-up that was sure to have formed.

When we arrived, the queue was already impressive and the parking lot was near full.

I spoke to the people at the front of the line.

The first person had arrived at 3:00am.

The second person had arrived at 3:30am; he had had a heart transplant, desperately wanted the shot and figured this was his only chance.

The third person was a woman who had been there since 4:00am -- not for herself, but for her grandchild.  She wanted to ensure that her granddaughter got her H1N1 flu shot so she had come out in sub-zero temperatures to sit and wait.  God bless her!

These people had been asking for information as officials arrived, but none was forthcoming.

They knew not if numbers would be handed out at any point in the process.

So, I scanned the length of the line, assessed the situation and figured, "What the hell.  It's now 9:30am; the clinic is opening at 11:00am.  If I go home now, and come back in an hour, I will be much further back in this queue.  I know the size of the hall that is being used for this clinic. Surely, if they open the doors at 11:00am, most of us who are now outside will be almost inside. And once I'm inside, how bad can it be?  Really.  How bad can it be?"

So, I gathered up my paraphernalia and got in the queue.

John went home and I would call him when I was finished (either waiting or getting my shot, whichever came first I guess).

It was coooollllllllllldddddd.

Fortunately, the woman in front of me had a blanket that she wasn't using and she was gracious enough to let me use it.  In spite of my wearing long johns and sweat pants, my legs were freezing! (And that poor woman, who was waiting so that her mother could bring her two-year-old at the appropriate time, ended up going home.   She was advised against inoculating her son now for health concerns, but she was not given the opportunity to speak with the appropriate health official until we got to the pre-screening point.)

At just before 11:00am, an official came along with the screening form asking people to review it and ensure that they were in one of the high priority groups.

Some people removed themselves from the queue.

The line moved up significantly at this point because of course the doors opened at 11:00am and the first lot of people were admitted to the building.

At around 11:15am, another official came along handing out numbered screening forms, asking us to complete them ahead of time.

Mine was #153 and they were being handed out sequentially BUT, according to the officials, the number did not mean that I was THAT number in the line-up -- it was just a number to tell them how many people were there.  Huh?  Come again?  OK.  If you say so.

Anyway, the line-up moved VERY quickly once the doors opened at 11:00am.

As my section of the queue was very close to the front, I overheard a woman who was coming out saying to a friend, "Well, you went in there at 11:10am and it's only 11:30am now so that's 20 minutes."  So I figured that things were going fairly well in there.

And once I was inside, I was in for a real treat!

I entered the building at 11:45am and waited in the "pre-screening" queue (after first visiting the desperately-needed washroom).

I was "pre-screened" (Do you have a fever? Please sanitize your hands if you haven't already done so.) at 11:53am and sent to the "registration" queue.

There were six registration stations feeding into a relatively large waiting room, which contained no more than perhaps four people at any time.

My turn at registration chair #4 came at 11:57am, and my already completed screening form declared me to be a member of the priority group.  I did not have to prove that I have asthma.  I  was asked for both my Health Card and Drivers' Licence, which were swiped into the computer system. Voila -- I was registered.   No other paperwork to do!  I was told to sit in the "waiting room" until my name was called to receive my shot.  I left the registration desk at noon (I asked questions and I'm slow getting up off chairs).

In the waiting room, I was assigned #4 (the poor guy was going crazy trying to keep up with the computer throwing names at him so he decided to go with numbers -- we had a chuckle about who was going to keep track of who had which number).

There were ten vaccination stations feeding into a small waiting room which was almost full (those people who had received their shots must wait 15 minutes before leaving the premises).  I was directed to Vaccination Station #3.

The nurse asked me my name and located me in the computer (remember the computer entry at the registration desk?) and then asked me the requisite questions about reaction to other flu shots yada yada yada and when she got to the part about did I have any questions, she chuckled when I said:

"No, I've researched it very well.  But I'm high risk, and I can't get my seasonal flu shot until I get this one so frankly, I just want the damned shot."   By the time I got to the end, she was nodding her head, and saying, "just give me the damned shot, I hear you."

We then discussed the wait experience and she told me that last week in Smiths Falls (I believe), people waited outside for up to six hours!  I told her that I would not have been able to do that because of fibromyalgia, and I had pushed the envelope by waiting the length of time I had.  She agreed with me and said that I was wise to get the shot,  but I was also wise to recognize that I would have been putting myself at greater risk by doing what some people are doing.

She gave me my "damned shot" and told me to see Paul, as she pointed me in his direction.

Paul was standing at a table over by the exit door, with a printer behind him, and it was rolling out the completed forms that were being generated by the vaccination stations as inoculations took place.  He had the forms organized in alphabetical order by surname and very quickly found mine.  It is "Proof of Vaccination" and declares me to have received my H1N1 shot at 12:04pm -- just under 20 minutes after I entered the building.

I called John while I waited the requisite 15 minutes to ensure that I didn't suffer any untoward reaction to having received the shot.

At 12:30pm I was back home; precisely three hours after I got in that queue.

I guess that's not too bad, in the scheme of things.

I sat outside for longer than I should have and I know I'll pay the price big time for having done that.  And by the time we were waiting right outside the front door of the building, my hip was screaming in agony.  But by then, I was committed.  So, I know what I'm in for but I had to weigh the alternatives.

Because I want to get my seasonal flu shot.

But I first had to get my H1N1 shot.

Now I have.

So now I can.

And now, I'll get in a hot tub and try to massage the agony out of my poor aching body!