Today and a good quote

OSHA has apparently taken one more nosy step into my life... we are now required to have annual health checks to work with animals. And they get to decree what vaccinations we require and how often and all sorts of fun things. I was getting a hard time at my appointment because the survey we had to fill out asks if we are allergic to animals and if we have had any itchy eyes etc from working with them... so I said yes. (all furry things but dogs seem to cause me some problems) but basically they are minor and I really just deal with it... I mean I have a cat who makes me sneeze... so roomba +allergen reduce febreeze+ no cat on the bed makes it all just dandy. Anyway, since the mice occaisionally make me sneeze, I noted that on the form... now they want to sign me up for all sorts of pulmonary function tests. ugh. I think not. If I start having more problems with them than I do in my own home, or if my reactions get worse... then I will let them know-- but til then- they can just hold their horses.

On the vaccine front... I am a BIG supporter of vaccines-- I am just personally opposed to the tetanus vaccine for myself. I hate them. I get a sore arm for 2 weeks and it gets weak and just generally screws things up for days. But, OSHA says I have to have one... and not just the Tetanus-Diptheria... I have to get the TDaP-- so that adds in Pertussis. Again, for a normal person... I think this is dandy and a good plan.... for me, I think it is unneccessary. I worked with Bordetella sub species, and in particular Bordetella pertussis for 3 straight years. I have absurdly high levels of anti-pertussis antibodies... my titers (and everyone who worked in that lab) are sky high... We used to try and harvest serum from lab members for some experiments (ahh... budget cuts) but we found that all the lab members serum killed the bacteria sooooo ridiculously fast that we couldn't even do the tests we needed-- so we started a trading program with a nearby lab that worked on a different bug-- they gave us samples and some folks from my lab gave samples to them... it worked. (and here's where you can insert the bad jokes about grad school not just taking sweat and tears-- but even wringing the blood out of you). Anyway-- I know pertussis isn't too bloody likely to be an issue for me. EVER, but nonetheless... vaccinated I am. Here's hoping this new formulation causes less side effects for me-- but based on how lousy my arm is feeling, I am thinking no.

I get to do the PPD this week too... silly nurse tried to give it to me today... that would mean reading either Saturday or Sunday... no one's in then... least I called her on that.
I asked towards the end of the appointment if there were any additional precautions or things I should beware of with the whole procreation/animal work thing... and she seemed very blase about it.. she did not inspire confidence to beleive her... so I asked about the whole procreation thing with some of the drugs I have to handle for work... and she also just sorta glided over them as non-issues. UGH. I was not so happy... ( I know some of the things are BAD... and I already talked it over with the other folks in lab.. and they will handle them for me! yay!)

Being over at the dr did allow me to at least make an appt with the wonderful nurse practitioner who is my primary care person... she's really swell and I am very glad I got on her patient list and off of the evil hypercritical doctor. (seriously.. who was she to say if I should or should not have the pill... for ethical reasons... when I called and scheduled the whole women's care appt with that in mind, why did she take the appt if she "never" prescribes them. grr... she's pissed off basically everyone who has seen her, maybe she's good with kids, but she is lousy with women.) So the point with the primary care person was to double check all the other vaccine stuff and if I need to take care of any other health crap before moving on with this whole "baby" thing.

Other than that... I have to nag craig to go get his tetanus... with all the construction junk we do... its only a matter of time til a rusty nail finds its way into a foot or something-- and better safe than sorry.

A cool quote by someone who is no longer with us from VT
"We need you all to sign these informed consent forms, after all, we can't treat you like prisoners, you're grad students, we treat you like slaves." ~Dr. Kevin P. Granata to his Biodynamics class Winter 2004