Vaccine Shortages

Since I have decided to blog, I have been wondering the last few days, what in the world in am I going to blog about. So little seems to be happening in my life right now as I am at home slowly working at my to-do list. Well, as of lately, I have been a little less excited about Peru as I have been saying some final good-bye's to friends and wondering why I am willingly taking off for a year and leaving all of them behind. This past week I have realized that even "the family" which all loves each other dearly, moves on with life when not together, and sometimes it is a sad thought to me that, although not intentionally, we will slowly move apart and that some things will just become memories. Despite this I still feel like God is calling me to Peru and today I was reassured of that.

As soon as I decided for sure where I was going to go this next year, I began working on all of the details, such as getting my health center check up and necessary immunizations. Getting a appointment at the health center was easy and in one quick visit I had acquired all of the vaccines I needed except one, the Yellow Fever vaccine. I was told by the NP at the office that they did not offer this one and that I would have to get it through the health department. No big deal I thought, I would just call in the next day to set up a appointment.

Well the next day in class when things started to get a little boring, instead of putting my head on my desk and snoozing for a bit, as I often did, I snuck outside to make the phone call. Well after being transferred from one department to another, finally I found myself speaking with the correct women in the overseas travel part of the department. After a few minutes of conversation though, I was notified that there was a yellow fever vaccine shortage and that since the place I was going to was only on the recommendation list for the yellow fever vaccine, I would not be able to get the vaccine til right before I left and to check back in August. So I told her I was actually leaving for camp in June and could I please get it before then. The lady stated that it would okay to get it in June and to make a appointment later. Just to make sure there weren't any quicker options, I checked at both my local and the Knoxville health departments who promptly told me they did not offer that vaccine.

As I walked home that day I was amazed that there really could be a shortage of a vaccine that I hadn't heard of before. Maybe Hep A or Hep B that EVERYONE has to get before they go over-seas, even for a two week mission trip, but a random one like Yellow Fever-go figure! Oh well, in my mind the problem was solved.

That is until today.

Several weeks ago, I had mentioned this occurance to a friend that worked at the Chattanooga health department and he had talked with the people there and they had once again said it would be no problem for me to get the vaccine. So today I decided to call and try to set up a appointment for this next week when I had to go to Collegedale for a public health class. I was going to aim for one on Wednesday because that was officially the last day of the classes. So I dug up the number for the health department and made the call. The lady who answered was nice enough, but sounded like she meant business. I starting explaining my situation to her but before I could even finish, she cut me off and stated that they only had vaccines enough left for those who already had appointments and that I would have to look elsewhere.

At first I was kind of stunned and didn't know what to say. I told her my whole story-that I was told I could get one later, that I needed to get it in June, that I had already looked elsewhere, etc. She was unsympathetic though and stated I should perhaps look into Atlanta's or Nashville's health department. The thought of going an extra eight-hour round trip was not sounding very good to me, keeping in mind that those places might not have any available either. I voiced my concerns and stated that I was going for a whole year, I couldn't just take my chances, that the organization I was going with was stating it was absolutely neccessary, wasn't there any way to get on a waiting list or pay extra? Finally the lady put my on hold when she realized I wasn't
going to give up . A few seconds later she got back on and asked if June 3 would work for me. I quickly grabbed my planner and found June.....no way! June 3 was this next Wednesday, the very day I was going to set up a appointment for. I confirmed the appointment day and time and mumbled some thanks before getting off the phone. Never had I been so excited about getting this $170 shot. Not only did God work it out for me to get the shot, but He even had the perfect day set up for me!

Through this experience I realized that God is definately in charge of my life. I think I also learned that conflict and not backing down is sometimes a good thing, even if I hate them both :) Interesting to see how He challenges me to grow in even the most unlikely situations of life.