Virus

Virus

I have a living virus in me, and it was purposely put their by a much too eager Specialist at the Med-Shed today. Happy Valentines Day to me! Part of being deployed to a foreign theater is a slew of immunizations to protect you from the various bugs that live in that particular region. I originally had a bunch of shots at Benning, but I was told today that what I received wasn’t enough. Typhoid, Hepatitis B series and PPD, topped off with 3 punches of a needle dipped in small pox. Now I know that small pox almost wiped out an entire third world country in the past so it gives me the heebie jeebies to know that they are putting this bug into me in order to build my immune system against it. And to make you feel good about getting the needle jabs, they put a bunch of very graphic pictures on the wall of the exam room of what it will do to you if you ever got it (even more graphic than the picture of Ryan’s severed finger). I have to take especially good care of it for the next few days (don’t touch it, don’t wash or dry it with anything that you’re not going to throw away immediately afterwards, don’t go around pregnant people or people with skin disorders, don’t touch the spot and touch your eyes or open sores, don’t forget to change the bandage daily for 30 days, don’t look at it funny or call it names like Sally or Francis). I’ve seen a few small pox scars in my day and they don’t look all that pretty, so I’m going to be especially anal about taking care of this pre-battle wound to try and avoid being marked for life.