Travel Clinic Finale

We think we have had our last trip to the Travel Clinic. Yeah! The boys certainly don't want to go back. They received their final Hep A & B shots as well as Menactra. Actually all four of us were immunized for meningitis. We will still have to pick up our malaria prescriptions and prescriptions for a broad spectrum antibiotic to bring with us, such as Cipro. We were also shown a kit we could purchase with needles and syringes. Apparently it's a good idea to bring your own sterile needles and what-have-you, in case you ever have to have blood drawn for some reason in a developing country. This was not something I had ever even considered. The kit costs $14.99 so not a big deal. We will probably get one. If we buy it, we won't need it. If we don't buy it, we surely will. Isn't that always the way? So it's a little like insurance I guess.

The nurse also told us about a site called IAMAT, which stands for International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers. This looks quite good. You can pull up a malaria risk chart and see which parts of the world are most affected, that kind of thing. You can also access a database to find an English-speaking doctor in just about any country in the world. That could also be handy. I figure I should learn how to use that so that we never need it.

One really neat thing happened at the final travel clinic appointment and that was that Mitchell discovered a book in the waiting room entitled "The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores and Primates" by Richard D. Estes. Now this book is not really a kid's book. The only pictures are black-and-white line drawings, no glossy action photos of lions or elephants. Nevertheless, he was completely enthralled with this book and could not put it down. His 12th birthday is coming up this week so we have a copy for him, plus his own digital camera. I will have to make sure he doesn't read this blog for the next little while.

Only 8 weeks until we leave. Work is busy, of course, and we are in full swing finishing our basement for our tenants. So it feels like time is moving at warp speed. More updates to come . . .

Another Shot in the Arm

Yesterday we got our 2nd rabies shot, in the series of 3, plus a few others including the Typhoid one. In case you're wondering why we're doing them so far ahead of our departure, it's simply to avoid having the kids get a whole pile of shots in a short space of time.
We're trying to spread them over the next 10 months so as not to overwhelm their immune system with all this foreign material, and also not overwhelm them with pain! If you look at Jackson in this picture, the word pain pretty much summarizes the expression on his face. Mitchell seems to be taking it all in stride, though. We tried to explain to Jackson the concept behind vaccines - namely, how this little bit of pain prevents far graver illness. He then asked, "so I won't get sick again? I won't get a cold?" Ah, little one. No cure for the common cold. Adults are smart but we aren't that smart.
I found that my arm that got the typoid shot was pretty sore today - I looked like a bit of a fool in the parking lot of the school I was at today, trying to hurl my heavy suitcase of materials into the back of my car with my one good arm. But the good news is that, truly, all our vaccinations are covered! What a blessing that is. Ciao for now.

Travel Health Scare X 4

Well, just ignore the previous post in which I optimistically forecast a blog by my boys on interesting travel stories they were reading. They don't feel like it . . . ever heard that before? However, I will cut them some slack. They've just finished the school year and have been in action-packed camps these past 2 weeks while I wrap up the school year at my work. You know your kids are in good camps when they come home exhausted at the end of each day. Always a good sign.

I'm feeling a bit panicky now that we're only a year away from our year away. We started this blog as a kind of virtual scrapbook of our travels, including our planning and preparations. So I will note for the record that I'm feeling vaguely nauseous and overwhelmed at the thought of all there is to do. One thing is for sure - a list needs to be made. A serious mother list. At least if we write down what needs to be done, there can be the semblance of order and progress. Or at least the hope of it.

Anyway, one of the things on the list (the list that, at this point, only exists in my mind) is to get travel health info such as what vaccines and immunizations will we need and what is the recommended schedule to receive them. And the truly scary part . . . what will it all cost? So I scheduled a consultation with the Riverside Travel Medicine Clinic. The nurse I met with was very knowledgeable and was a bit surprised, I think, by the scope of our trip. The forms I was given to complete left all of three lines to write down your anticipated travel destinations. She had not set aside much time for this initial consultation ($130 for a family of four, by the way, and then $12 per person for each additional visit), so clearly we will be back a few more times over this next year. I had bookmarked a couple of good sites about vaccines required for travel abroad - the Canadian one (Public Health Agency of Canada) and the U.S. one (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), so I had a vague idea of what we might need but the cost . . . oh my.

I learned we will need many of the vaccines I was expecting, as well as a couple I had not even thought of (such as rabies). Apparently, there is currently a worldwide shortage of rabies immune globulin and it is very expensive. There are many stray dogs in south-east Asia and anyone (especially a child who loves to pet dogs) who is travelling there for an extended time is strongly encouraged to get the intradermal rabies vaccine before going. If you get bitten, you would still need an additional two doses of rabies vaccine but not the hard-to-come-by rabies immune globulin. Sold. So that's a mere $180 per person. And we aren't just one person, we're FOUR. Then the nurse gave me the prices of a few other immunizations, including:

• typhoid ($44) - remember to multiply all of these times FOUR people - no discounts for kiddies


• yellow fever ($98 per person) - did I mention times FOUR?


• meningitis (it was either $125 or $145 per person or that may have been two different strains in which case we're looking at $270 per person)


• hepatitis A and B - some of us have these, for sure Jackson does not yet - cannot remember what she said these cost, I think the nausea was worsening at this point and I fell behind in my note-taking


• Japanese encephalitis (maybe, depends on time of year)


• malaria pills (there are different types - one pill she discussed with me was Malarone - a cool $5.40 per pill - you need to take one pill per day while in the malaria zones and then for one week following) - that's alot of pills and in case I neglected to mention earlier, that would be times FOUR people


• cholera? (cannot remember)


• diptheria, tetanus, polio - covered by OHIP - thank you OHIP!


• the most common ailment travellers suffer is usually diarrhea (most likely caused by some food or drink ingested - wash it, peel it, cook it is apparently our new mantra) and/or influenza. So the flu shot is recommended, as well as taking a supply of common medications (Imodium, oral rehydration salts) and antibiotics.


• lastly, we will need mosquito repellant with DEET and the travel clinic also sells a mosquito net that has been soaked in Permethrin ($50)

When I got home, I pulled out my little calculator and did not like the sum I arrived at. Here's the unexpected good news . . . yes, I shall end this post on a happy note . . . some of these vaccines may actually be covered by our employee health plans. Not the consultations or injection fees, but some of the actual vaccines. The young lady at the insurance office associated with my work assured me most would be covered; however, as she looked to be about 12 years of age, I will believe it when I see it. After all these years of paying premiums for benefits we don't often use, we will definitely be submitting these receipts.