Vaccinations

Determining which vaccinations we needed and getting them quickly was a priority.  Reaching this topic was fairly easy as the CDC has a website that outlines vaccines needed for each country around the world. Also, Genelle's & Ray's website  was very helpful, but as discussed previously, we elected not to get the rabies vaccines.  List in hand and with numerous questions, we went to see our doctor, Dr.Maliha Qadir.  After a lengthy discussion and the always fun yearly exam, we settled on the following:

Hepatitis A (1 injection)
Hepatitis B (3 injections)
Tetanus (1 injection)
Adult booster of polio (1 injection)
Adult booster of measles, mumps, rubella (1 injection)
Typhoid (a series of 4 pills taken every other day)

Elvira (I kid you not, this was her name) was sent in to administer the injections. Hopefully we would not have an adverse reaction, there were so many to chose from, or begin to glow in the dark. Once we start taking the anti Malaria pills, we should be immune from virtually everything.

What cute little round band aids!  I must admit that Elvira was a wizard with the needles and ironically, the pricks were painless.

Additionally, we got quite a number of prescriptions to take with us:

Amoxicillin for Gina and Azithromycin for Phyl since penicillian can kill her in 30 minutes.  These will cover basic infections.  An Epipen for Phyl, just in case. Cipro for both of us in case (of for when) we get the Asian version of Montezuma's revenge.  Transderm-Scop Patches for Gina since it seems I am developing more and more motion sickness as I age and would prefer not to barf on a bus, train or tuk-tuk. And starter doses of Mefloquine, the malaria prophylaxis, that we will take weekly, beginning the week before we leave.  This is the one drug that has us worried due to the horrible side effects so many people experience.  Dr. Qadir says the weekly pill has less side effects than the daily one, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. Once we get to Asia we'll get more malaria pills as they are plentiful and much cheaper than in the US.

Neither of these lists includes the over the counter stash of pills we'll have for allergies, diarrhea, upset stomach, headaches, body aches, etc.  I'll just toss all of those into one large container since I know the pills by size and color and because Phyl derives so much pleasure from yelling at me when I do this.

More on how do we do this?

It was decided that we would leave our belongings in storage in Cali and the U-haul research was scrapped in favor of a search for a storage facility.  We began to purge even more and I would bring everything to a co-worker whose mom volunteers at a battered women's shelter.   We also began to research the shots we would need.  We consulted the CDC website and some blogs I found of people who are currently backpacking in Asia (Specifically, Operationbackpackasia.com -   I Facebook friended Ray & Genelle and began to correspond with them and they were so sweet and have been such a great resource.) 

Ray & Genelle got every vaccine known to man and it cost them a fortune.  We decided that we'd get everything they got, except Rabies vaccines.  If we were bitten by a wild dog or monkey or whatever, we could always get the shots afterward.  We'd hold off on that particular treat until it became absolutely necessary.  After deciding that we would not get the Rabies shots and the need to stay away from the monkeys that hang out around the Wats, Phyl sends me this article:

Monkey Bites Off Owner's Thumbs

Disabled Vietnam Vet Gives Up Pet After Another Attack

Her subject line:  I told you monkey's are mean!!!

P -  I still don't want to get Rabies shots, but I'm serious about you staying away from monkeys hanging around those temples.  You have to be safe and I know you'll be wanting to hold them and pet them and take a million pictures.
G-  I never doubted you.  I sure don't want a monkey on my back.  hahahaha!  Just like you, I don't want to contract rabies in a foreign land.
P - I don't want to contract rabies ANYWHERE!
G-  If I get rabies, I promise not to bite you.  Should we carry mace with us?  Is that even allowed?
P-  If I'm traveling all over Asia with all of my shit in a backpack on my back, I might need to be carrying a cane, so I can always beat attacking monkeys with my cane.
G-  Can we get arrested for assaulting  monkeys?  I'm not going to an Asian prison on a monkey battery charge.  We'll just avoid the monkeys.  Ok?
Speaking of carrying our stuff in packs on our backs, we need to start researching the kind of backpack we will need.  I've done a little research and it is completely overwhelming. I think we should go to REI this weekend and get someone to help us.