I wrote about…keeping up…with my
medical information the other day…which…made me remember…getting my last…actually
my first…Tdap…vaccination…I say first…because…the
adult vaccine was changed a few years ago…from…TD…tetanus/diptheria…to…Tdap…tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis…
Anyway…to make an long story…even
longer…seems there has been an increase in…pertussis…whooping cough…in recent years…so…all us school nurses got an email…recommending
that we get the new vaccine…
I’m pretty diligent about that kind
of thing…so…I rolled up my sleeve the same afternoon…and thought that would be
that…well…my arm was a bit sore…but…I expected that…
What I didn’t expect…was to
discover…a fairly…large…tender…lymph node…hiding behind my left collarbone…but…on
Sunday afternoon…when…all the doctor’s offices were closed…I did…
I must admit…it scared me half to
death…so…I did what I had to do…I Googled…yeah…I
know…you saw that one coming…you know me so well…anyway…what I found scared
me even more…lymphoma…that’s what all the sites said…would cause supraclavicular lymphadenopathy…
At some point…just before I Googled lymphoma treatments…I remembered…the Tdap
shot…could it be connected…yes…I
Googled that…and…somewhere…in tiny print…at the very end…of an obscure site…I found
what I was looking for…yes…Tdap…could cause that big honking lymph node…if the
injection was in the ipsilateral
appendage…
I have to tell you the truth…I’ve
been a nurse for a lot of years…and I didn’t have a clue…so…I Googled…one last
time…it meant…same side…and…yes…my injection…was in the left arm…I breathed
again…
But…I still called…and made an
appointment with my OB-GYN doctor the next day…just to be safe…he agreed…all
was well…but…since I was there…he might as well…do my yearly stuff…including…sending
me for a mammogram…
I went…and…thought…that was that…
Until…the hospital called me…there
was a lump…could I come back for an ultrasound…now…as frightening as this
sounds…I was at least 95% certain…that it was the same lump…that…I’ve had for
years…that had been biopsied…and was fine…so…I only fretted…I didn’t panic…
But…I did have to take off a second
day from work…and go for the ultrasound…but…they couldn’t find my old films…so…they
weren’t sure if it was the same spot or not…
A couple of hours…and…lots of
frustration later…we found films in the doctor’s office…that verified the spot…it
hadn’t changed…once again…all was well…
So…let’s recap…no…let’s not…it was
too much the first time…but…all of this…happened…as a result…of one little Tdap
shot…
Bertha…says
it is a lot like life…of course she would…she
says…my biggest messes…usually start…with…a small event…and then snowball…into
a fiasco…and…she’s right…they do…I always say…I get into the most trouble…when…I’m
minding my own business…
Well…she did say something else…about
my tendency to…make mountains out of mole hills…and…that if I didn’t settle
down…she was gonna take away my Google privileges…but…she couldn’t be serious
about that…could she…
No…surely not…so…for now…I’m just glad
that I’m not due for another Tdap…for seven more years…I hope I remember about
the lymph node by then…just saying…
Jane
