Saturday, November 22, 2008

Clinic B

Today (Friday) is a very scary day for some on the compound. In all honesty, this day rivals many other commonly known scary days, such as ‘Driver’s License Picture Day’, ‘Going to the Dentist Day’, and ‘Oops, There's No More Toilet Paper Day’. Today is the day we get our second round of immunizations. This is basically a very clinical way of saying SHOTS!!! Now don't get me wrong, I love the end result of the shots, but seriously the process here is a little on the sadistic side.

Let me just give you a run-down of how Shot Day goes. First, we have been divided into 2 groups (Clinic A and Clinic B). Group A has their clinic day on Tuesdays and Clinic B is on Fridays. My family is assigned to Clinic B; therefore, today we walk the green mile. The day starts out just like any other, as it is with most life altering days. The kids go to school, the parents go to school, the hungry birds sing, and the poor worms cower in fear!

Now, we do try our best to keep secret the dark purpose of the day, but invariably there is some blabber mouth that says, “Hey, good luck getting your shots today.” Seriously, that doesn't even make any sense, but by this time it’s too late... the damage is done. Instantly, the bright, happy faces of the children disintegrate into horror and confusion. Their innocent eyes flash towards ours expecting to find love and protection only to find that we are the primary ones leading them down the path of destruction.

On this special day, school lets out early for Clinic B children, who are abnormally quiet and pensive. Each family is assigned a time-slot and the waiting begins. At the appointed time, the poor family appears before the firing squad of nurses wielding their instruments of terror. The children begin to tremble and cry... the King family is next... we walk into the room... there are a surprising number of nurses present... the anxiety shoots through the roof as Dawn and I struggle to maintain control... the creatures resembling children, who suddenly have super-human strength, begin to rip the sheet rock off the walls and sling chairs around the room with their minds! Now Jacob, for the most part, is rather easy to manage since he is oblivious to the coming torture, but Isabel, who is resolutely planted UNDER her chair, begins emitting such a high-pitched shriek that I find it difficult to remain conscious. At that exact moment, Maddie initiates a full on barrage of emotional, heart-crippling pleas for rescue. All of which falls on deaf ears... not because we don't care, but simply because Isabel’s shrieking has resulted in us actually being deaf.

Once the deed is done, we walk back into the waiting area to find the faces of all the victims, who had the distinct misfortune to have been given the time-slot after us, completely lost in jaw-dropping shock and awe. After hearing screams befitting a medieval torture chamber, the shocked parents stare in disbelief into the inner room, expecting to see the nurses mopping blood off the floor, only to find normal, healthy looking children. It is at this point that any child, who had planned on being brave and strong, has now opted for flight rather than fight. Dawn and I pass by the stressed-out parents and simply smile politely and say, “Hey, good luck getting your shots today.”

In the end, we all are thankful for the wonderful immunizations and the tireless efforts of the nursing staff. And so the second round of Clinic B is completed...only one more to go. :)

A few things to pray for:

Our company is undergoing some major restructuring and our job may be changing. We were originally expecting to be going to Germany, but, because our company is centralizing all of its support services, we might have the option of moving to London where there is to be a large support office that is responsible for all of Europe.

  • Please pray for patience for Dawn and I during this transition and with the lack of information
  • Also pray for discernment for us and the leadership in deciding where our family will be stationed. We are really torn as to which would be a better fit for us.

3 comments:

Rod said...

NO TP DAY, that is scary...I have empathy for you as a parent... And I have empathy for the nurses as a nurse...

London? Do you have to go to school to learn to speak British?

auntie erika said...

Isabel,

You're a girl after my own heart. I used to be terrified of shots, but it gets better I promise.

Love,
Aunt Erika

JW Jenkins said...

You lost me at "pensive". I agree with your kids. Just wait until you two are ninety and slobbering against some wall. Your grown up kids will say calmly, "Stick 'em again!" I'll bet your hineys will look like wrinkled pin cushions. Kids never forget!! I also hate shots and would rather just take my chances. I love reading your stuff. I would write more, but I'm going to go off somewhere by myself and practice being "pensive".