Checking things off my list...one shot at a time.

I had a lovely visit with the health center staff today to knock out two more immunizations from my never ending list. I'm now done with the MMR booster and the second round of Twinrix for Hep A & B. With those two off the list, I've got meningitis, polio, typhoid, and the third round of Twinrix left. Thankfully it's not much hassle to walk in to the clinic and get what I need for the shot based immunizations, but the typhoid requires a bit of planning.

I opted for the 4 capsules, but this particular prophylaxis needs to remain refrigerated. We have a refrigerator in our office, but since the medication needs to be taken every other day - I'll need to transport it home anyway. My prescription was already written and I can pick it up anytime, but sooner would be better. Apparently this one doesn't play nicely with the malaria prophylaxis I'll need to take. With months ahead, I can easily finish the typhoid course well before my trip commences.

If you haven't had the pleasure of Vivotif, which is the brand name of the typhoid prophylaxis I'm preparing for, you can always find piles of peer reviewed journal articles to sooth or skyrocket your fears. As of late, my favorite was published last year in the International Journal of Experimental and Clinical Chemotherapy. The title is Vivotif® - A 'Magic Shield' for Protection against Typhoid Fever and Delivery of Heterologous Antigens

It's not often you find the word "magic" in the title of a journal article... click HERE if you're up for the challenge of reading it. Vivotif is an attenuated live oral vaccine.

In other news, my passport did arrive on December 8th. I was quite excited about that. Hooray for the USPS. Additionally, my friend Theresa has settled her flights as well so we'll be on our trips simultaneously.


To prevent the possibility of chickening out on the Kilimanjaro trek, it's definitely time to begin ramping up the hiking schedule.




It's been quite cold lately, but I have managed to get in a few 6am hikes these last few days thanks to visiting researchers in our area. Nothing like sunrise above the riviera.

Crawling the Internet

My dear friend Catherine provided me with a wealth of protective clothing information, and I've just been waiting to pounce on any holiday sales. Thank God for her, because I was relatively clueless. Most likely, the sales won't arrive until the spring when cold weather clothing goes out of demand.

So on my list you'll find Capilene and Biostretch Baselayers from Patagonia...
The trick is to layer bottoms, t's, and zip necks. Capilene is light weight, wicks moisture, and is made from at least 50% recycled materials! Hooray for the planet.

When I'm not searching aimlessly,

I use Zingsale.com to track prices for me.






Check it out if you haven't heard of this super cool website. You do a search for what you want to purchase, it finds websites that sell it, and you enter the price you want to pay. When the price drops to or below your specification - you get an email with details and a link to the vendor. Their logo chick is kinda hot don't you think?

I've also been doing a lot of agonizing over Kilimanjaro tour companies. Climb prices are all over the place and it's really hard to compare them because they all list the same information for the most part. Luckily I have my friends in Kenya to do some checking for me, although they've been incredibly busy as of late.

While taking a break from my usual academic rock-stardom - I did a Google search for "Kilimanjaro 2009" to see what trips had been added since my last check a few months ago. In the process, I fell upon another blogger planning a trip with her dad.
http://onebigmountain.blogspot.com/

And the last tidbit of information for this lively entry: My passport is totally on it's way. This morning at 1:55am, it was approximately 82 miles away - in a USPS distribution center. I can't wait - any day now. Maybe even today when I get home... but better not to put that much faith in the US postal service...

On the Vaccine Super Highway to Immunity....

Well, today was the first round of vaccinations... my oh my what a list of things I needed. Apparently, an MMR booster is now recommended which I'll need to go back for but I did manage to walked out with about half of what I'll need for my trip:

• Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis
  
• Hep A & B
• Influenza (yes I finally broke down and got one and will need another one in May)

I still need to finish the Hepatitis series, Typhoid, Meningococcal, Yellow Fever, maybe Polio, and as I mentioned earlier; an MMR booster. The four shots I got today took 2 hours. Here at UCSB it's almost like a counseling session. I walked out of there with about 50 pages of information and feel like Bob the travel vaccine guy should be a family member at this point.

I have to go back for another information session before getting the malaria prophylaxis prescription, altitude sickness medication, and Cipro to treat any potential bacterial infections. Most of this falls in the "better-safe-than-sorry" category but I have to admit that the process is a bit intimidating.

At least I didn't have to deal with the military style inoculation guns - something I thought I had blocked out of my childhood memories...

With the exception of a little soreness in both arms, I'm all good. The actual injections were low on the pain threshold for me at least. Since the hepatitis vaccine is a combination of both A & B, it did hurt a little bit more than the others solely because the volume of medication was twice that of the others. In any case, I survived!

Flight Booked!

Holy cow- things move quickly.



After confirming dates with Peter, I am now the lucky owner of a seat on one of Virgin Atlantic's flights from LA to Heathrow and then on to Nairobi. I've been watching flights for a few weeks now and decided to try to land one of the long overnight layovers between LA and Nairobi so I'd have a chance to see an additional city. It was a tough choice between Dubai and London until Virgin Atlantic significantly dropped their fares. Perhaps the fares will continue to decline, but friends here and abroad have told me that I'm getting a great deal.

I'm acquainted with a few people in London which may add to the fun if they're around during my 23 hour layover. It also looks like my Marriott rewards points will finally come in handy with about a dozen choices in London.

In other news, I started the passport process today too. Mine has to be renewed ($75) and it looks like my old one will be replaced with a new one. I'll be sad to lose my one stamp, but maybe it's just an indication that I have to return to Trinidad and Tobago to get that stamp back in my collection.

It also seems that there are new passport products available here in the states. A new card helps expedite passage into the US from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda when entry is via land or port.

More information:
Book vs Card

Starting the Immunization Process.

Today I took the first official step towards my Kenya / Tanzania trip: Immunizations.

Turns out, I need to bring my immunization record but I have no idea where that is. I haven't had a single immunization since I was a kid. This will be an adventure for sure.

So in my immediate future, as in Tuesday Nov 18th at 8:30am:

1. MMR
2. DPT
3. Yellow Fever
4. Hep A
5. Hep B
6. Typhoid
7. Meningitis
8. Rabies
9. Maybe Polio

The best place to find out what you might need if you're heading abroad is the CDC's website:
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx