let's get a physical
I had my annual physical this morning. Nothing of note to report, really, largely because I see Dr. Brandon at least twice a year already just to get my PrEP prescription renewed. He took a look at the usual places on my body, and we discussed some maintenance stuff.
For instance: I got vaccinated this morning. That was a trick, don't get excited! It wasn't for COVID; I'm probably still at least a couple of months away from qualifying for that. This was just a booster shot for tetanus, which Dr. Brandon didn't even administer himself; a nurse who came in after he left did. She kind of cracked me up, too, because after she gave me the shot she said, "Now you can step on all the rusty nails you want!" I also freaked out a little at the moment of injection, as always, and then felt incredibly ridiculous when it was over almost instantly—I forget how much faster an injection is than when I get blood drawn.
I actually think I'm getting better at seeing needles, generally speaking, largely because they have become a sort of omnipresent iconography of COVID-19 vaccinations. People post pictures of themselves on social media with the needle stuck in their arms. And when I see it in movies or TV, I still turn away out of habit, but I don't really get immediately nauseated by it anymore. When the needle is coming to me, though, I still start to hyperventilate a little. The nurse today confessed that even though she administers shots all day, even she has to look away when someone gives her one. Interesting.
As for the rest of my time with Dr. Brandon himself, he does want me to get this series of three shots to get vaccinated for HPV, which apparently used to be recommended for everyone up to age 21 and just last year data came out showing it makes a difference to up that age to 45. I turn 45 next month (I just realized that the other day, by the way: 45! holy fuck) and Dr. Brandon was concerned that my health insurance may not cover it after then, and recommended I call Aetna to find out. I did, after I got back home, and apparently I get full coverage for it and they have nothing that says anything about an age restriction. So I'll probably get it done when I next have to get an HIV test, in June.
Oh, and one last thing: Dr. Brandon asked me about my "healthy eating" habits, and I confessed I eat a lot of pasta and a pretty good amount of bread. He asked if I eat white bread and I said no, and he said whole grain breads are generally fine actually. Oh? Okay, then. One loaf a day for me from now on!
Okay I take it back. One more last thing: the evolution of Dr. Brandon's PPE over the past year has been fascinating. I had my 2020 annual exam the week after we returned from Australia last year, and schools shut down in Washington State literally the very next day. At my appointment, Dr. Brandon had no protective gear on at all; when Shobhit had his appointment one week later, he texted me a photo of Dr. Brandon in a getup just short of a hazmat suit. He's been in a face mask (as have I) every appointment since, but when I last saw him he also had on special goggles to protect his eyes, but today he was back to just his regular glasses. I did read recently that people who just wear regular glasses are less likely to catch coronavirus than those who don't, as they offer some measure of protection in their own right. I have just kept on wearing my contact lenses this entire time, but I do double mask now, and have for a while ever since the CDC recommended it. Interestingly, no one I saw at Virginia Mason had any more than one mask on, but maybe their single masks are higher quality, I don't know.
As for last night, I once again managed to both watch and review a movie, and get some editing and uploading done on digitized home videos, again largely while Shobhit attended his online Project Management class. So, no shopping this time, although I did drive to the office and back right after my work day ended; I didn't bike this time as it was raining.
Anyway, the movie was a free digital screening accessed via my SIFF membership: Land starring and directed by Robin Wright, about a grieving woman who isolates herself by living off the grid in a cabin in the mountains of Wyoming. Probably virtually no one will watch this movie, but I quite liked it.
The video clips I added to Flickr were all part of the trip to Washington, D.C. in April 2000, with Danielle and Barbara and visiting Beth. I have another tape's worth of videos to edit and upload, but I need to backtrack to the Boston trip from March 2000 first. Also, especially after adding a bunch of video clips, as soon as I get some more spare time I think I'm finally going to break that photo album, for a trip that lasted roughly a week, into separate sets by day, just like I did the 1999 road trip to San Francisco.
[posted 12:39 pm]