Getting Ready

Now that we have accepted our referral we are waiting on a court date. There have been lots of people before us who find out their court date a week prior. We aren't ones to plan a trip across the globe with only one week notice, so we are getting ready now.

There are certain immunizations that are needed. We've been told it's best to get them done at the health department as they are less expensive than getting them at your doctor's office. A friend of mine said they had to make an appointment and have some of the immunizations shipped from Atlanta (where the CDC is). I called the health department only to find out that things had changed since my friend traveled to Ethiopia 3+ years ago. They do not make appointments. It's a first-come-first-served basis.

"O.K." I said to the [lady on the phone]. "I just need to make sure you will have the immunizations we need. We've heard you may have to order them from Atlanta."

"You'll have to ask the nurse that question and she is only here on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"O.K. Thanks"

Tuesday (today) gets here and I call the health department as soon as I got home from taking Raine to school. I went through the same spill as before.

"You'll need to speak with the nurse and she is in clinic right now. I will transfer you to her voicemail."

By 3:30 I still had not recieved a call from "the nurse." So I called again. This time I said, "I need to speak with someone who can help me. We need to get immunizations for travel to Ethiopia and I understand you may need to order them from Atlanta."

"The only lady that can help you is in clinic right now."

"No one else can answer my question?"

"No."

"O.K. Thanks."

Jonathan said, "Let's just get them done at the doctor's office." By this time, we didn't care. Certain immunizations take 20 days to become affective. Mathematics says we better hurry. I called our doctor to make an appointment. The earliest he had was November 26. Sigh. I then read the immunizations we would need. The receptionist said, "We don't carry all of those. We will have to refer you to the health department.

to be continued