Week of Firsts

What a fun week I have had! On Monday, I received two envelopes from the U.S. Department of State. In one was my passport book, and in the other was my passport card. Even though I need the passport book to go to Cambodia, I decided to get them both. The card could be used when driving across the border (to Canada or Mexico) and serves as an extra form of identification, according to the lady at the government center who convinced me it would be a well-spent $30.  I have never had one passport before, much less two. I was positively giddy opening those envelopes. The passport book had a lovely scent, something like “new car” smell.  The card was very high tech and came with a special lined envelope to keep it in, so I don’t mess up the RFID technology in it (and also to protect me from unintentionally spreading around the information found on the card). It was also very shiny. I would put them aside, only to go back and pull them out again. I was touching, smelling, and admiring them all evening long. This is a real, concrete step toward going to Cambodia, and I am very much like one of my preschoolers with a new toy.

So that was Monday. On Tuesday, I went to the Mayo Blood Donor Center in downtown Rochester. I was hoping to be able to give blood. When I tried three weeks ago, my hemoglobin was too low (see “Something Unexpected” blog below). I was deferred for a week, but in a week’s time I had a cold and was deferred two more weeks out. I have been chomping children’s vitamins these past few days to try to get my hemoglobin go an acceptable level and -halleluiah! - I was successful! I was able to donate blood, which made me very happy. And that is connected to my travel plans as well. I believe that going to Cambodia will take me out of the blood donating business for a year. I only started donating just over a year ago (on my 50^th birthday), and it is something I love doing. Everything about it is satisfying to me. I put myself on the schedule for every 56 days, as recommended, but quite often I end up having to wait a week because of low hemoglobin.  This means that in donating 7 times, I have probably been to the donor center 10 or 11 times. I am hoping to be able to donate two more times before leaving for Cambodia, but that will depend on how cooperative my hemoglobin is.

I took this with my webcam. Matilda the cat is in her normal spot. :-)

And now for Wednesday of this stellar week! This was the day of my appointment to start getting immunizations for the trip. I had a nice long talk with Dan at the travel clinic at Olmsted Medical Center.  Shots up for consideration were Hepatitis A and B, typhoid, rabies, and Japanese encephalitis.  I also needed a prescription for anti-malarial pills. As Dan and I visited, he narrowed my list of shots to hepatitis A and B and typhoid.  I am still considering whether to get the rabies vaccine, as it is $1000 (not sure if insurance would cover it) and if I actually got exposed to rabies, it would only shorten the course of shots I would need, not eliminate them.  And we ruled out Japanese encephalitis all together. It would take a tremendously special set of circumstances for me to acquire that disease, and as I read online, under one case per year is reported among travelers in Asian countries.  Dan gave me a single shot for hepatitis A & B and invited me back to see him in a month for another of the same.  In almost the same exact spot, he also gave me my typhoid shot. He called in the prescription for the anti-malarial pills. I will probably pick those up this weekend (and hope to keep track of them for five months).

So I sit here this afternoon with a somewhat sore arm, feeling very good about my week so far. It is the beginning of a four-day weekend for me, since I don’t work Fridays and Monday is a day off for President’s Day.  I’ll be filling out paperwork and doing homework for the next trip meeting (Sunday, March 6). I am eager to share in the experiences of others who are also preparing for this big trip, to hear their stories. I am so very grateful for the opportunity to go to Cambodia this summer and for each step of the journey that takes me there. Thanks for sharing it with me!