I took morning leave today to do my HPV Vaccination. Well, I was procrastinating for how many months ago when I decided to finally do it today because yes, it will be a new year next month, which means I am NOT getting any younger. And the cut-off age for this vaccination is up till 26 years old.
The moment I did a check-in on Foursquare at the Polyclinic telling I was doing my HPV Vaccination and telling other Princesses to get their jab as soon as possible before the age of 26, I had people texting, whatsapp-ing me regarding this HPV jab. So, I decided to blog to make it easier instead of telling the same thing over and over again. Hehehe!
Thanks to Allah, I am at an advantage somehow because my workplace does HPV testing and thus to those who are not in a Science field, let me start with:-
What is HPV and how does it link to Cervical Cancer?
HPV are actually a DNA Virus (Well, this part doesn't really matter much though. Hehe!) which is also called Human Papillomavirus for long. But it being a virus, it is usually harder to treat. There is medication around but most of the time, your immune system got to be really extra strong to fight it.
That is the reason why Flu they are usually cause by viruses are harder to treat compared to Cough and Sore throat that is caused by Bacteria because antibiotics are available to combat bacteria. But you can't use antibiotics to treat viruses, it just won't work. Why? Well, you need Science for this which I actually learn back then in my Polytechnic days and in my Uni now. Hehe! But if you are interested you can always google them. :) It'll be interesting to know.
Okay, let's come back.
Having a HPV infections could lead to less serious case like genital warts and a more serious case which is your Cervical cancer which is the top 3 cancer in Females. I shall not go more in depth to those High risk and other risk of HPV infections.
Who needs to be vaccinated?
Any females between 9 - 26 years of age can choose to be vaccinated. But it is highly recommended to those who is sexually active to get this jab done. And particularly for my case, it is due to genetics history. Like they said, prevention is better than cure.
How does this jab works?
Well, I didn't know how it works initially too but I had a friendly Malay nurse who did my vaccination just now. So I decided to ask her.
It is best to book an appointment 2 weeks after your menstruation has ended. This is because they want to make sure that you are not pregnant. I did go once to book an appointment and my menses was a month late, regardless telling them I wasn't pregnant and I am not married, they refused to do the jab for me. So, it was a wasted trip.
The jab comes in 3 doses. Yes, sadly they don't do just 1, this is for effectiveness of the vaccination. So after the first dosage of vaccination, the second dosage vaccination will be 1 month later. And the third will be 6 months after.
Payment method?
I don't know what other kind of payment method they offer. Probably you can pay cash by all mean but I decided to opt for Medisave which means I don't have to pay a single cent after the jab. Sign some documents and off you go. So the jab for this vaccination cost $120 PER DOSAGE. So, the whole vaccination will cost you $360. To me, as long as they don't ask me to pay cash, I am fine with it. Hehe! But I am not sure how much does other private clinic or wherever will charge you though.
Experience...
It was a quick one. After the nurse prepared everything, she had me shot with the syringe. She did explain to me on the side effects saying it will not cause any fever or whatsoever BUT the injection area will tend to hurt since it is injected through the muscle and not the vein. So after vaccinated, I was told to sit outside the vaccination room for 15 minutes to see if there is any adverse reactions like swelling, fainting, redness or anything.
15 minutes up and I was fine. So, I was allowed to go home.
The part where the needle was inserted, I didn't feel anything probably felt like an ant bite and when she released the syringe out, it wasn't painful either. The tiny wee bit of pain was bearable. It was only 3 hours later, then I start to feel drumming pain at the injection site and then your arms starts feeling a tinge of painful numbness like you can't even explain the feeling. It felt like muscle ache too but slightly hit you through your teeth kind of thing.
I came back to work after that since I was only on morning off and then I start to feel the same pain again at my arm but I was still able to do work. It was only when I reach home, the pain heightened even more and I started crying. Well, I cannot stand pain especially injection. Now I'm wondering how am I going to continue with the 2nd dosage which is only 1 month after. Haiyaz! But everything in life need sacrifices, so I shall be brave about it.
The vaccination might cause you little discomfort and pain but it will only last you probably 1 or 2 days that if, to me, it is worth the prevention. You just got to hang on there.
And shitake, I did not realise there is two HPV vaccination available. The Gardasil and Cervarix. Gardasil offers you more protection that Cervarix is and I did not ask what kind of jab they did on me. But I kinda saw the packagaging, it says Cervarix. Hmm...
---
Someone was supposed to accompany me but apparently, couldn't make it last minute. And so I had McDonald's breakfast all by myself since I was craving for it for quite sometime. Taking morning leave makes me feel like a tai tai somehow. I paid the bills and observe all sort of people around. I feel like as if I was paid yet I do not have to go to work at all. It was such a nice feeling. Hehe!
I managed to finish this but almost vomited. I even skipped lunch because I was already too full. Lol!
---
Anyhoos, after work, I had an appointment with my Gynae at Thomson Women's Clinic. Doctor did mention some disappointing news which I have some sort prepared myself to hear long time ago. But it wasn't that disappointing because he did mention that the situation can be helped. Dr. Adrian is really such a nice doctor. I did tell myself that if one day, if I were to get married and be pregnant. No doubt, I won't go elsewhere. I'll choose Dr. Adrian Woodworth as my Gynaecologist. HEHEHE!
Till here. I guess the arms needed rest for now.
XOXO,
Princess Azie Anni ♥
References:-
No comments:
Post a Comment