Flu Shot

The first time I got the flu shot, I got violently ill soon after. It's hard to remember after all these years, but I was pretty sick. It had to be coincidence.

The second time I got the flu shot, I got violently ill soon after. Again, it was a long time ago, so I don't remember exact symptoms, but they matched the flu pretty closely. Despite a real possibility that it was coincidence, I resolved to never get a flu shot again.

The third time I got the flu shot, I was talked into it by my doctor. And sure enough, I got violently ill soon after. As with the other times, it was long enough ago that I don't remember it too clearly, but I recall complaining to my doctor that I'd gotten the flu from the flu shot. I again resolved to not get a flu shot again.

This year, many years after my last flu shot, I chatted with a Department of Health official as part of my new job as journalist (four months, yay!) and she was really curious about my story. She suggested it might have been the formula used, which has changed in the last few years. She asked me to consider getting a flu shot and seeing if it happened again, and reporting it all to her. I didn't have money for the shot, nor did my insurance kick in until later, so I waited and thought it over very carefully.

Yesterday I saw my doctor (insurance, yay!) and when she asked if I wanted a flu shot, I said yes, explaining my history with the thing to her. So, at 2:15 on Dec. 15, 2011, I got the latest flu shot. We will now see if I get any symptoms at all, and after a month I will report to the health official and let her know how it went.

So far, so good.