I did it

Went and got the Tdap booster, I mean.

Any kind of vaccination is always fraught with fear for me - I've talked before about my un-remembered vaccine trauma as a child (penicillin shot, inexperienced nurse, wrong size needle). I don't remember it but my mother tells me that after that event, it was impossible to get me in for any kind of vaccine without a lot of drama. (It was only a couple years ago that I stopped crying at the dentist when I would need a Novocaine shot).

It's really 90% psychological. I expect it's going to HURT LIKE BURNING but it really doesn't. Either nurses have gotten a lot better than the ones I had as a child, or I've gotten more tolerant of the pain, or needles used for these vaccines have gotten smaller - I told the nurse how I was fearful and she had me sit down, look away, and she sat down beside me to administer the shot. It really didn't hurt and I thanked her for it not being a painful shot. (I suspect public-health nurses don't always hear gratitude from their patients). She gave it up really high in the arm which is the key with those intramuscular ones. (The time before the last time I got a booster, the nurse gave it too low - probably in the wrong muscle - and I had to wear a sling for a couple days just to avoid jarring the arm, it was that sore).

They don't charge for vaccines - I suppose it's a tax-supported thing - but they do have a donations jar and I threw $10 in it (the largest bill I had on me) as I was leaving; I figure that maybe they're not fully funded for all that they do - I know they provide pre-natal and small-child care for people who can't afford a pediatrician.

So that's taken care of, and I always have this burst of feeling invincible after I face down this fear. I didn't rip off my shirt and spin it over my head while going "WOOOOOOOO!" like Muscleman does, but I was MENTALLY doing that.

My arm is a little sore, but nothing terrible.And now I won't worry if I get hung up in greenbriar out in the field or while working in the garden. (You can contract tetanus from a poke from a thorn - it's highly unlikely, but possible.)