Reminder: Get Your Tetanus Booster
I think I’m becoming more neurotic as I get older. I’ve never identified with the galaxy-far-far-away’s best known worrisome robot, C-3PO. But as I am getting older, I can understand his neurosis.
A little over three weeks ago, I flew to San Francisco to escape the poor air quality from the LA fires. I took BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to my hotel, got off at Powell Street, exited on the escalator, and… I fell.
Call me Clutzy Croft.
I scraped both my knees on the escalator. Luckily, no one was around to see my fumble. My knees, bruised and bleeding, felt really bad, but my ego hurt more.
I checked into my hotel, then made a quick trip to the ice machine. As I sat on the bed in my hotel room icing both knees, my neurotic mind wandered.
How filthy is that public transit escalator? What are my odds of getting tetanus? When was my last tetanus shot? Is this how I die?
I consulted Dr. Google.
The CDC reports that the tetanus bacteria lives on 70% of surfaces.* The Joyce brain was reporting that it was indubitably, 100% on that grimy escalator—along with other diseases I don’t want to think about–and I was certain it was now making its way inside of me!
Did I hit my head, also?
I began to hear the neurotic-robotic voice from The Empire Strikes Back saying, “I’m not ready to die!”
I fell. I don’t want to die from a fall. I don’t want tetanus to be the thing that kills me.
According to Doc Googs, tetanus, left untreated, can be fatal. It causes lockjaw, muscle stiffness, respiratory failure, and brain damage.
As my mind continued to reel about dying from a trivial injury, I felt I was already experiencing brain damage.
I can hear the report: “Clumsy Joyce, fell on a dirty Bart escalator, and died days later from an easily avoidable tetanus infection.”
So, I checked into the nearest ER, got my scrapes cleaned and bandaged, and updated my tetanus vaccine.
The last time I fell, went to the ER, and got my tetanus shot, was exactly eight years ago, in January 2018. I had two more years left on that vaccine, but I insisted I needed my booster. And now, I am good for my next fall. In eight years.
The CDC recommends that adults get a tetanus vaccine every ten years. Be sure to get yours every ten years. Or every eight years, if you’re on the doom-and-gloom Joyce schedule. Don’t let tetanus get ya.
When it comes to my physical health, I am quite happy to be like the neurotic, anxious, and worrisome gold-plated droid from Star Wars. I worry when I am sick or injured, because this body is the only one I’ve got. It has lots of miles to go. It asks for very little in return. So I continue to take care of it, and keep it healthy and happy. I intend to give myself the best shot at a good life.
Take care of your body. It’s the only one you have to get through this life.
*The “70%” likely refers to the percentage of wound types that could potentially be at risk of tetanus infection, not the percentage of surfaces where the bacteria actively lives, meaning a wound contaminated with soil or debris from a potentially contaminated environment has a 70% chance of carrying tetanus bacteria.