The Flu Shot

I bet it's been 10 years or so since I last had a flu shot.  I remember they were being offered at no charge where I worked and I my boss was in line with me.  I also remember getting a little snarky a few days afterward, but it wasn't too bad.  However, about four to six weeks later I came down with a flu that knocked me flat for over a week.  Haven't done it since.  Until last Wednesday, when one of the research nurses, responding to an email from me, said they really wanted me to have one.  So I made the appointment and got it done this afternoon.  I'm anticipating nothing happening.  Here's why:

The MS medication I've been shooting up with since August of 1998 is an interferon.  The primary side effects of interferons are "flu-like" things such as fever, muscle aches, chills, blah, blah, blah.  I learned tricks to minimize the effects, like popping Tylenol or Motrin prior to the injection, or doing the shot at night in  an attempt to sleep through the worst of it.  I've even gone so far as to get shitfaced drunk so I could pass out!  Well, okay, I only did that once and the hangover was NOT worth it.

My point here is, I've been experiencing - or skating around - a remarkable facsimile of the flu, for approximately the last 540 weeks.  The vaccine ought to be a cakewalk.