The TB Affair (BCG)

10^th November 2012:  It was time for us to get Maya her first visit here in Oman to the doctor.   The debate is, do we go to the doctors at Muscat Private, who happens to be a Swede.  I like it. But a good part of me also tells me, if he is like the doctors I have encountered in Sweden, then I would not do it even if I am offered money.  Lets not get into details on that.  But I am very apprehensive on that front. For that matter, any doctor from the continent.  That again, from my recent experiences in Netherlands. 

We also have to give her, her Tuberculosis shot.  It is called the BCG. The Bacille Calmette-Gierin vaccination.  I bet most did not know that. Since TB is not prevalent in Europe it is not part of the standard shots,  set by the World Health Organisation for that region.  Which is fine.  Still, Oman is another story.  We have people from the entire tropical belt of the planet working in Oman, and Tuberculosis has a party here.  For the shot, we thought it will be easier to go to  familiar grounds.  Starcare!  Yes, we are back there.  We are told that we must see the doctor before we give the shot.  Which I guess is a good thing. We walk in, and a darling the doctor is!  Dr.Achini De Silva. Yes. I liked her, so did Ingrid.  For some reason, instantly, we took a liking towards her.  She was kind to Maya and advised us on what we need to know.  She gave us clear instructions on what to do.  We were told to go upstairs and did not want us waiting for long, as she felt that Maya must not be exposed to any infection.  How thoughtful of her. 

We went upstairs.  And tried explaining  to the nurses, that she has got her 1st doses in Amsterdam and we only need the BCG. That was a bit of a hurdle. We had this matron cum part-time ‘witch’ who came up to us,

‘Where is the pink book?’

‘What pink book?’ I snapped back.

‘Pink book! Pink book!’ she says.

‘We do NOT  have a Pink book, because she was inoculated in Amsterdam! They do NOT give pink books there’ I said.

I intentionally used the word inoculated, as that would actual make them run for the dictionary to check what that means.  In the meantime, I can get on with her BCG shot.

'Go ask the doctor, she will explain all you need to know' I retorted.

She left.  Phew!!!

As a procedure, Maya was weighed and her length recorded. That was a pleasant surprise to us, as we did not expect it.  The good news is that she now is,  4940gm.  And her length was 62cm.  Now considering the weight of her nappy to be 80 grams, we can conclude the following.

Age      : 2 Months plus 7 days

Weight  : 4860 grams

Height   : 62 cm  (I'm rather skeptical about this number)

After which, we went to the room, where a Philipino nurse gave Maya her BCG shot.  Of course she cried, but it seemed so mild to her that she stopped nearly instantly.   

So far it has been all good.    Our next appointment for the next shots will be on the 2nd of December 2012.  Until then, we go home with a happy and smiling Maya!