"Ashley Dusigner, your sister is here."

I went to the Wedgewood clinic in Westover last night to get the vaccines I need in order to go to the Dominican Republic! I've never been to this clinic before, so I went up to the window, they gave me the paperwork...I filled it out, sat down - and waited on them to call me back. A few minutes after I sat down, another girl walked in. She was in the military and needed something for a cold (i think). She signed her name on the list and sat down. As soon as they called her up to the window, I could see immediately the scenario that was about to play out. Her name was Ashley too. When the nurse stepped out into the waiting room to call patients, she called them by their first name only. Are you picking up on this yet?? So.. sure enough - the nurse calls "Ashley" (*me, since I was next in line*) and the other girl gets up and goes to the back. I'm wondering to myself how long it will take them to catch the fact that they were calling me... not her. I wait a little longer and they call again, "Ashley" - so I get up and head to the back. They do the exam that most doctors do on new patients... weight, blood pressure, pulse, breathing checks, reflexes... the normal routine. The practitioner comes in and starts asking me what I was there for and what I needed to be treated for. I told her I needed 3 vaccines for our trip: Hep A, Hep B, and Tetanus - and some oral meds for typhoid and malaria. She goes through a few questions and tells me she'll be right back with them. (I thought it was funny that even after all of this, she has not asked me my name, date of birth... and she didn't ask if i was pregnant (which i thought was weird... since i was asking for shots and drugs.) I'm sitting there.. waiting... and then I hear a knock on the door. Another nurse says to me, "Hey, you're sister is here and wants to know if she can come back." In the span of about 2 seconds I (1) get really really excited because I think my sister has driven 14 hours to see me (2) wonder how she knew I was at the doctors office (3) wonder how she knew I was at THAT doctor's office... since Steven didn't even know where it was. After 2 seconds of thinking all of that it hits me: THEY STILL HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT! I tell her, "Um... I don't have a sister (was easier than explaining my sister lived 14 hours away and that there was no possible way she was here)" The nurse says, "She said she was here for Ashley Dusigner (i can't completely remember her last name, but I do know it started with a D)." I said to her, "My name is Ashley Alexander." Her eyes got wide and she froze... I then had to tell her what took place 20 minutes ago in the waiting room. She said, "OOOHH MYYY GOODNESS!" and walked out. Later on, I hear them in the hallway saying, "Wow! I'm really glad they were back to back and not 10 patients apart! Here, switch their charts!" So then I'm thinking, wow... what if that girl came in to get a penicillin shot ... and I was allergic?!

I finally got my shots after an interesting conversation with the practitioner, who really had no idea what she was doing. I'm really glad I talked to the travel clinic before going to the doctor and was made aware of what exactly I needed and was told that the Hep shots were in a series... because the practitioner had no idea. I felt like I was educating her on Hep shots. I was a little relieved that the nurse gave them to me ... she had papers on each shot and was well aware of the series they came in and did a great job of explaining it all. I won't even begin to tell you the process I went through to tell her about the oral meds I needed...

So.. what a weird experience. For shots - it was great because it was in and out, quick and easy. But if I'm ever really sick... I'm a little hesitant to go back...seems I was more aware of what was going on than they were! Scary!

Oh... and my arms hurt so bad today I feel like I need to take a sick day. I'm such a weenie.