titular tuberculosis
Oct. 15th, 2003 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rktthe health department came to my place of employment today.
it seems some person, not connected with THE ORGANIZATION, had either had tuberculosis or had been exposed to it. something. anyway, they offered free tb testing. since periodic testing ofsuch is a good idea, even required by some places, i said, sure, poke my arm.
and they did.
this was all only after asking me if i thought i was at risk for hiv. and if i had been tested for it. and when i had been tested. and what the result was. i dont have a problem with these questions. my objections stem from the fact that these queries were all posed in front of whichever coworkers happened to be within listening distance. Read: no privacy. no letting me fill in the answers on a sheet of paper myself. nada. as if anyone would actually say, in front of everyone, "why, yes, as a matter of fact, i do consider myself at risk for hiv!"
this annoyed me more than a little.
then they list symptoms of tb.
my appetite is always changing. so we won't really count that. i seem to be more tired than i remember myself being. but maybe i'm just growing too old for my own good. but the cough. just when i think it's gone, i wake up unable to breathe.
so i admit. yes, that cough thing does sound kinda' familiar.
and then they poked me and sent me on my merry little way.
after that, i was still in the vicinity. they called me back over to inform me that, because i admitted to one of the sympoms, i'd have to be chest x-rayed.
i swear, i'm going to end up with lung cancer from so many torso x-rays. first, my back for so many years. i just had my chest x-rayed a few (okay, maybe 4?) years ago to check for pneumonia. it adds up.
why they couldn't have bypassed this whole injectrebeccawiththisdilutedconcoction deal, i don't know. my poker told me that she hadn't said anything to me because she "didnt want to worry" me. I WANT INFORMATION damnit.
so the experience left me annoyed.
but other than that, i am doing fine.
and the fucking cubs had better win.
it seems some person, not connected with THE ORGANIZATION, had either had tuberculosis or had been exposed to it. something. anyway, they offered free tb testing. since periodic testing ofsuch is a good idea, even required by some places, i said, sure, poke my arm.
and they did.
this was all only after asking me if i thought i was at risk for hiv. and if i had been tested for it. and when i had been tested. and what the result was. i dont have a problem with these questions. my objections stem from the fact that these queries were all posed in front of whichever coworkers happened to be within listening distance. Read: no privacy. no letting me fill in the answers on a sheet of paper myself. nada. as if anyone would actually say, in front of everyone, "why, yes, as a matter of fact, i do consider myself at risk for hiv!"
this annoyed me more than a little.
then they list symptoms of tb.
- persistent coughing
- fatigue
- decreased appetite
- etc.
my appetite is always changing. so we won't really count that. i seem to be more tired than i remember myself being. but maybe i'm just growing too old for my own good. but the cough. just when i think it's gone, i wake up unable to breathe.
so i admit. yes, that cough thing does sound kinda' familiar.
and then they poked me and sent me on my merry little way.
after that, i was still in the vicinity. they called me back over to inform me that, because i admitted to one of the sympoms, i'd have to be chest x-rayed.
i swear, i'm going to end up with lung cancer from so many torso x-rays. first, my back for so many years. i just had my chest x-rayed a few (okay, maybe 4?) years ago to check for pneumonia. it adds up.
why they couldn't have bypassed this whole injectrebeccawiththisdilutedconcoction deal, i don't know. my poker told me that she hadn't said anything to me because she "didnt want to worry" me. I WANT INFORMATION damnit.
so the experience left me annoyed.
but other than that, i am doing fine.
and the fucking cubs had better win.
