During my residency, we had Thursday as our Bakuna Day. Depending on the schedule, we had several vaccines available which we administered to our patients at the OPD. Now that I have my own practice (plus the times I cover for my mentors), I also administer these different vaccines to patients. If you would ask me for an estimate, I would say, I have vaccinated hundreds maybe even thousands of children already but it did NOT prepare me for Tricia.

I won't bore you with the details of recommended immunizations for children here in the Philippines but suffice it to say that all in all, a fully immunized child per Philippine Pediatric Society standards would mean approximately 26 shots in 18 years.

For several days now, we have been eagerly awaiting Tricia's 2nd month birthday. It is a very significant milestone for us since it would mean one step towards Project Healthy Tricia. My dad has been psyching baby Tricia about her date with the needle for a week now and everytime she hears the word "bakuna", she would cry. We both tried explaining to her that it is for her own good but she will only be appeased if we take back what we said. Isn't she one smart baby? :-D

Personally, I was dreading this day. I even tried backing out of it but my dad firmly said NO! I kept looking at Tricia's legs and then I would look at her sweet face with pity. To top it all, the combination vaccine which was supposed to decrease the 27 shots into 12 shots suddenly became unavailable. I asked my more senior colleagues about the best alternative - 15 shots but for the 1st three immunizations, I would have to give 1 shot on the thigh and another shot on the arm. Hmm... I think that still beats the 27 shots or so I thought.

Earlier this evening (had to do it late because my brother wanted to be there to witness this milestone), I bravely prepared the necessary equipments while Tricia was playing happily on the bed. And then the moment came... Tricia was already crying her heart out while my dad was holding her arms and legs ready for what was to be done. Still, I put on my doctor "let's get this over with" demeanor and prepared Tricia for the 2 shots. I tried shutting myself out completely from what I was seeing and hearing - Tricia all red and sweaty from crying loudly while I was giving her the first shot but as soon as I was done giving her the second shot, I wasn't able to control myself - I picked Tricia up, hugged her and cried! As if it wasn't already humiliating enough, everything was caught on tape for posterity's sake!

Sabi ko na nga ba, hindi ko kayang tusukan si Tricia! But I still have 2 months to prepare myself for the next dose. Abangan!