Monday, June 7, 2010

PPD and TB

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that during our last immunization clinic we had TB skin tests done.  Well, my PPD test did react positively:

(My TB Skin test over two weeks later)

Don't worry, I don't actually have TB.  A positive reading simply means that I have been exposed to TB.  In reality, this should not be that surprising.  I figured it up with some other people, and I have traveled to about 15 countries, and that within the last ten years.  With all this traveling, it is no surprise that I have come into contact with someone who had active TB.  I was not that nervous about testing positive.  I figured if I did have TB, Andrew would have tested positive on his PPD test also, but he was as negative as you can get.  A couple of hours after Andrew received his test, you could not even see it anymore.  But, just as a precaution, I had to get a chest x-ray.  All my results came back completely normal.  So what now?  Here comes the fun part :)  I have to take a pill everyday for 9 months:


I don't simply just have to take this pill, but I have to take this pill on an empty stomach.  At least two hours after eating and one hour before eating.  For those of you who know me well, I do not often have an empty stomach :)  I have discovered that the best thing for me to do is take this pill an hour before breakfast.  Also for those who know me well, I need to eat breakfast first thing in the morning when I wake up.  Therefore, I set my alarm clock an hour before I need to get up.  It goes off, I wake up, take my pill and go immediately back to sleep for another hour :)  So far it's been working out pretty good.  I've been taking this pill for three days now :)  The good thing about all this is that if everything works properly and I take my pills like I should, I will never get TB (as far as I understand).  Even if I am exposed again, and I will never have to take another PPD test because I will always react positively.  I am pretty grateful for that last part, because those skin tests hurt pretty bad.

Well, thanks for listening to my rambling...I hope you enjoyed it!

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