A broken arm needs a flu shot like a fish needs a bicycle.

By Cathy Jameson

This old memory popped up last week.  I’d written it for friends and family a couple of years ago after an incident that brought us to a walk-in clinic late one Friday evening.  My children have learned a lot from their brother’s vaccine injury.  They’ve picked up a few things when it’s their turn to be the patient.  I pray that they remember each lesson, especially when they have children of their own.

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You know that the medical system is messed up when an 8-year old wants to leave a doctor's appointment.  

Tonight, my daughter fell and busted up her elbow while playing basketball.  She immediately cried out in pain.  Pain and swelling in her arm increased, so we jetted over to urgent care to have things checked out.  Looking over my shoulder as we checked in, I could feel Izzy grip my arm as I answered some questions.  The "Does the patient need a flu shot and/or a pneumonia shot?" question on the intake form immediately made her skeptical. 

"Mommy,” she whispered to me, “…a flu shot??"  

She knows that this year's flu shot is only 18% effective and that the flu shot was one of the ones that took her brother's voice away all those years ago.  Izzy has nothing nice to say about that shot and hates to even think about it.  She knows that one, and other childhood vaccines, hurt her brother. I don't blame her for not liking it.  I don't care for the flu shot either.  

I replied, "I know honey.  It's a little ridiculous, isn't it?  You don't need a flu shot if you've broken an arm." 

Apparently, the nurse thought we did.  

During the intake when the nurse asked if my daughter needed a flu shot, I answered, "She's all set," and then quickly changed the subject.  Wanting her to stay focused on why we were at the clinic and to get appropriate treatment, I repeated, "So, it's her left arm that's hurt.  She fell right before dinner.  We got a new basketball hoop, and the kids were having so much fun...until this..." I said as I pointed to the swollen elbow making sure the nurse looked at it.  

With pen poised, the nurse finally looked up from the clipboard and stared at Izzy's elbow.  She said, "Oh!”  After a long pause, she said, “Okay."  Glancing back at her papers, she looked at what was next on her list:  height, weight, temperature, blood pressure.  "Let's get her on the scale.”