Poked and Prodded (with a needle!)

7.45 am - Mama woke me up

I knew very well that I was supposed to wake up early today to go to Shah Alam to get my Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) shots today. I'm due for my second dose (there are three altogether) and I've been putting it off for quite some time. Plus, today was pre-planned as a day out with mum to hunt for some new Jubahs and Baju Kurungs and what not. 

So I woke up, had a bath and set out for Shah Alam. Thankfully the road was quite clear and we managed to find the clinic quite easily (of course Susan *we named our GPS, Susan* brought us there).

Here's the LPPKN Shah Alam Branch's Number

A little bit about the HPV shot:

The vaccine they jabbed me with was called Cervarix. There's apparently another one that doctors also commonly use called Gardasil. This vaccine helps to prevent Cervical Cancer (Kanser Rahim) because one of the main vectors is this particular virus. HPV, like HIV, is transmitted by sexual intercourse, so it's actually best to take the injection before we become sexually active. Like people always say, prevention is better than cure (Skema jap :p) !

In Malaysia, our government has actually made the vaccine very accessible to all girls who are 18 and above. We can go to our nearest Klinik Nur Sejahtera (click here for the full list of Klinik Nur Sejahtera in Malaysia) and get the shots for free. Yup, FREE (don't we all love that word)! All you have to do is walk in and ask for the shot (this only applies to Shah Alam's branch. I'm not sure about the rest. It's better to call them up before hand or better still, email them because I tried to call them endless times but I never got through). I do know that the Kepong branch only give shots on Fridays and is only at a certain time, also, you have to make an appointment with them. Nevertheless, you should really get the shots. It's a worthwhile trip to the clinic, believe me. I know people say, if nak jadi, jadi la, nak buat macam mana, but I still believe that we have to help ourselves more than anything.

Oh and if I'm not mistaken you can also get the free shots at the IPTA clinics. But I'm not so sure about how that works. You can also go to private clinics/hospitals like Damansara Specialist Hospital but I think the shots will be quite expensive.

By the way! Kalau boleh makan la lebih sikit so that ada lemak dekat tangan.

Earlier at the clinic -

Me : *puts hand on table*

Doctor : Okay, turunkan sleeve ye. *starts rubbing my arm* Uhhh, mana isi awak ye?

Me: *poker face* saya memang takde lemak pun Dr.

Doctor: Hmm, kalau macam tu sakit lebih sikit la ye. Hehe.

Just FYI :)