When you tell people you’re going to Africa, the first thing they say is, “Have you had your shots?”
Personal  health and safety concerns loom large when you prepare to enter a third-world country. In a few weeks, I will be doing it for the first time.
I have an advantage, of course. I’ll be traveling with veterans. Brian and Keri deGuzman of Paradise Valley have made the trip twice — once in 2007 to bring home their daughter Jesmina, and again 18 months later when they welcomed their son Musse.
I’m not sure why Keri invited me to come with them when they make their third trip, later this summer, to bring home Tesfanesh and Solomon. When she first suggested it, we had just met. As I got to know her in the months that followed I learned that she is person keenly in touch with her intuition and courageous enough to act on it. For some reason, we were brought together. We don’t know why. We don’t know where it is leading. But we are both committed to sharing this journey.
So there are many mysterious, spiritual tugs to this adventure. But first there are the practical considerations. Like shots. Lots and lots of shots.
In January, I went online to read health recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control for travel in Ethiopia. For the first time, the enormity of what I was about to do started to sink in.
I needed several immunizations to protect me from diseases specific to that area of Africa. I also I needed boosters for some of the vaccinations I’ve already had — like tetanus/diptheria/pertussis. Some must be administered at least four to six weeks in advance. Some of the “recommended” vaccines are not mandatory.
It was very confusing. And while we will spend a good amount of our time in the country’s relatively cosmopolitan capital city of Addis Ababa, once the babies have been issued visas we plan to spend several days visiting an orphanage in the more remote village of Sodo. That factor is significant.
I consulted with Keri. She is a pediatric cardiac nurse; Brian is a heart surgeon at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. I asked her which of the shots in that “gray area” they thought I should have.
As medical professionals, she said, “we got everything. You definitely need Yellow Fever and Hepatitis A and B. A number of orphans have been reported to have Hep A, which is contagious if you come in contact with it. It may seem scary to get all of those weird shots. But, we got them all and Jesmina [then a toddler] did too, and we were all fine!”
I called my regular internist to get his opinion on the array of shots I should get and found out that his office, Adult Internal Medicine of Scottsdale, is listed on the Arizona Department of Health list of approved Travel Vaccine/Immunization Providers. (Keri also recommended the Arcadia Travel Clinic on Camelback and 44th Street.)
I ended up scheduling appointments on two consecutive Fridays to get all the shots I needed — Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Yellow Fever on the first Friday; meningococcal, polio, tetanus/diptheria/pertusis and H1N1 on the second. My doctor also handed me a 10-page article with “Health Advice and Immunizations for Trvelers” from The New England Journal of Medicine and a sheaf of prescriptions. I have to take Malarone (to prevent malaria) in the days leading up to our trip and the whole time we are there. He also gave me prescriptions for Cipro (an antibiotic) and Lomotil (both of which I may need in case I  contract diarrhea).
“We always bring a big supply of medicine with us too,” Keri has reassured me. “So not to worry — we will bring enough for you, too!”
During dinner at their home one evening, I told Brian that that one way I am reassuring friends and family members that I will be safe in Ethiopia is by reminding them that I’m traveling with a nurse and a surgeon.
He smiled, but quickly pointed out a hard reality. “I may know how to help you [in the event of a medical emergency],” he said, “but I may not have what I need to help you.”