I've got you under my skin...

Indeed, my dear strands of tuberculin protein, I have YOU under my skin...the skin of my right forearm, to be exact.  Today I underwent a "skin test" for Tuberculosis, just a small installment of the solid week of health tests and vaccinations that I must endure this Monday through Friday.  The IIE people require 30+ tests for one to get "medical clearance" for overseas travel. I doubt that the Bangladeshi  "Health Ministry"  really cares...I mean, their office probably comprises a nutritionist,  a card table, and a couple of  goats.
 
Today was horrific. I called the doctors office in a nervous panic 3 hours before the test asking what they were going to do to me, if it hurt, if I was going to get woozy, etc. The nurse just seemed confused at my alarm, and she had clearly had enough when I asked if "skin test" was the same as "skin graft." I've  heard those were painful. The words "skin test" kept buzzing through my brain all morning, as I imagined a giant peeling knife swooping down from the sky, shaving off sizable portions of my hide like a helpless carrot or defenseless potato.  It turned out that they just make a quick prick and there was a bump the size of a small mosquito bite on my arm. She said they would check for swelling in 48 hours. That was it. As I walked out of the office, I kept casting suspicious side-long glances at each nurse and closet door, half expecting the sinister jumbo-knife to creep up from behind me.
 
Yesterday were the blood and urine tests. Just thinking about blood tests makes me weak in the knees.  And peeing in a cup? Oh, the humanity! The lab techs got a kick out of me. I winced in pain as they swished rubbing alcohol on my arm. I really think they tied that heroine addict tube thing uneccessarily tight.  I almost passed out twice, and I STILL cannot make a fist today.  For the rest of the week, I have vaccinations to look forward to0--Friday morning, no less. I hope its not with the same harsh nurse I had last time. She said I was "being a baby" during the tetanus shots (hey...they were deep tissue!). 
 
At least I can be thank ful that I never decided to pursue my interests in biology. Even though it is the study of life and its components, I don't think I would have made it out alive. Bleh.