Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: covid booster

Day 7 of will it ever end?

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Here we are. One week after I got my booster. I still feel like shit. Here is what I wrote yesterday. I was hoping that today I would feel better. And I do. Marginally. But not nearly enough. I have said this about flu shots before. Why should I get the shot when it’s this bad? I know what the actual answer is. It’s insurance in case I actually get the thing I’m innoculating myself against.

Here’s the thing, though. I don’t go out much at all now. The chance of me getting Covid is slim to very slim. It’s not none because I do go to Cubs and my brother comes over now and again. So, yes, I could get Covid. Theoretically. And, yes, it’s better to be innoculated if that’s the case. Theoretically.

It’s basically gambling and throwing the dice. Do I want to take a chance at getting the COVID. At this point, honestly? Yeah, I do. I understand why the vax is necessary and a good thing. But I am not ok with the fact that my reaction to these kinds of shots is so terrible.

Sweat and chills, check. Still getting both, alternating. I would be less annoyed if it were one or the other. I’m at the end of my rope. Don,t feel like writing so I’m going to end this now.

Day 6 of feeling like shit

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I am on Day Six of bad reax to the vax, to the max! Yeah, I just made that up. What of it?

The welt itself has gone down. It’s still there, but ti’s much better. It’s no longer burning, but it’s still tender (the shot site).

Yesterday, I was feeling achy and sore. I chalked it up to not  doing my full Taiji routine, but I think it’s more a reaction to the shot itself. I can say that because I did the whole Taiji routine today (minus the weapons), and I still ache. My back hurts a bit, and that’s not something I deal with any longer. Plus my shoulders are tense. I realize I’m holding them rigidly, in part to stave off the chills.

I’m cranky because I’m zipping back and forth between sweating and chills. I put on my sweatshirt and I sweat. I take it off and I get the chills. I am not a happy camper. God, I feel lik shit. I thought I would feel better by now, but I don’t.

I am almost positive that this is worse than the other times I got the vax, but I might be wrong. My memory is shot. I have had a booster or two since getting out of the hospital, but I honestly don’t remember how bad it was. I mean, I know I had an intense reaction, but I don’t remember it lasting nearly a week.

Yesterday was a bit better. Today is a bit worse. I am exhausted. I ache. And I still have the chills and the sweats, alternately.

I did my wholeTaiji routine today except for the weapons. I did do the Fan Form, but I took it very slow. On the Bagua side, I did the stretches and the once went through the three movements I know from the Swimming Dragon Form. I really don’t want to overdo it and set myself back.

My teacher emphasized to take it easy and not push myself. She said that the weapons will be there when I’m better, and I know she’s right. Two days after I got home from the hospital, I wanted to see if i could still do my weapon forms.

Remember, I had contracted walking (non-Covid-related) pneumonia, which led to two cardiac arrests and an ischemic stroke. I was pumped full of drugs, and I was as frail as a newborn kitten. On that second day home from the hopsital, I picked up my steel sword and did the first three movements of the Sword Form. I was instantly fatigued, but I was also thrilled beyond belief that I remembered it.


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Shots are my nemeses

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I got my Covid booster yesterday. I knew that I would have a bad reaction because I always do. When I got my first shot, I was still on Twitter. I tweeted about how terrible I felt for a week after, and how the welt lasted until my next shot which was three weeks later.

I had someone push back on me tweeting that. He said that it would discourage people from getting their shot. I said I would rather go in knowing I would reactt badly to it than thinking it was going to be fine and then be surprised. The reason why I tweeted that was because there were several big influencers who were pooh-poohing the side effects of the shot and implying that if you didn’t get it, you were a big old baby.

The guy I remember tweeting about it said how easy it was for him. In and out in fifteen minutes, and that was that. Which, good for you, dude. But not everyone is you. This was a liberal guy, but a white cis het dude. In other words, the default norm. He was not wrong about people needing to get the vax. I had no problem with him and other people saying that. Yes, urge people to get the Covid shot, but don’t call them babies at the same time.

I had a few people tweet at me in support. They agreed that they would want to be prepared for a negative reaction. One woman mentioned that like me, she always had a bad reaction to these kinds of shot–incnluding flu shots. I don’t usually get the flu shot because the times I do, I end up getting the flu. I know that’s not how that works, but I also know that they pick the six or so strains that they think are most likely to be prominent that year and vax against them.

My doctor at the time scolded me when I said that I did not get the flu shot. I said I had a bad reaction to it, and she said that it was better than dying from the flu. Which, I can’t argue with that, but it’s also hyperbole. What’s the chance of my getting the flu? Minimal. What’s the chance of me dying from it? Even more minimal.  It left a bad taste in my mouth in the same way another doctor told me that smoking two cigarettes a day was just as bad as smoking a pack a day.

Come on. You don’t need to be a doctor to see that this is just not true. I lost a lot of respect for that particular doctor. Had she said that it was still bad for me, I would haev accepted that. But that statement was utter shit.

The doctor I had many years before that was my favorite. She was frank and honest with me. She said smoking two cigarettes a day wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I asked why doctors didn’t say that more often and that frankly. She said because if doctors told patients that they could smoke two cigarettes a day, they would smoke a pack. That makes sense, but I wished there was a way for doctors to be more honest with their patients.


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