Nov. 23: Inflammatory Response in These Foolish Things

Did you know that I’m a No-vid? I’m one of those humans on this earth who hasn’t contracted Covid (fingers crossed, knock wood!). And I hope to remain that way forever!

I got a Covid vaccine yesterday. I’d been doing some reading about the new vaccine out there called Novavax, and I thought that maybe that was the one to get this year, maybe because there’s been a lot more research done on Covid?

I’d looked on Reddit boards, and though many reviews said that the Novavax is supposed to have fewer side effects than the Pfizer or Moderna, a lot of folks still had side effects.

Anyway, I made appointments at two different pharmacies, one for the Pfizer jab and one for Novavax. I knew I didn’t want to get the Moderna because that’s the one that gave me such awful fatigue that I felt like I’d done a round of chemotherapy afterward! Ughhhh. It was awful, so Moderna is always going to be on my NO list. I figured when the time came I could essentially flip a coin to determine which one to get.

…and then I thought, maybe I shouldn’t even get one at all?

After all, I’m a Novid and I’m not planning on being around large crowds really at all this winter - at least as far as I know right now, and maybe all this talk about how awful vaccines are was getting to me?

I’d already gotten the flu shot when I was at all my doc appointments back in my former city in October. I’m very superstitious about the flu shot since the only year in over 20 years that I didn’t get the shot I ended up getting so deathly ill that I couldn’t get out of bed for a week! I always want to get the flu vaccine.

But Covid? I dunno. Seems like no one is getting them this year.

I just looked up the stats. Looks like 18.8% of adults in the US have gotten the Covid vax this year. Interesting.

So…I did eventually decide to do it for various reasons, but I’d decided to get the Novavax…

But the universe conspired and conspired against me getting that one!

First, I went to the wrong pharmacy. You know how there are pharmacies practically in every intersection in every town in the United States - and you know how they are always directly across the street from each other? Yeah, I went to the wrong one first.

And then, when I tried to go back through the parking lot and get back on the street and turn into the correct pharmacy, a GIANT city bus cut me off - one of those double-busses with the slinky-bendy thing in the middle! And I honked and flipped off the driver more than once!! What a fucker - LITERALLY tried to kill me to get into my lane and then over into the turn lane! When I finally got situated in the parking lot, I turned to see if I could see the bus driver, and lo and behold, the bus had a sign on the side that said “Training Bus”! That poor bus driver! I mean, I don’t feel sorry that I honked because he needed to hear that he was cutting someone off! I do feel sorry for flipping him off.

ANYWay, by the time I got into the correct pharmacy and told them I was there to get the Novavax, they told me that, ooops, they were sorry but they just threw away their doses of that vaccine because they’d expired! Seems nobody is getting the Novavax this year, apparently, and they are expiring on the shelves!

BUT, the pharmacy lady made a phone call to yet another pharmacy right down the street and they said that they DID have the Novavax, so off I went, again in search of this elusive and magical elixir.

By this time, my lunch hour was almost over, but I was also determined to check this item off my to-do list.

I walked into the pharmacy and signed up for Novavax, but I told the lady my story about the previous place throwing theirs out and asked her to please check their expiration dates. She then asked me if there was a reason I was so interested in the Novavax, and I said well, I just thought that since it was newer that maybe it had been more researched, and maybe it was safer since it’s formulated more like the flu shot vs. mRNA vaccines.

She said that I might want to talk to the pharmacist about it. So I said, sure! I’d love to talk to the pharmacist!

Bottom line, I finally talked with the pharmacist and after quite a back-and-forth, we determined that Pfizer might just be the best thing for me since I’ve mostly had Pfizer jabs during this whole freaking pandemic and the only time I’d had a (pretty severe) reaction was when I mixed-and-matched and gotten the Moderna shot. I said that I knew FOR SURE that I didn’t want Moderna!

So Pfizer it was.

And I felt nothing when the pharmacy lady (nurse?) gave me the vax. She even told me that as long as I felt fine, I didn’t need to wait the 10 minutes or however long they want you to stay… that I could just go!

So I walked out of the pharmacy doing the little chicken wing flap that I always do to try to avoid the sore arm afterwards. And I crossed my fingers that I’d have no reaction in the next 15-20 hours (the timespan they say it takes for you to have the yucky side-effects).

This morning I woke to a sore arm.

And that’s it. No other aches. No pains. No sick stomach. No nothing.

So I got up and did my normal morning stuff. And part of my normal morning stuff is to weigh myself. And I was up 1.5 pounds! Which was NOT expected for various reasons. My weight never fluctuates that much from day to day. The most it normally varies is 1/2 pound up or down.

And I realized that it was inflammation. It HAD to be. The shot is the only thing that I’d done differently in the last several days.

Both [Athena] and the innanets confirmed my suspicions, so I know it’s true. Heh.

Regardless, I’ve felt fine all day! My arm pain has gone away, and I’m about to get ready for bed again.

And hopefully in a couple of weeks I’ll have some more immunity and I’ll continue my No-vid streak!

Are YOU vaxxing again this year?

xox,
GS