Day 316?

 I promised I would post again after receiving the second dose of my vaccine.  On the morning of January 23rd I went to the large stadium that was set up as a vaccine site.  It wasn't busy at all, but it was a Saturday.  As with the first shot, I felt nothing, no needle, no burning - which is odd for a shot.  I went to the observation area where chairs were placed apart to wait for 15 minutes.  I felt like I had some flushing, and sat for 30ish minutes instead of 15.  Then I left, went through McDonald's drive thru to get a Diet Coke (i must break this habit).  Drove 25 minutes home and sat down.   I didn't feel much like eating lunch, and felt a bit tired.  Didn't do much that day at all.  The next day, I woke up with a mild headache and felt really tired.  Off and on, I felt feverish, I took my temperature and it was mildly elevated - 99.9 ish.  My arm hurt a LOT.  I took a nap, but I also did some housework and laundry.  The next day my arm was less sore, but I was still tired.  I was tired until Wednesday.

It was all very manageable and less severe than the first injection, which is the opposite of what I've been hearing and reading.  I"m day 10 from completion of the series and hopefully building immunity.  I really hope it is effective against the new variants.  We have some circulating in the county i work in, and the University.  

Day 302

 I feel a little bit like the guy in The Martian that counted down days.  It's been 302 days since my regular life was directly affected/changed/altered by the pandemic.   I'm still able to keep my part time job, it is both tiring while trying to work as well as rewarding, since it allows me to use my mind and be productive.  Most days, I'm able to work from home, but  I've been going into campus to help with a research study and meet with patients.   In December, I filled out a survey indicating if I would take the Coronavirus vaccine if offered.  My health system did not make it mandatory, but of course I answered "yes".  

On January 2nd, I received my first dose from Pfizer.  The shot was very easy compared to other IM shots I've received.  I hung out for 20 minutes after my shot and used this time to enroll in the CDC side effect tracker via my phone.  After I received it, I went to my office that I hadn't been in since March 13th and grabbed some items from my desk.   I headed home and approximately 2.5 hours later I started to feel shaky and strange.  First I had some chills, which I put on a second sweatshirt and three blankets.  Then one episode of diarrhea.  My family was playing board games which was a good distraction, but my husband encouraged me to lie down (WOW!  I never get naps!).   At one point I felt feverish, but it passed.  My arm would occasionally have stabs of pain and started to get angry.  I did more sitting around than when I have in ages.  I definitely felt I was coming down with something.  By 10:30 that night I felt much, much better.  The next day I had a moderate fatigue along with the next few days and arm pain.  On the fourth day the pain/muscle spasms moved into my shoulder which necessitated Tylenol, with relief. 

Today is Day 9 and I still have a little fatigue - mild, and tightness in the arm muscle.  It's all totally manageable and I feel incredibly fortunate to get the vaccine and obviously, have an immune response.  My second dose is scheduled for January 23rd.