Covid-19 Vaccine

Started by Mr. White, Apr 02, 2021, 10:23 PM

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Mr. White

Quote from: Mr. White on Sep 13, 2021, 01:13 PMWell, I feel I need to update this thread for a number of reasons.

First, I started it so we could have a place to come together and discuss what we know, what we want to know, how things are changing, to share about our own experiences, and to be able to provide updates on those we know and love (not just stuff we saw/read on the Interweb).

So ... I got the Coronavirus, and so did my wife (we had both been fully vaccinated). This is my first day back to work after the 10 day Isolation Period (starting on the first day of symptoms). I'm not sure where we got the virus from, but there were a couple of opportunities for us to have been exposed a while back. My wife is a Certified Nurse Aid (CNA) at the nursing home just up the road from our house (worked there for 20 years now). The night of the MMJ Railbird Festival show (8/28/2021), my wife had to work with a Coronavirus patient that hadn't been tested yet. He got tested the next night and was positive for the virus. So, there's that (probably the highest chance that's where we got it). She had to wear extra PPE the next night she worked with him. Also, I went to a concert for the first time in 1 year and 6 months. There were 30,000 tickets sold for that day. All concert goers were supposed to be tested before coming to the show (had to show proof that it was within 72 hours of the first day of the festival) or been fully vaccinated (I was). I rode up to the show with a friend and his wife from their house in Frankfort, Kentucky (both had been fully vaccinated as well). I decided not to wear a mask the whole day. I only talked to a hand-full of people the entire day and thought I was pretty careful in general. Also, I have a job where I come into contact with every patron who enters the establishment where I work. I am still trying to keep a safe distance and all that stuff. With all that being said, it is still unknown where we got the virus, but I'd say there is a higher chance it came from my wife working with a Covid-19 patient ... but who knows for sure.

Anyway, I think our symptoms were not too bad since we had both been vaccinated (at least that's what the two different pharmacy employees said when I spoke to them on the phone at different times and places). We both had sniffles, runny nose, sinus pressure and headache, tiredness, fatigue, brain fog, felt/feel disoriented, slight chest pressure when breathing deeply, loss of taste and smell, and a low fever. Plus, after about 4 or 5 days, my wife had two days where she had nausea and couldn't keep food down and had to go to bed very early. We did feel like doing some yard work over the end of our Isolation Period and got a good bit done. It just took us a while longer, and we needed lots of extra breaks. I don't know what the long-term effects will be. I'm still having upper-respiratory problems that make me cough from time to time. I still have sinus pressure resulting in ears being somewhat clogged, making my hearing a bit less because of the balance of pressure (that is an issue I've been battling since I was 10 years old). We are still very tired and lethargic. I don't have a lot of physical stress in my job, and I can take breaks if I need them. My wife can't. She goes back to work this Friday. I'll keep you all posted as to any new concerns or if we make a speedy recovery.

Also, a family friend and former Kentucky State Representative from my hometown got the Coronavirus (after being fully vaccinated) and was hospitalized and later died (I wrote about this person on my Instagram page that I'll link here. His name was Brent Yonts.)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSsspSHsKcW/

Thanks sillyboob and ChiefOKONO!

I'm in the last 3 hours of my first day back and am doing pretty good. Last week, we had Monday off because of the holiday. I had to be off from Tue. through Friday to Isolate. I thought I'd have to take sick days, but my supervisor said they had approved up to 10 Covid-19 days off before having to take sick days or vacation days, so that's good news. It's the opposite with my wife. She has to use up all her PTO or Paid Time Off (sick/vacation days) earned before OSHA would begin picking up some of her hours.

I also forgot to mention that this has all been a "game changer" for me as they say. I had been keeping up with a lot of the literature related to the Coronavirus and the vaccines and all that, but now I don't know what to think. My wife and I are one of a growing category. We are "Break-Through Cases" of the Coronavirus because we actually got sick with symptoms after having been fully vaccinated. I've heard our "immunity" to the virus should be the highest level now since we had been vaccinated and caught the virus and survived. However, maybe that's bullshit, and we are at the same exact risk we were at before we got sick. Who knows?!? I'm still masking up here at work (most who have had the vaccine aren't) with the exception of the one guy who doesn't want to take it (he has remained masked the entire time ... he has his mother who works with us and an elderly father with health issues to worry about). I'll be re-evaluating my life, my future, and our lives going forward. One thing is for sure, this time we've all been suffering through, coupled with the most recent sickness and Isolation has given my wife and I a renewed sense that we need to retire soon and spend much more time at our little house in our little town with our little issues and concerns. We are pretty good at that anyway but need to refocus on the "Here and Now" of it all. All in all, with all that's happened, "Music Heals". It always has, and it always will. Thank you My Morning Jacket and all the family, friends, and fans out there (in here).
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC) Member Since 2011

ranyart

So sorry to hear your latest update Mr. White, but I'm glad the vaccines seemed to have helped keep the troubles tamped down especially the truly horrible ones.  The chaos a virus can cause is simply amazing - it's so damn small and simple yet terribly effective.  We've been watching old Star Trek episodes and it's funny to see how many of the plots relate to virus troubles.

It drives me nuts to hear stories like your wife's about employers who screw people out of PTO for situations like this, especially for healthcare workers and even more especially because sounds like she likely caught it at work.  I'm glad to hear that your employer is more reasonable and that the two of you are on the mend slowly but surely, and that your first day back at work is going good.

We were at Dead & Co. Saturday night and all I can say is it was surreal.  The place was packed and people were passing joints to strangers acting like nothing is going on, and the pre concert checks were not very thorough which did not give me a good feeling at all so we'll see what happens.  Our little group was being very good but not so much for most everyone else.  But it was good to be with friends and we were able to keep some space so hopefully that's good enough to stay out of trouble.  And it will probably be the last time I see D&C because frankly they were pretty bad overall - zero energy.

Not sure how this is going to end up and when the waves of this crap finally stop.  Until then it's going to be a wild ride.

rkwedge

Dang Mr. and Mrs. White, I hate to hear this. Sending positive energy your way for getting better and having no long term affects. From your posts, it sounds like you guys were doing all the right things and being very careful and it still found you. This thing is just way to unpredictable, so stay safe everybody and don't let your guard down. If it happened to Mr. White it can happen to any of us. Thanks for keeping us updated Mr. White, things everybody should know. Take Care!
It's the art of feelin' naked in your clothes

ChiefOKONO

Yes indeed, I totally appreciate all of the details in your posts Mr. White.  Cheers to a full recovery very soon!

Mr. White

I guess I need to give a quick update since it's been since 9/13/2021 for my last one. I seem to be doing real well. I've got most if not all my strength back. I've been feeling pretty good and stronger for a couple of weeks now. My sinuses still aren't totally back to my usual normal, but they are a lot better, and I can get my ears to balance out the pressure to a better degree. This thing with my ears has been with me since I was a pre-teen, so I am highly aware of any changes. I have to have my musical ears!!! My wife seems to be pretty much back to normal. She hasn't had any nausea or other issues. However, she still seems to have less energy (we're getting older though). I don't have as much trouble with my balance or my dizziness or memory/forgetting stuff like simple words or phrases to where you had to search for what you wanted to say, but it isn't totally gone. I think my wife may have slightly more problems with the searching for what you wanted to say stuff. As far as wanting or needing or even going out to get the next available booster shot goes ... I still don't know yet. We were Breakthrough Cases, so we have some added immunity in our system, I guess. I think we will play the wait and see game for the next several months. My mother who is in the nursing home had the booster shot the other day and said her arm hurt. So far, she hasn't had any side effects. We'll have to keep an eye on the local positivity rate (been going down pretty good here in Kentucky for the past couple of weeks, and our county has been out of the red zone for a while). I don't really want to take the booster, if it's not really necessary, and I hope the CDC doesn't do what some predict by "moving the goalposts" on us and saying "Fully Vaccinated" will require even more shots. I'd more than likely call BULLSHIT and totally retreat from society for a while, concerts be damned (mind you, I won't bitch and complain but will say so long to concerts and other events for a while without a problem). Hopefully that won't come to pass. I've had my shots. I've had the motherfucking virus. I'm fucking done ... I hope.
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC) Member Since 2011

crooney

So what would you have preferred?  That a vaccine wasn't developed to combat Covid?  Just let the virus run wild and cross our fingers that we can beat it on our own?

If you are the same MamaKel, I admire your past contributions to this forum.  But I'm confused by this rant.

ranyart

Glad to hear things are looking better for you and your wife Mr. White.  We hear a lot about vaccine stuff at work and they are still struggling with getting the first dose going so I seriously doubt anyone is moving the target to include boosters anytime soon.

MamaKel I agree the medical industrial complex that has been developed in the USA is truly crazy, especially since we literally pay 3 times what the rest of the world pays for crappier outcomes and we still have millions of folks that get essentially zero medical care.  But then I think about how far things have progressed over my lifetime and beyond and I have to believe that we're generally moving in the right direction.  Things will get better especially once the brunt of this virus mess is truly behind us.

Mr. White

medicament
[ muh-dik-uh-muhnt, med-i-kuh- ]
noun
a healing substance; medicine; remedy.
ORIGIN OF MEDICAMENT
1535–45; <Latin medicāmentum remedy, physic, equivalent to medicā(rī) to cure + -mentum-ment. See medicate

vaccine
[ vak-seen or, especially British, vak-seen, -sin ]
noun
any preparation used as a preventive inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease, usually employing an innocuous form of the disease agent, as killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production.
the virus of cowpox, used in vaccination, obtained from pox vesicles of a cow or person.
a software program that helps to protect against computer viruses, as by detecting them and warning the user.
adjective
of or relating to vaccination.
of or relating to vaccinia.
of, relating to, or derived from cows.

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I am a "Word Guy" (Follower of such other word guys like George Carlin & spent 20 years as an educator), so I like to know the meanings of words that I've only heard once or twice in my life. "Medicament" is a drug or substance used in treatment of an ailment. "Vaccine" is a substance used in an attempt to prevent someone from contracting an ailment.
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC) Member Since 2011