Rainbows and IVs: My Covid Vaccine Experience

Here’s my Saturday…

My appointment for my first Covid vaccine was scheduled for 8:15 this morning. I chose the Jefferson Street Scripps location because it’s close and also brand new so I thought it’d be nice and clean.

I got there early like I always do and stood in a not-very-long line. I was the 9th person. The entire wait was about twenty minutes or so. Every so often, an employee came out to update us on the status and thanking us for being patient.

We had some rain and then a rainbow appeared!

When it was my turn to get checked in, the process was smooth and swift and I was sent to another short line waiting to get into an actual room for the vaccination.

I’m a very cautious person…trying to stay healthy, that’s all!

The RN explained that I would be receiving the Pfizer vaccine and was given a small card to save with the date and vaccine lot number.

The actual injection was absolutely pain-free and over in less than five seconds.

From there, I was escorted to another area to sit for about thirty minutes to determine whether or not I was going to have an adverse reaction.

Guess what?

I DID!

After about ten minutes or so, I could feel my tongue start to feel thick and when I talked to the nurse, my voice was hoarse. Since I have asthma, I’m used to what it feels like when I’m experiencing respiratory distress. I was also a little dizzy. The nurse decided it was time to take me downstairs to be further evaluated by a triage team in Urgent Care.

Vitals were taken. My blood pressure was 160/120 and my heart rate was 114. Oxygen was 99% which is good, but there was definitely some type of negative reaction to the vaccine. The doctor suggested, and I agreed, to an IV hydration drip. Since I can’t take steroids because of bad reactions to THAT, she thought I should have Benadryl. I opted to wait and see how I felt after the IV before doing that. I should say here that if I were counseling anyone else, I’d tell anyone to definitely get the Benadryl, but I’m a pretty stubborn girl and like to make my own medical decisions based on what I know about my own body.

I was nicely set up with an IV, a pillow, and a heated blanket tucked in around me. That was so lovely.

I rested for the next hour or so; every so often someone would pop their head in to check on me and my symptoms didn’t worsen. I started to feel a little better.

The doctor took my vitals again; BP and HR were back to normal and I was discharged to go home and take my own Benadryl, 25 milligrams four times a day.

So far, the only other symptoms I’ve noticed is that my vaccinated arm is starting to become sore and I’m tired, but that could be from the Benadryl.

Before I left Scripps, I had an email for my second Covid vaccination in three weeks. How efficient is that!

I spoke with Josh, one of the location managers, and told him what an amazing and organized job Scripps did with the vaccines. Everyone was kind, professional, and caring.

All in all, it was a satisfying experience. I hope everybody gets the Covid vaccine as soon as possible so we can resume living!