Pfizer, ̶A̶s̶t̶r̶e̶v̶a̶n̶e̶z̶a̶ AstraZeneca, Moderna have dedicated their powers to fighting Covid and its forces of evil!
(Cue powerpuff theme music)
On the 29th of March 2021, I decided to take the Covid 19 vaccine. On the 30th of March, I did it. I didn’t want to, I was scared. But, others were doing it and if it was my easy ticket to leaving this country, why not? (I’m still here though 🤡) People that had taken it assured me that it was fine and nothing would go wrong. So, I did… with my dear Funmi by my side. Everything was fine, till like seven hours later.
The pounding began. I took the vaccine in the morning and felt no side effects for the entire day, till about 7 o’clock. Dinner time. Why did it have to hit me at dinner time? I couldn’t eat my food that night and just went straight to bed. I woke up the next morning and it hadn’t gone. I ate the little breakfast I could, took painkillers and slept. I woke up feeling stronger! Or so I thought.
I felt great and resumed working from home as usual. That was until my dearest Auntie Flo came visiting. The sort of cramps I experienced that time was the worst. I haven’t had it that bad since then! It had me googling effects of COVID vaccine on women or effects of the COVID vaccine on menstrual cycles. I had bad headaches and could not sleep on the bed. Nothing painkillers couldn’t fix, right? WRONG!! Auntie Flo left but forgot her big bag of headaches with me and they were bad. It had my parents rushing to my room at midnight because they could hear my groaning and crying from their bedroom. It felt like construction workers were working on my head with their chisels, hammers and other banging tools. When I got the little sleep I could, I dreamt my head was being pounded on. I was rushed to the hospital that night.
It was the first time in my life I had been placed on IV fluid drip, and I honestly wish it had been the last. I was not admitted but stayed the whole day being observed. I could not eat, every time I stood up to pee, I fell and needed guidance to and from the toilet. It was a lot of pain and I do not wish it on my worst enemy. My parents were worried, my dad told me he told me so in a subtle manner, but it still hurt. He said I allowed myself to be used as a lab rat (it’s funny now that I think about it). The doctor said there was no way it could have been the vaccine that caused all I was going through. He gave me drugs and I was discharged with a swollen hand. I went home, ate, rested and felt better from then on.
I felt so much better, I resumed back at the office with so much enthusiasm. Little did I know a relapse was going to occur.
That day the relapse occurred I thought it was just an effect of the vaccine on my cycle. Auntie Flo sent her headaches before making her appearance. I was scared that the headaches were going to follow her for the rest of my life but two days, three days… the headaches were there, but she never showed up. I had nothing to be scared of but was deeply worried. Luckily, it was a national holiday so my dad was able to take me to a different hospital.
It was a national holiday. The hospital was filled with people. It was like everybody chose that day for their check ups. I did the whole registration process and waited my turn. Thirty minutes went by, an hour went by… I paced around feeling a bit restless, till I saw a poster that said urgent attention would only be given to those vomiting or those who faint. I pulled out my phone to text my dad:
Should I faint? Maybe they’ll attend to me faster.
He had already gone to meet a few people to talk to to make the whole thing faster. In no time, I was given premium attention.
“Can you walk?”
“Do you need a wheelchair?”
“Let me help you.” Okay, you go dad!
I met with a doctor, explained all that was wrong with me and he told me to go to their ward and rest for a bit. They did a test or two, put me on a drip and all this time, I did not expect anything major to be wrong with me. My dad returned with a plate of food and my test results. “You have severe anaemia and severe malaria.”
Excuse me? From where?
The doctor came back to repeat everything he had told my dad and ask me questions. I answered and just needed to know what the way forward was. I did not expect him to tell me I’d be sleeping in the hospital that night for “further observations.” I thought it was just a headache. Apparently, my blood pressure was low, so was my blood count and that was responsible for the weakness I felt. That was also the reason why Auntie Flo had not shown up yet. I thought being placed on a drip was scary, but sleeping in the hospital with no family member beside me was the scariest. My first time ever in that hospital and I was given a room and a bed. The way I cried, one would have thought I was a little child, but I had to behave myself and suck it all in.
The days/nights that followed were not the easiest. Needles and nurses, drips and drugs. Auntie Flo came and with more packages. I just wanted my bed, my room. I was tired of the hospital walls, I wanted my own walls. I did not have the appetite to eat, hospital food sucked and moving was a chore. So much pain, only because I wanted to be immune to the corona virus. As someone immune to sicknesses and diseases, this came as a backlash for me. I do not want to experience such again. I was discharged after three nights with a bag of drugs and two swollen hands with multiple holes.
Did I take the second dose? Yes, I did. Luckily, it was just one night of intense headaches.
Have I fallen sick since then? Nope. I do not want a repeat of that experience. I hate hospitals. One night I won’t forget… I had sharp pains in my stomach and I wanted to pee. The drip was connected and I could not move. There was a little teenage girl I shared a ward with, her mum was with her. She helped me get a nurse. I told this nurse how I felt and begged her to help me to the restroom. “I can’t help you oh,” she said. “This is why I told your mum to stay.”
My mother that had work the following day. LOL. I had never felt so alone or in so much pain. The girl’s mother helped me and brought me back.
Have you taken the vaccine? Do not let this story discourage you. Everyone’s case is different. While there are reports of blood clots accompanied by low platelet counts occurring after vaccination with AstraZeneca, I’m the only one i know that experienced this.
