I Finally Got My Jab In The Arm

Like so may others I finally got my vaccine shot.  

And, yes I admit that I was nervous about it since I don't have a great track record when it comes to vaccines. I can't forget the horrible reaction I had to the flu shot when I was a teenager. So it goes without saying that I never wanted to experience anything remotely like that again.  After looking into and posting a blog post on the ingredients of mRNA vaccines as well as the other types of available vaccines my anxiety levels were greatly reduced. Learning that the mRNA vaccines were nothing like the flu vaccine was incredibly good news. 

I did however discouver that I had an allergy to two ingredient in both mRNA vaccines (unlike the others that were loaded with ingredients I was allergic to). So based on what I already knew and from previous reactions I could somewhat anticipate what to expect when it came to any allergic reaction.

As it turns out the whole process was really easy. Our local vaccination site was incredibly impressive, well organized, helpful and efficient. From the information takers, direction givers to the lovely nurse that asked questions and gave me such great information. Oh, and by the way she also gave me a completely pain free shot. And, yes I did take additional allergy pills and antioxidants before going to help with the reaction. 

The predicted sore arm started to appeared about six hours later.  I also experienced the usual soreness, feeling tired, and some what" yucky".  (Yes that's my supper technical term....and I'm sticking with it.)

For me the itchiness, significant skin irritation, being stuffed up, and sometimes experiencing nausea started occurring the next day.  Five days later I was still dealing with skin issues but the other symptoms had finally reduced. By the eighth day or just over a week later my skin is healing and the itchiness has finally dissipated.

While dealing with these symptoms is not fun or remotely enjoyable I'm so glad to have had it. Not just for myself but for my family, friends and community.  Just this simple act done by so many of us can change our lives for the better in so many meaningful ways. 

So the next time you think a single person can't make a difference think of this. It's pretty amazing.