Kick
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Another update:
Literally just got (like 20 minutes ago) the second shot. I know this thread died a bit and I considered making a new one but this keeps it all together. I've been told that the second shot usually leads to a slight fever and... well... loose stool so I'm... really... looking forward to that.
On a more serious note, I'm sure you've all seen I post on the forum a lot, probably more than I should. It almost certainly went unnoticed, but over the last two weeks, I've posted less and when I have my replies have been pretty short. I've noticed it at least. Why is this? I've been busy. Why have I been busy? Our ward got hit by corona.
We went the whole of 2020 without a single case, but finally our luck ran out. I can't give out numbers, but safe to say, essentially our entire ward caught corona including a few carers. One person died before they could be tested, but there's no doubt in my mind corona killed them. They had symptoms. We are likely to lose at least one other (they may have already died, I was off work yesterday). Due to a variety of reasons, I was the last nurse standing that was a long term employee on our ward. There were a few days I was the only person there that had been on that ward more than a day. To say it's been stressful would be to understate just how much pressure myself and my colleagues have been under. I posted about this elsewhere, but this all kicked off literally less than a month after I was diagnosed with panic disorder. So yeah. I've not had a good time.
Now, I can hear you saying "But Kick, your residents all got vaccinated!" Yes, they did get the first shot, but we believe the were infected a few days before those shots. One shot isn't enough to give full protection and it takes a few days for it to truly become effective. We were just too late. That being said, one of the nurses brought in to help cover had worked last year on a ward that got hit by corona, and she was saying that, in comparison to those patients, ours are doing much better. They are all very ill, and, as I said, one died and another is surely soon to go, but they are still overall doing much better. They aren't in need of oxygen, they aren't in unbearable pain. For the most part, they have a slight cough and feel crappy. Did the vaccine help some of them keep the worst of the symptoms at bay? I don't know and I don't think it can be known at this point. This is simply a singular interesting observation.
I'll update again if i develop symptoms from the vaccine because I feel it is important to document it, but again, this is just my experience and my word is not enough to base your decision to get the vaccine on. Hard science is.
If you aren't getting the vaccine, at least, for the love of all that is holy, wear a mask and stay away from crowds. I had to phone the daughter of the person that died. It was not fun.
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