35 thoughts on “March 26, 2021: Nothing Doing”

  1. My arm is pretty sore this morning from the shot yesterday, moreso than from any tetanus shot I've ever had. But, otherwise, I'm feeling good.

    1. On the scale of vaccinations I can remember, it was more sore than any flu shot, maybe comparable to a tetanus shot (it’s been 7.5 years), but less than bicillin (the dreaded “peanut butter shot”), smallpox, or anthrax.

        1. This, my second shingles shot totally wiped me out the next day. My first COVID shot was some very minor soreness and that was it.

      1. Boss - we’ll have to compare notes; received my first dose yesterday as well. 24-hours later, my arm is sore and weak-feeling & my fingers are ‘tingly’, sort of like I slept with my arm & hand pinned under me all night.

        CH - I said this exact same thing to the nurse at the VA yesterday. She laughed and remarked that everyone kept saying that. When I told the story to my civilian friends last night, they were aghast.

        Incidentally, this past Monday marked 19 years since I received the bicillin shot.

        1. It is now tender, meaning that I don't feel it unless I touch it. In the first couple of minutes after I took it, I felt kind of a weird feeling, but I was pretty emotional (surprisingly so), so it's hard to say if that was anything other than a release of pent-up emotions.

        2. Everyone at MCRD when I went through was subjected to multiple bicillin shots due to a serious outbreak of group A streptococcal pneumonia. It got so bad (DIs were even sick) that hocking loogies on the parade deck was informally authorized.

          Glad you got your first round of this one, CoC.

        3. My arm felt like I lost a game of slug bug to Mike Tyson, but only for the one day. Then it was just a bit sore. I did get dreadfully tired all of a sudden a few hours after the shot, though. The sore arm and tiredness and whatever will happen after the next shot feel pretty worth it, I gotta say.

        4. This information would have been more helpful earlier, but a nurse friend told me to move my arm around as if I'm doing calisthenics while waiting in the recovery area and any time throughout the day that I remember to.

    2. I got an email from Allina today saying I'm now eligible and can schedule a COVID-19 vaccination. I selected six different locations where I could go, and not a one of them has an available appointment time. On the bright side, I'm starting to believe again in American exceptionalism. Because this is exceptionally fucked up.

      1. I set up a mychart at Fairview website. Went there early Tuesday morning. That’s how I got scheduled

      2. Texas is going to have all adults eligible soon, and there's an article in the local paper saying that one incentive for volunteering at one of the large sites for giving vaccines is that volunteers will be given the vaccine. Don't know if that's true elsewhere but makes sense.

  2. One of the Engineering folks I work with called the results of the SQL I whipped up for her "perfect enough". Can't say I've heard that one before, but I'll take it.

  3. A tough week in H'istan...

    Over the prior week, I had felt my feet/ankles/calves getting more and more swollen. The feet had been a little the week prior, but things seemed to have escalated.
    I scheduled an appt with Dr. Fear on Monday - he said I was 25-30 lbs heavier with water weight that when I saw him back in January - and sent me to the emergency room.

    They took a bunch of tests, then admitted me to a regular hospital room, once one freed up (4:30AM the next morning). Right away, they put me on "water pill", which is designed to transfer water from the body to your kidneys thence to your urine.

    The net effect of the Lasix water pill is that you are peeing like the Trevi fountain, at least every 1/2 hr, until the drug wears down.

    Meanwhile, they ran me thru every test and machine in the place, EKG, ECG, CAT, Xray, ultrasound, blood clot analysis, and various blood analysis at least 7 times. Nobody bothered to look at the bottoms of my feet, which have been really calloused/cracked over the last couple of months.

    I've never been in the hospital before, and was very uncomfortable with the whole shtick - luckily I had a private room and private bathroom. I'd fill up these urine containers so they could keep track of how effective the Lasix was performing. But the whole place is totally asymmetric and you have no idea what is happening next and when (they don't know either).

    By Day 3, the swelling had reduced significantly, but each dept. reported they could find nothing wrong, so they finally discharged me with the continued Lasix regimen and additional vitamins to cover what is being sucked out of my body. I probably received a needle for blood draw/IV/other various shots at least 15 times. The good news is that heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, other organs appear to be OK, and no sign of blood clots.

    Finally back home, I dug out an old Nalgene bottle to be my urine reservoir, and so I can track daily progress - so far today 550ml in the jar.

    Also good news, today I got COVID Vaccine #2 (and a 20% off CVS coupon - heck of a deal).

      1. Dude! is right.

        Your comment about your feet...the Mrs has been suffering from chillblains, likely related to her Reynaud's. Painful, swollen, blistered toes with patches turning purple then the skin falling off.

        As a doctor, I diagnosed her a few weeks ago, after she had been suffering for weeks already and had been on a regimen of twice-daily administration of a steroid cream and serious dietary restriction (the thinking was allergic reaction to something).

        Anyhoo, she saw a rheumatologist today who immediately said "chillblains." I should charge for my services. Doc said that stress can cause capillaries to constrict. She has been under a lot of stress keeping her preschool open since fall, worried about the pandemic.

        She is on the mend, thanks to double- and triple-layering of socks with foot warmers (spongy insoles you stick to your socks. Give all-day heat from some sort of iron compound reaction).

  4. We found a good deal on a suite at Grand View Lodge for a few nights for this kids’ spring breaks. Playing in the pool a guy asks me if I follow hockey because he thinks that guy over there is Mikko Koivu. I wouldn’t recognize him. Looked about the right age, in good shape (does not look like he skips leg day), speaking not english to a few kids.
    Unfortunately, while he looked close enough to his pro headshots, I wouldn’t otherwise recognize the guy. I feel bad for this as a Minnesotan because he did good things for the hometown club.

      1. I’m pretty sure I was not 😂
        When I first read this, I assumed you meant some kind of bot or technical feature, which was confusing. Then I wondered why Koivu would be in legal trouble. A little slow on the uptake over here.

  5. I ordered a pair of tickets (because that’s the least you can order) in the nosebleeds (because you can’t buy just one and I’m cheap) for the April 15th afternoon game. I’m planning on attending alone. I have a couple friends who will be about through their second vaccine wait period, but I still haven’t decided if I’d be comfortable riding the hour up there with them. Hmm...

    I’m not going until I’m going, but assuming I do go, I hope for a really nice day. I want to get there early and park for most of the duration and just take it in. 🤞

    1. Just about to post it. It kind of hit me a bit hard as he was 6 years younger than me. I am starting to see more and more people younger than me pass away. He was too young, and as I said a little prayer for his family, I remembered that my mother was younger than me when she passed away. I was 23 and I had brothers who were 25, 21, 16 and 12 at the time. 3 of us got through it in ok fashion and the 2 youngest had a very tough time. Way too early for anyone to lose a parent.

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