COVID 19 The Vaccine Thread

[DT]

lol what? Never heard of that. Someone must have made that up to justify their drinking...

Shhh ....

 

[DT]

So totally fine so far, no immediate reaction, the Mex place was amazing, holy smokes we got queso and by the time the main food came out, we were stuffed I got a Cali Burrito, it was a beast, and J got the Voltron Ultra Fajitas (hahaha, I don't remember the name ...), but it was chicken, steak, pulled pork, shrimp __and__ chorizo. Seriously, it was a 20 foot mountain of meat.

They have Wrestlers paintings all over the walls, it was fantastic

We got a big "to go" for the little G, and we took like 2/3rds of our food home, so Mexican tomorrow too.

 

[DT]

Hahaha, Cena!

 

[JayMysteri0]

Hol leee crap!!!

Doctors Forgot to Warn People With Breasts That the Covid Vaccine Could Affect Their Next Mammogram

“So let me tell you about this medical scare I’ve been having for the last few days,” was the opening line from my mother during our bi-weekly FaceTime call. Like countless women, she’d gone in for her annual mammogram and was expecting to receive a prompt notice from her doctor’s office telling...

jezebel.com

“So let me tell you about this medical scare I’ve been having for the last few days,” was the opening line from my mother during our bi-weekly FaceTime call. Like countless women, she’d gone in for her annual mammogram and was expecting to receive a prompt notice from her doctor’s office telling her all was well and to remember to schedule another mammogram around the same time next year. Instead, she got a letter with the words “found” and “most likely benign” too close together in the same sentence. As my mother would eventually find out after spending days mentally planning her own funeral, the swelling of her lymph nodes was a false flag triggered by having received the second dose of the covid vaccine a few days before her mammogram.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, as more women receive the vaccine, doctors are noticing a sharp rise in their mammograms showing swollen lymph nodes under the arm—which, under different circumstances, can sometimes be indicative of breast cancer. For most recipients of the covid vaccine, doctors say that swollen lymph nodes are a common response by the body. “The whole point of the vaccine is to get your immune system to mount a response to whatever the vaccine agent is,” one doctor explained to the Cleveland Clinic. Lymph nodes which function as filters for trapping viruses in the body often serve as one of the early detection signs for breast cancer. When the lymph nodes swell it’s part of a larger immune system response—and when those nodes are closer to the breasts, they can be indicative of a cancer spread. Because the vaccine is shot into the upper arm, doctors are not surprised that the common immune response of swollen lymph nodes is showing up in the underarm area.

 

[Alli]

We actually have heard a lot about that over the last few weeks. We even had a brief conversation here in TA regarding the effect of vaccines on lymph nodes.

 

[User.45]

Hol leee crap!!!

Key words are: "most likely benign". That is to be interpreted as "it's >95% benign". It takes a conscious effort for me to hit my mental threshold (I almost exclusively do malignant stuff, so the scale of ramifications is incomparable).
I suspect lymphadenopathy (that's what we call this transient swelling) is a good sign of mounting immunity.

 

[Eric]

We actually have heard a lot about that over the last few weeks. We even had a brief conversation here in TA regarding the effect of vaccines on lymph nodes.

I heard this, too. News even said that mammograms may give false negatives so it's likely doctors are warning people by now.

 

[Eric]

Key words are: "most likely benign". That is to be interpreted as "it's >95% benign". It takes a conscious effort for me to hit my mental threshold (I almost exclusively do malignant stuff, so the scale of ramifications is incomparable).
I suspect lymphadenopathy (that's what we call this transient swelling) is a good sign of mounting immunity.

Fun fact, 5 years ago I had lower left bowel pain so they did a ct scan and noted wall thickening in my sigmoid colon and 3 lesions on my liver. They said on the phone that it appears to be colon cancer that has spread to my liver and I needed a colonoscopy immediately and referred me to the GI doctor. I'll never forget that day, I was just sitting down to eat when the call came in and I couldn't even touch my food afterwards.

After the procedure it turned out I have diverticulitis causing the swollen bowels and what they believed were lesions turned out to be left over gallstones from my gallbladder removal surgery, two of which had passed by the time of my next scan. No cancer, not even polyps and the swelling was all gone. Good news but the weeks leading up to the results were a living hell and the GI doctor said he was really disappointed with the radiologist misreading the initial results.

 

[User.45]

Fun fact, 5 years ago I had lower left bowel pain so they did a ct scan and noted wall thickening in my sigmoid colon and 3 lesions on my liver. They said on the phone that it appears to be colon cancer that has spread to my liver and I needed a colonoscopy immediately and referred me to the GI doctor. I'll never forget that day, I was just sitting down to eat when the call came in and I couldn't even touch my food afterwards.

After the procedure it turned out I have diverticulitis causing the swollen bowels and what they believed were lesions turned out to be left over gallstones from my gallbladder removal surgery, two of which had passed by the time of my next scan. No cancer, not even polyps and the swelling was all gone. Good news but the weeks leading up to the results were a living hell and the GI doctor said he was really disappointed with the radiologist misreading the initial results.

Yes, I remember this. The radiologist overcalled the scan....which can be the most frustrating thing ever. I hate explaining to my patients that I disagree because of this this and that, and even if I pull up the scan and point by point tell them why, it's still partial relief to most. Luckily I work with some insanely good radiologists, so this issue mainly comes up with some outside study reads and I just request a second opinion read at my institution. That said, your eval was the right thing to do regardless.

 

[Eric]

Yes, I remember this. The radiologist overcalled the scan....which can be the most frustrating thing ever. I hate explaining to my patients that I disagree because of this this and that, and even if I pull up the scan and point by point tell them why, it's still partial relief to most. Luckily I work with some insanely good radiologists, so this issue mainly comes up with some outside study reads and I just request a second opinion read at my institution. That said, your eval was the right thing to do regardless.

Yeah, I get that when both showed on the same scan it probably set off flags so I didn't blame them too much. Besides, I was close to 50 so the colonoscopy is recommended at that age anyway, having it to rule everything out was really worth it.

 

[User.45]

Yeah, I get that when both showed on the same scan it probably set off flags so I didn't blame them too much. Besides, I was close to 50 so the colonoscopy is recommended at that age anyway, having it to rule everything out was really worth it.

Exactly. I wish sometimes we could just spare some of the anxiety in the system. Like the shit I miss the most from a doctor's appointment is somebody walking me through the process like:
1. You check in
2. An MA will check your vitals and go over your med list
3. They will walk you to an examination room, where you'll wait for your doctor, who might be running late depending on the day.
You might be first seen by a trainee such as a resident, who is already a doctor, or a fellow who is a doctor completed residency training working with the senior physician to gain experience with your disease.
4. Your docs will review your scan examine you and go over your issues.
5. Have your questions written down so you don't forget them (we all forget our questions all the time, esp when it's stressful).
6. Once you're done, youll be asked to schedule your follow up with the front desk, make sure to do it because it's most efficient for all
7. Once you're done with the scheduling go to get your blood drawn to this and that floor. You need not to bring anything just tell them your name, the order's in the system
8. If your lab is normal it will be released to you once the doctor reviewed it. No additional communication about your result means there is nothing to do or worry about regarding the test
9. Call/Message with questions.
+1 Bonus to tell them when and for what they should expect a bill. Though that's pretty standard, and I tell them that we may charge extra for a second opinion read, but usually they don't get billed for it.

I think something like this would make a clinic visit a million times less stressful.

 

[Eric]

Exactly. I wish sometimes we could just spare some of the anxiety in the system. Like the shit I miss the most from a doctor's appointment is somebody walking me through the process like:
1. You check in
2. An MA will check your vitals and go over your med list
3. They will walk you to an examination room, where you'll wait for your doctor, who might be running late depending on the day.
You might be first seen by a trainee such as a resident, who is already a doctor, or a fellow who is a doctor completed residency training working with the senior physician to gain experience with your disease.
4. Your docs will review your scan examine you and go over your issues.
5. Have your questions written down so you don't forget them (we all forget our questions all the time, esp when it's stressful).
6. Once you're done, youll be asked to schedule your follow up with the front desk, make sure to do it because it's most efficient for all
7. Once you're done with the scheduling go to get your blood drawn to this and that floor. You need not to bring anything just tell them your name, the order's in the system
8. If your lab is normal it will be released to you once the doctor reviewed it. No additional communication about your result means there is nothing to do or worry about regarding the test
9. Call/Message with questions.
+1 Bonus to tell them when and for what they should expect a bill. Though that's pretty standard, and I tell them that we may charge extra for a second opinion read, but usually they don't get billed for it.

I think something like this would make a clinic visit a million times less stressful.

This would have been excellent, far better than a call from the radiology department saying "we think it's cancer that has spread to your liver" and then telling you to schedule a follow up. What a cold way to handle it, I also have a buddy who does actually have liver cancer and they basically did the same to him.

However, like you said here in the end the GI doctor explained it all to me and said no further follow up was needed which was nice but the waiting was the worst part.

 

[User.45]

This would have been excellent, far better than a call from the radiology department saying "we think it's cancer that has spread to your liver" and then telling you to schedule a follow up. What a cold way to handle it, I also have a buddy who does actually have liver cancer and they basically did the same to him.

However, like you said here in the end the GI doctor explained it all to me and said no further follow up was needed which was nice but the waiting was the worst part.

Radiology departments should not break down news to anybody. People go into radiology so they don't have to...
The usual protocol is notifying the primary care physician who'll take care of the rest. But...in our lovely nation, many don't have such luxury...

 

[Runs For Fun]

That's strange. Any time I've had a CT scan, MRI, or X-ray, it was always reviewed by my doctor first before getting the results. I've never been given results directly from radiology. They're not supposed to interpret anything. I've been told by several radiologists that they are not allowed to give any kind of diagnosis or results to the patient.

 

[Eric]

That's strange. Any time I've had a CT scan, MRI, or X-ray, it was always reviewed by my doctor first before getting the results. I've never been given results directly from radiology. They're not supposed to interpret anything. I've been told by several radiologists that they are not allowed to give any kind of diagnosis or results to the patient.

I wonder if it had to do with the urgency of scheduling the colonoscopy but one would think there would be rules around this. As P_X mentioned, they should bring you in, sit you down and go over it with you. None of that happened until after my colonoscopy.

Hey, still awaiting your second dose, right? I think a lot of us here are a part of the Pfizer clan, glad that's the case so we can all share the same experiences with both doses. I'm glad to be done with both and will take whatever boosters they offer too. My wife's been calling me the vaccine pimp because I've been helping all my friends get appointments.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Hey, still awaiting your second dose, right? I think a lot of us here are a part of the Pfizer clan, glad that's the case so we can all share the same experiences with both doses. I'm glad to be done with both and will take whatever boosters they offer too. My wife's been calling me the vaccine pimp because I've been helping all my friends get appointments.

Yep. Two more weeks until I get my second Pfizer dose. Can't wait to get it. It will be such a relief to finally get out of the nightmare of the past year.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

My wife had her letter today for her first vaccine. I enjoyed rubbing it in that I haven’t had mine yet because I’m 6 months younger than her [emoji13]. Always bring that up to wind her up.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I don’t officially qualify to get vaccinated until tomorrow but in my limited attempt to get an appointment (by lying online) I’m just getting slapped with a parade of “no appointment available”. What does that even mean? No appointment in the next 2 hours or no appointment for the next 2 months? There are also 5 or 6 big chain pharmacies that have vaccinations available but it's pretty ridiculous you have to try each individually. I’m going to get vaccinated but I don’t plan on turning trying to get an appointment into a full-time job. I already have a full-time job.

 

[Eric]

I don’t officially qualify to get vaccinated until tomorrow but in my limited attempt to get an appointment (by lying online) I’m just getting slapped with a parade of “no appointment available”. What does that even mean? No appointment in the next 2 hours or no appointment for the next 2 months? There are also 5 or 6 big chain pharmacies that have vaccinations available but it's pretty ridiculous you have to try each individually. I’m going to get vaccinated but I don’t plan on turning trying to get an appointment into a full-time job. I already have a full-time job.

Yeah they're going to fill up fast now but I can tell you how everyone I know is doing it now in the bay area. Go to Walgreens and select areas around you, you can just type in city names around you, so we tried Daly City, Fremont, San Jose, etc. and eventually you'll find some openings. Keep in mind they change several times throughout the day as well, it can be red for 10 minutes and green for ten minutes all day long as they seem to update in real time.

Worth a shot by keeping an extra browser window open and refreshing as you get time.

https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19/location-screening