The Lost Weekend

Last weekend felt a bit lost to me, and I'm blaming Pfizer, CVS, my immune system, and some aggravation on my part. 

I made an appointment for my covid vaccine/booster (whatever we're calling it now) a few days after the FDA approved the newest vaccines. When I went to CVS, the pharmacist said that Medicare had not yet updated their systems and they were unable to process it for reimbursement. I could pay $200 out of pocket, but I chose not to and went home without a shot. 

I made another appointment eight or ten days later, called that morning to ask if the Medicare reimbursement glitch had been worked out, and the tech said she thought so but wouldn't be able to tell for sure until she tried to process it. So I went in for appointment  #2, and sadly, came home with the same results. No shot.

Surely the third time would be the charm, so I made an appointment at a different CVS and hoped for different results. For some reason, we have three different CVS stores in our small town, but this gave me three options. Originally I wanted to get my covid shot first and get my flu shot two to three weeks later. I've had mild to moderate reactions from them before and didn't want to multiply the fever, headache, and body aches by getting both shots at the same time. But since time had been ticking away waiting for Medicare to get their act together, I was aggravated and made an appointment to get both shots. The third time was (sort of) the charm, but only because the pharmacist may have been tired of seeing me and maybe felt a bit sorry for me. This time the Medicare computers were down, but the pharmacist took my information, said he would submit it later, and checked me in for the shots. I got both covid and the flu vaccine from a personable tech with lovely purple hair and went home to celebrate my success. 

Friday night I woke up with a headache, fever, and shaking chills. I took some ibuprofen and went back to sleep. I slept until mid-day Saturday, waking up only to take more ibuprofen and get an ice pack for my headache before returning to sleep. I woke up at 8:30 pm, had some yogurt and more ibuprofen, and went back to sleep until Sunday morning. I woke up feeling almost normal and it was great to finally get up, get dressed, and get on with all the things I had neglected.

I am glad I was able to finally get both vaccines and am ultimately grateful for Pfizer and the fact that I had fairly good evidence that my immune system was responding as it should, even if it meant that I lost 36 hours of the weekend to sleeping and feeling crappy. I hope your weekend contained a bit more fun!