Let’s start off with some good news that I’d like to share. Last week, I was finally able to book an appointment to get the Covid-19 vaccines. My first one will be on April 27, and my second one is set for August. As of this writing, I don’t know which one I’m getting, but I’m hoping that it isn’t the AstraZeneca vaccine. I’ve had experience with blood clots.
Several years ago, I had a blood clot, which ended up in my left lung. As you can probably imagine, it was pretty scary.
I remember having to call Para Transpo one day to take me to the ER due to being in extreme pain whenever my ventilator gave me a breath. In a case like this, I probably should’ve taken an ambulance. However, if you’re a person that uses a wheelchair, the Paramedics won’t allow you to take it with you. To a point, I can understand if it’s due to a lack of space in the ambulance and not having time to secure your wheelchair. I can speak from experience, though, that it can be pretty challenging and expensive to arrange for someone to pick up your wheelchair and bring it to the hospital.
After my stay at the hospital for the blood clot, I was prescribed Warfarin. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that it wasn’t pleasant. Along with the Warfarin, I also had to get my blood tested every week. Whenever I get my blood taken, it’s always challenging to find a vein. It often takes a few tries, and if still no luck, they need to stop. I think there’s a limit to the number of times that they can attempt to draw blood in one sitting. Thankfully, the whole ordeal lasted about six months, and I haven’t had an issue since.
Looking back at it now, yes, it was scary, but it could’ve been much worse.
As far as the AstraZeneca vaccine goes, I’m a little worried if it is, in fact the one I’m getting. To be completely honest, I only just realized as I started to write this that I forgot to ask which vaccine I’ll be getting.
Since it’ll be about four months between my appointments, I’m probably getting the AstraZeneca vaccine. I’m basing this on reading information posted on Ottawa Public Health’s website. At this moment, I’m not sure what to do.
Either way, I’ll be looking into it in the coming days.
I’ve been feeling a little mentally tired this past week. Part of the reason is due to the amount of training that I’ve been doing. Right now, I’m training two new caregivers, and I believe there’s one more on the way as well. On top of that, the training schedule keeps changing almost daily, often without my knowledge.
Long story short, nobody seems to know what’s happening or who’s showing up and when. It’s pretty stressful which has lead to many sleepless nights.
And then there’s the Covid thing.
It seems that everyone’s upset at Doug Ford, and that includes me. I feel that he completely dropped the ball as far as how it’s been handled.
As far as the new restrictions go, I don’t think they’ll have much of an impact as far as stopping the spread. I hate to sound negative, but there will always be people defying the rules when restrictions of any type are in place.
To make matters worse, our Premier doesn’t seem to understand what needs to be done, and as a result, keeps changing his mind.
We’re all feeling angry, frustrated, confused, depressed, ignored, lonely, tired, stressed, broke, broken, anxious. Those are just a few examples.
We need real answers and real solutions. Until that day comes, I don’t think anything will change.
I hate ending on a sour note.
So, I hope you’re doing relatively well. Again, I want to thank those of you that continue to read this every week if you’re new, welcome.
Please do what you can to keep yourself and others safe. If any of you are struggling, don’t be afraid to reach out for help.
Photo: Hakan Nural
