Entries tagged with covid vaccination

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covid vaccination

covid booster appointment

I have an appointment for a monovalent covid vaccine booster, and a flu vaccine, for this coming Saturday, Sept. 16.

When I looked yesterday, the earliest they had available at any location was the 18th, but

cattitude looked this morning and found this. I have an appointment with the eye doctor Monday, and then am flying to Montreal Wednesday, so I was thinking I'd wait till I got back. But the time in airports, and on the airplane, are probably the highest-risk part of the trip, so any protection I can get is worth having.

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covid vaccine card

I went to the CVS in Central Square today, and got them to add the information about the bivalent booster to my vaccine card.

That took only a couple of minutes, once I got there, but the trip there involves changing trains, so I went on Monday afternoon, specifically, so I could go to the Central Square Farmers Market.

I got a couple of things I was not expecting to see there in October in Massachusetts--a watermelon and some raspberries. I asked about the raspberries, and the vendor said they will probably have them until the first frost, and I don't know how soon that's likely to be.

I also got some leeks, which I expected to see at the market, some diva cucumbers, and a loaf of bread. When I got home,

cattitude told me we still had three of the small cucumbers from last week--but if I hadn't been buying those, I wouldn't have spotted the few boxes of raspberries next to the cashbox.

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T cells found!

I just got the results of the T Detect test for covid T cells, and it's positive, meaning they found T cells.

This comes with disclaimers about them not knowing what it means for immunity, of course.

ETA: I sent this information to my doctor soon after receiving it, and got a very enthusiastic "yay!!!" in response.

I just got an email from the company saying they have approved my request for financial assistance, covering everything except the prescription fee, and including a code to use during the ordering process. I wrote back, asking how to apply this retroactively. The FAQ on their website says that "If you have already purchased the test and your application for Adaptive Assist is approved to provide the test at a reduced cost, a refund will be processed to your credit card." ~~So I probably don't need to do anything, but I wanted to follow up. (Given when I sent that, I don't expect a reply until Monday.)~~ They have emailed to say the refund will be on my credit card in 3-5 business days.

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antibody test

I now have a comment from my doctor about that antibody test result, which started "Boo, no detected antibodies." Have I mentioned that I like my doctor?

She's not sure what the next step is, possibly a referral to Infectious Diseases or an immunologist, if my MS doctor didn't have suggestions. I sent her a long answer, including that the MS guy hadn't been very optimistic about this third dose, then realized two minutes after clicking "send" that I hadn't actually answered her question. So I replied to my own message, with "Following up to myself: I suspect either ID or an immunology specialist would make sense here, ideally one who's willing to do telemedicine.."

For my reference, Carmen's comment on the test, and that that first long answer:

( Read more... )

Current Mood: disappointed

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still not immune

I went to my doctor's office yesterday and had blood drawn for the semi-quantitative covid antibody test. The results came back this morning: no antibodies detected.

That's after three full doses of the Modern vaccine, the most recent one carefully timed relative to my MS medication and the time of day (and a Pfizer booster in November, poorly timed relative to the MS drug).

I will need to continue to be more careful than most people, even though it seems like that those vaccines left me with useful T cells.

(Also, our household's free rapid Covid tests arrived yesterday.)

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medical appointment: vaccine, BP, teeth

I just did telemedicine with Perry, at Dr. Bershel's office. That basically went well, but I discovered near the end of the call that Carmen is in fact back from her leave of absence, and Perry wants me to talk to Carmen about the Ritalin. I am annoyed: this appointment had originally been with Carmen, and the office called to say Carmen wouldn't be back until February, and we switched this appointment to be with Perry because I told them I would need the Ritalin before then. *sigh* So, I have another telemedicine appointment, with Carmen, for next Tuesday morning.

However, we talked about my blood pressure, another dose of the covid vaccine, and the jaw clenching and weird feeling in my ears. She agrees I should get a third full dose, and I don't need a prescription or anything, just make sure to sign up for a third dose as an immunocompromised person when I make the vaccine appointment. I told Perry that I think the night mouth guard is helping, but I'm not sleeping as deeply as I'm used to, and she wants me to get a custom-fitted mouthguard. I told her that my concern wasn't primarily about the expense, but infection risk, and she suggested I call the dentist and ask about their covid protocols.

It is normal for blood pressure to go up in the afternoon. Perry suggested I just take the pills every morning, but I suggested just checking, and taking a pill if needed, in the afternoon, rather than occasionally taking a pill when my unmedicated BP was 90/60. So that's a plan.

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that blood test result

I heard from my neurologist about that "semi-quantitative covid test":

He says the <1 result means that I have "no detectable antibody response to all vaccinations thus far," because of the MS medication.

I tried googling to see what a negative covid antibody test might mean, but the CDC and FDA just want to tell me what a positive covid antibody test would mean, not a negative one. So I wrote back, and asked whether I need to behave as though I'm not vaccinated. I'm hoping my T cells are primed and ready to deal with this virus, but that's a hope, not a fact.

The doctor did say that if I want to get a fourth vaccine dose, he'd recommend getting it 3-4 weeks before my next Ocrevus infusion, which would put it in the second half of March. So I'm also going to ask Carmen what she thinks about a possible fourth dose the next time I talk to her, in January.

The doctor also apologized for the delay, which is reassuring, and offered to give me a letter of "medical necessity" so I won't be billed for tests. (Another look at the message from the health insurance suggests that what I'm actually being billed for is the JC virus test, which I don't think was medically necessary, but the positive test result from ten years ago isn't in their system, so they might buy that.)

ETA: I have some more information (from someone who is not my doctor). They confirmed that I probably have some useful protection from T cells, and also that given the timing of my booster dose of the vaccine last month, I should talk to my doctor about a fourth dose, carefully spaced at least 12 weeks after the most recent Ocrevus infusion, and at least four weeks before the following Ocrevus dose. That would mean sometime after January 13 and, conveniently, my next appointment with my doctor is for January 11th.

Entry tags:

covid vaccination

vaccine booster

I had a covid vaccine booster this morning, at the drugstore.

I got the Pfizer vaccine on purpose, because mixing vaccines may be slightly better than sticking to the same (mRNA) vaccine. Both the pharmacy clerk I checked in with, and the person giving the vaccine, asked if I knew they were giving Pfizer rather than Moderna at that store, and I said yes. I just checked in with the CVC's v-safe program, which asked which vaccine I'd gotten, and then said something like "you got Moderna for the first two doses, are you sure you mean Pfizer?"

So, that was a few hours ago. Since then, I have walked home from the drugstore, played Scrabble, had lunch, and done a little proofreading. The vaccinator specifically told me to move the arm around today, but when I asked about exercise, he said I should wait a day before doing arm/shoulder exercises.

No side effects so far. In the interests of accuracy, I told v-safe that I had mild joint pains -- it didn't ask whether those were new (the way the covid screenings ask about "new or worsening" cough, shortness of breath, etc.

The drugstore gave me a coupon for $5 off a $20 purchase, good through Dec. 31st. I wandered around the store for ten or fifteen minutes after being vaccinated (they ask people to stay in the store that long), and wound up buying soap and pens, which didn't add up to $20, so I'm saving the coupon for later.