To Give A Shot And Take A Shot

My wife and I have done what millions have done and more in the future. On Friday, we were vaccinated with our first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Running up to the vaccination, we were apprehensive. Although we hadn’t heard too many people encountering problems, it was our son who forewarned us that we may feel some arm pain and tiredness afterwards. 

Compounding the nervousness was a small snowstorm which left 4+” of snow and lasted well over 24 hours. I can’t say that I slept well the night before the injection, but I didn’t shovel snow for the first time, leaving it to a landscaper we hired on the recommendation of a friend. And that was quite a concession by us, as we avidly work out, maintaining our strength and cardiovascular health. 

As unnerved as I was, my wife hates the unknown and it was troubling her greatly. When we booked the dates (March 19 is the day for the second inoculation), we did it through the office of my allergist, who is affiliated with the Summit Medical Group, a regional multi-specialty collection of healthcare professionals. We learned from a friend that even as SMG was saying don’t call, we are out of spaces for now, going through a doctor’s office could be fruitful. Which it was.

However, when I received the email confirmation, it only was sent to me and did not include my wife. Fortunately, a couple days later, I had an appointment with the allergist and checked on my wife’s COVID-19 date. She was in the computer. Whew!!

We were still more than 4 weeks from our date with the needles. Every day we were inundated with news stories of the crisis. Too few vaccines. Too many new cases. Way too many new deaths. And new variants which might not be effectively covered by the current crop of vaccines. 

Our son was able to secure his first vaccine in Harlem at the end of January. He told us how tired he was from it and how wasted he felt.  This made us wary. Friends also received their vaccines in New York City and they detailed their aches and pains. Plus, going to the Internet gave me no comfort with the plethora of stories detailing every aspect of the shots’ aftermath. 

Further aggravating the situation was the confirmation emails received on Monday. While my wife’s time was reflected accurately, my original time of 9:45 a.m. was now changed to 10:45. That sent me into a small tizzy, wondering do I dare try to call SMG to ask why this happened, or just accept the fact that they accepted my confirmation? I went with the latter, but it weighed on my mind for the rest of the week. 

With the weather a bit iffy, we traveled to the main SMG facility in Berkeley Heights. The parking lots were nearly full. I found a space a distance away from the building we needed to access on this fairly large campus. 

So we hiked through the continuing snow to the entrance, seeing a lot of people similarly situated in age headed in the same direction. We were checked in within 5 minutes of arrival, remaining socially distanced. Then we were led by an assistant to an area with 20 socially-distanced chairs, where we plopped ourselves down and waited for the next step.

A nurse practitioner emerged with a fully-loaded cart, informing us that we would watch a video from the Chief Medical Officer of SMG about the vaccination. She answered all of the questions posed to her.

Finally it was time. One by one, she routinely administered the vaccine. Her method was simple—alcohol prep, followed by a bandage half on, then the shot and then closure of the bandage. 

My wife was the second person in the group to receive her shot. Guess who was last?

As she poked me, I asked how many people would be seen by SMG for their shots. She replied that at Berkley Heights and their Florham Park location, 1,000 people were vaccinated daily. 

Per CDC guidelines, we waited 15 minutes before receiving our cards detailing the date and type of vaccine received.  And we made the 17 minute ride home easily.

Right after lunch, the anticipated pain in our left arms arrived. That pain grew exponentially. While I could raise my arm, it wasn’t very easy to do. 

I had looked up whether we could exercise after receiving the COVID-19 shot. The literature was split on it. 

Being the type of person who lives to exercise—I have been dealing with a painful left ankle for nearly 2 years which may ultimately require surgery—I was raring to go walk. I cajoled my wife into joining me.

We lasted 2 laps, barely over one mile before we called it quits. While there was some residual snow to navigate, we were fatigued—another common after effect from the vaccine. 

I became so tired that I said to my wife that the dinner I expected to make that night—a spinach and bean soup with some turkey and veggie burgers, was too much for me. She, my son and his partner who were joining us for the weekend, enthusiastically accepted my offer for Chinese take out. 

Thankfully my eating was not affected by the shot. However, that pain and the accruing tiredness was taking its toll. 

I made it through The Blacklist on NBC from 8:00 to 9:00 and had a couple of Oreos for dessert (the dark chocolate flavored one are only okay). But I was feeling it. 

I normally sleep in a T-shirt and shorts, as my body heats up in the night. I kept wearing the sweat outfit I had on and didn’t take off my socks. I wasn’t running a fever, but I was feeling a little chilled. 

Normally, I start out on my left side as I fade into sleep. With my left arm and shoulder throbbing, I fell asleep lying on my back.

Many nights, I awaken in the middle of the night and head downstairs to the cellar “Man Cave.” I either fall asleep there or traipse back upstairs for more sleep. 

Not this Friday to Saturday. I slept soundly for 8 1/2 hours. I was clobbered by a truck named Moderna!!

By Saturday, the shoulder ache was a bit better. I made it through breakfast. Only to head right back to bed for another two hours of sleep. 

I remained awake for lunch, which my wife and I made. Only to return to bed for another 1.5 hours  of sleep. My body was building anti-bodies and it was certainly making a fuss over it. 

After that last nap, I had more energy and it led to a 3.25 mile walk in the 34 degree air. I made a pasta and salad dinner. We watched an episode of The Crown—we have reached Season 4, Episode 5. I took in some of the Miami-LA Lakers game and talked with my son, his partner, my wife and our daughter, who appeared via Face Time from Albuquerque, NM, where she is the COVID compliance officer for an Amazon production. 

Saturday night’s sleep was more normal. No extra clothing, no sleeping on my back. I got a little over 6 hours sleep and I worked downstairs preparing for our Sunday run to Shop Rite. 

We picked up pastries for everyone and I scarfed down my favorite prune danish, along with some Greek yogurt, seeds and a banana. No problem.

Until 30 minutes later, when I took my body back to sleep for another 2+ hours. While the pain in the shoulder is all but gone, my fatigue is still there. 

Around 11:00 a.m., I was up and made that soup I was to cook on Friday and baked a store-bought spinach quiche. We had lunch, and by 12:30, I was back in bed. For another hour and a half. 

Which brings me to where I am now—just after 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, and for the first time, having enough strength to write this blog. I want to walk later, but I don’t know if I will have the wherewithal to do it. I might just succumb to the lure of the Maryland-Rutgers rematch and rest. Or maybe not.

What lays ahead for me is this—I will gain my equilibrium fairly soon. I will be back to my full exercise load. Days will become normal again—normal with the restrictions already in place due to the coronavirus. 

I have heard from a number of friends and my son what the impact of the second shot is like. The word I have heard is that it is more powerful than the first inoculation, so I should expect to be hit hard again. 

No matter how much I prepare for the second shot, I will still be blindsided by its impact on my body. But I know that I am doing the right thing. To prevent the virus from hitting me with all its fury, which could be daunting at age 70, no matter how in shape I presume to be. 

From this limited experience, I can only begin to imagine the rougher reaction people have when they actually contracted COVID-19. Make no mistake, this is a life-threatening and life-altering virus. Its power is extraordinary, having killed over 500,000 Americans thus far. We will continue to wear masks into the future for good reason. 

Athletes who have contracted it are still not up to full strength in some instances. Lingering conditions may remain with an individual for the rest of their life. 

Before the shot, I watched the sports try to cope with the pandemic. The fact that the NFL competed a season through the Super Bowl was amazing (if G.O.A.T. Tom Brady’s foolish toss of the Lombardi Trophy from one craft to another had resulted in it sinking to the bottom of Tampa Bay, I would have laughed so hard). Ditto MLB shortened season, and the NBA’s bubble. 

The fact that Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka prevailed in Australia, with its strict enforcement of COVID restrictions was a great testimony to how hard individual athletes from all nations can make something work. I hope the same happens at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

A shout out here to Serena Williams, who made it to the semi-finals before Osaka out hit her; the fact that she is the 4th best woman’s tennis player at age 39 is miraculous. I root for Serena to tie Margaret Court for the record number of Grand Slam women’s titles. But I also see that Father Time has caught up with her when she plays the elite competitors like Osaka. 

I know the end is near for Serena and for her older sister Venus, who barely makes it to the second round of a major tournament. I know that some believe that Martina Navratilova is the greatest female tennis player. Certainly an argument can made about that.

What cannot be questioned is how the Williams sisters, and especially Serena, changed the way the game was played. Their powerful shots and serves, the amount of training put into honing their games was not the norm when they started. 

Sure, people hated the father, Richard, for being overbearing. But now, it is a love affair with Serena as she ages and her quest for immortality is fading. 

In my opinion, I have seen the greatest ones in sports. In tennis, there is Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic. Tiger Woods was the face of golf and still attracts so much attention. Muhammad Ali. An International icon. Mention Michael Jordan, Lebron James or Bill Russell and those names are so well-known. Steph Curry has been called the greatest shooter of all-time. There is Brady in football, along with Jim Brown, the powerful Cleveland Browns running back. Baseball has Henry Aaron, Babe Ruth and an inordinate number of Hall of Fame names .

Serena Williams belongs with this rich tapestry of the best of the best. For sure.

I have to mention the trade of Carson Wentz to Indianapolis where he reunites with Frank Reich, his guru while Reich coached in Philadelphia. Good move for both teams.

Spring training has commenced and poor Clint Frazier. He has been given the nod to start in left field by Manager Aaron Boone. Except that the team signed former left fielder Brett Gardner to a $4 million contract. Guess who will be looking over his shoulder. 

There is further discord in Yankees’ camp. Reliever Zach Britton, the team’s player rep, sounded off strongly about Domingo Garcia’s domestic violence charge, which cost Garcia in terms of a lengthy suspension. I am sure that Britton isn’t the only Yankee harboring disgust and resentment. 

If that wasn’t enough, catcher Robinson Chirinos has been touted by Boone to be very valuable. Chirinos was a teammate of Gerrit Cole in Houston, but his catching of Cole was ended in the first half of the season. I wonder where this leaves Gary Sanchez, the talented one who has lost his way, and Kyle Higashioka, who replaced Sanchez towards the end of last season and became Cole’s personal catcher. 

Rutgers has once more fallen off the cliff. They were outclassed by #3 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Then today, I did catch the team lose to Maryland, a team on the rise. Some prognosticators have RU as an 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. I see danger ahead with Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska to finish the season. I believe that this team is maybe a 9-11 seed, if they beat IU. If not, do they even belong in the Big Dance?

I have watched the Brooklyn Nets play some amazing basketball. Without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, James Harden lifted the team from a 21 point deficit to a deserved win over a rising Phoenix Suns team. Then they took down Sacramento, followed by a win over the Lakers with Irving back. No matter how Lebron James plays, the Lakers are stumbling with Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroeder both out with injuries. The defense is still suspect, but the offense is great.

Steph Curry was lousy for three quarters against Miami. In the final stanza and OT, he was incredible, leading the warriors to victory. Yet he was sidelined on Saturday when Golden State played in his home town of Charlotte. It seems like he never gets to perform there…

BTW—Draymond Green opened his yap again, picking up two technicals and an ejection, which ultimately cost the Warriors a win. Steve Kerr said Draymond plays with intensity but his antics this time went over the line. I wonder if he’ll ever learn.

The NHL tried to play outdoor games at Stateline, Nevada, on the 18th green of a famous golf course adjacent to Lake Tahoe. Except that the weather warmed and the sun came out, creating havoc. Beautiful scenery—better than the Stadium Series. 

I have stayed lucid and upright. I made dinner. I am going for a walk. I feel better. 

Yet I am already anxious for shot number two on March 19th. Hopefully, the vaccine will be plentiful. Hopefully it will be effective. Hopefully, it will do its magic without sending me back to bed. Which is a heads up not to expect a blog that weekend. 

What is this all about? To give a shot and take a shot.