My name is Bec. I was a healthy and fit 27-year-old wife and mum of two children under three. I had no underlying health conditions and rarely got sick as working in Early Childhood Education since I was 18 had built up a solid immune system. I went to the gym three to four times a week, even when pregnant, and would be out and about most weekends with my husband and babies.
Before I got my first vaccine I was working for a local builder four days a week and loved my new role and workplace. My husband and I have built four houses together and I was always painting, cleaning, up and down stairs and on the go.
All my family and friends know I was hesitant to get the vaccine. I saw stories from America, they had the rollout before us, and was very concerned at all the information I saw and researched. I still felt pressure from my family, friends and workplace and people made me feel guilty for not getting it because I had kids. Everyone said that what I was seeing must have been from ‘underlying health conditions’ and other factors, as it was ‘safe and effective’ as stated by scientists, doctors, the TGA and others.
I got my first Pfizer vaccine on the 2nd of September 2021 around 10.30am. My husband needed his to return to work so we both went together. I got it in my left arm. We waited the 15mins and I felt fine. I actually felt relaxed because I felt completely normal. We drove home and I remember asking my husband if he had bad back pain. It felt like when you are early in pregnancy and you get that constant lower back pain. My chiropractor later stated this was actually the start of my reaction and that it was an instant inflammatory response. But I thought nothing of it at the time as it didn’t last too long.
The next day I woke up feeling fine. I had a sore arm but that was it. I went about my day at home as construction in Canberra was in lockdown. Around 10.30am I started getting chest pains, I thought it may have just been my body’s response to the vaccine and probably normal as it did its thing. The pains started to get sharper and more severe by the afternoon. I kept calm and still just thought my body was reacting and doing its thing. By 7pm the kids were in bed and I said to my husband I think I need to go to ED because something is not right. I decided to have a shower and sit in bed for a bit.
By then the chest pains were sharp and the tightness was still there. At about 8pm, all of a sudden the chest pain ramped up and was closer together with a really painful a feeling I can’t even explain. All of a sudden, I had the most excruciating pain from my left elbow to wrist like someone was stabbing a knife down my arm, my whole left side got pins and needles and went numb. I dialled 000 and passed my phone to my husband as I could hardly even talk.
He was on the phone to the ambulance and my chest pains got even worse. I had these hot surges from my heart down my body and my left side was completely numb. My jaw then locked and I started fitting with my arms and legs going up and down and I couldn’t stop them. I remember just thinking stay calm, stay calm and thinking about my kids. It was the worst experience of my life.
Finally, the fitting stopped but the chest pains were so painful. My left side was still numb and with pins and needles. The ambulance arrived and they put heart monitors on me straight away and asked myself and husband what was going on. After I explained what was going on and them still running tests my husband said she had her COVID vaccine yesterday. The vibe instantly changed.
They straight out said this probably wasn’t due to that. One of them then said to my husband, “Do you suffer from anxiety mate?” and rolling his eyes towards me. He said, “No, never” for me. I was scared for my life and he was trying to downplay it to anxiety, which I’m lucky to have never suffered.
They said my ECG was okay and it was up to me if I wanted to go to hospital. I straight out said, “Yes take me. Something is not right”. I couldn’t work out why they would even ask me when I was having severe chest pains, chest surges, a fit and numbing on the side of my body and I’d had something completely new the day before.
In the ambulance I started having more of these weird chest surges and couldn’t control my left leg. It was spasming and wouldn’t stop. Once we got to hospital my numbness and pins and needles then shifted to the right side of my body. Both my legs started to spasm and now I couldn’t control both my legs. My chest pains and sensations were still happening. I was rushed into a bed and doctors and nurses came running because they thought I was having a heart attack and stroke.
My tests came back okay and the blood clotting marker came back negative. The head of ED who was great, came over to see me and said, “We are still trying to figure out what’s going on with you, but let’s just say the lady in the bed next to you has almost identical symptoms and she also just had the COVID vaccine. We have a few people at the moment and have been seeing a lot of weird and abnormal symptoms after peoples vaccinations as it’s still so new.”
I was still having chest pains, chest tightness, numb legs, pins and needles in my whole body. I was discharged from hospital the next day by an older doctor who hadn’t even come to see me. She said to go home, make sure I didn’t skip the second vaccination, and that it was likely a mild reaction and anxiety. I have never suffered from anxiety and I just knew she was gaslighting me.
After I got home from hospital I developed the worst head pressure you could imagine. Think of a ring around your head that’s literally going to blow your head off. I had that for eight weeks STRAIGHT with no break. Over the following days I started getting a whole range of neurological issues. I went back to the same hospital for the head pressure and heart issues. They did all the same tests and sent me home again.
I developed muscle spasms in my legs, arms and shoulders all the time. I couldn’t move my arms properly. I couldn’t talk properly. I couldn’t lie my daughter in her cot without feeling like my eyes and face was going to explode. I had to sleep upright and I went to bed every night wondering if I’d be waking up.
After a week nothing was any better. I decided to go to the Canberra hospital hoping they weren’t going to fob me off like the last one. I got an amazing doctor and male nurse who went above and beyond for me. They listened to everything I had and did every test. X-rays, CT scans, numerous blood tests and so on. Finally the head of ED came and checked me on a bedside ultrasound and confirmed pericarditis from the Pfizer vaccine.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t find why I had severe head pressure, the numbness in my body and pins and needles. They poked one side of my body with a pin and were amazed that I couldn’t feel it like I could on the other side. He wanted the cardiologist to come down and see me but he told them no need and so I was prescribed colchicine and sent home.
That’s when I started researching the other people I had seen who ‘must have had underlying health issues’, to see what they were doing. I soon realised it was more common than everyone made out, although it was still in the early days of people telling their story.
I spent every day mostly in bed. I couldn’t function properly, I couldn’t put sentences together properly, I couldn’t look after my kids, let alone myself. They did extra days at day-care because I couldn’t look after them. This all happened when ACT and NSW had strict border rules, so my parents couldn’t even come and help out. It was pure hell.
I spent over $200 at the health food shop to try everything I had heard gave a small success. I had detox baths daily but would only have them when my husband was home, for fear I would drown in the bath if something happened.
I was on the wait list to see a neurologist and a cardiologist. My neurologist ordered a lumbar puncture and stated that he had seen three other people in the Canberra Hospital having strange things occur after the vaccination. One was paralysed and couldn’t walk but he would be okay after physio. At my second appointment he told me my lumbar puncture looked semi-normal and there were no issues. I said, ‘Okay but what about the head pressure, muscle spasms, numbness, pins and needles and the rest?” He said he couldn’t help me any further.
I asked him to write a report to my doctor because I needed a medical exemption from the second vaccination and he said straight up, “I don’t want to put it on paper or I will lose my license”. After my dumbfounded response, he typed and printed a bit of paper, “Rebecca experienced a severe headache post the Pfizer vaccine”. I was so upset and I left the office in tears. Why was no one willing to help? Why did most doctors and specialist turn a blind eye to what was happening to me?
It’s been just on 10 months now. Since the last paragraph I’ve been in hospital another two times and admitted to the cardiac ward. The cardiologist tried to discharge me without even doing tests. A student cardiologist spoke up in front of the eight people around my bed and said, “We should do an echo and run more tests”. The nurse even shook her head and whispered to me, “We’ve had so many young people in here. You are too young to be in here.” I had another ambulance trip and was given an anti-inflammatory injection and discharged. He told me I needed a Holter monitor ASAP and wondered why it had taken five months for someone to order one.
I and this community have basically been the only ones who have helped me slowly get better and recover. I saw a new cardiologist last week for a second opinion and to talk about my heart arrhythmias, thumping, double beats, pains and pressure. He now thinks I have or have had myocarditis instead. I need an MRI asap and even he wondered why this wasn’t done.
Still today I can’t exercise, I’ve put on 10kg. I have good days and bad days. Just when I think one thing is gone, it flares up again. I miss my body pre-vaccination. I regret listening to everyone else but myself. I have suffered so much, my kids have suffered, my husband has suffered, our financial situation has suffered, and our future plans and goals have suffered, all at the hands of big pharma, our government and the TGA.
Ten months of hell, ten months of constantly wondering what’s happening inside my body, te months and I’m still not what I was before. I want my old body back. I would give anything to turn back time. People need to start taking this seriously. It’s not a problem or rare until it happens to you.