Moving On!

"V" for Vaccinated!

"If you are pained by external things, 

it is not that they disturb you,

but your own judgement of them. 

 And it is in your power

to wipe out that judgement."

--Marcus Aurelius

Copyright © 2021

by Ralph F. Couey

Life has hurdles, or sometimes just speedbumps, those moments when, in anticipation there is anxiety, and when past, a sense of relief.  For many of us during this Pandemic, its been that moment when a point has been reached that at least a large part of the danger has passed.  When the vaccines began their rollout, we were told that when a certain percentage of the population had received the shot(s) something called "herd immunity" would have been reached.  For an increasing number of cities across the Mainland, that point has been reached.  Mask mandates have been rescinded and that illusive thing called "normal life" is once again in reach.

For me, that moment was Wednesday when I received my second Moderna shot.  I was worried about the after-effects after hearing all the horror stories.  Our youngest, when she got her second shot, became very ill, with a 103-degree fever.  Our son had a milder effect, body aches, dizziness, and fatigue.  In between were all the other stories.  

But I had a plan.

I did my homework.  After reading everything I could reach for, and talking to those whose experience was mild, I realized that there were some things I had to do.  The first was to drink as much water as I could hold.  I buy Propel brand water by the case, because it has electrolytes.  This is very good for people like me who perspire a lot during exercise. Also, it's flavored, and much more interesting than plain old water.  The water comes in 16.9-ounce bottles (why they can't squeeze one more tenth of an ounce in there is beyond me), and I normally drink several bottles a day.  For this event, I started that morning, drinking two bottles before getting the shot. Throughout the rest of the day, I downed twelve more bottles.  I made sure that I was thoroughly hydrated.

Secondly, I exercised.  When I got back from the vaccine site, I went straight for my dumbbells.  Normally, my routine takes about 25 to 30 minutes.  That day, I worked for 90 minutes, focusing on the biceps and triceps. This was to make sure that the drugs did not sit there in the muscle, but were forced to circulate.  Once my weight work was done, I went out and walked 4.5 miles.  I stayed active the rest of the day, doing yardwork and other things, resisting the urge to collapse on the couch.  Oddly, for the rest of that day, I had a rush of energy like I haven't experienced in a while.  I finally ran out of gas about 9:30 and went to bed.  

The next morning, I rolled out about 6:30 and took my mother-in-law to her daycare.  I felt a significant body ache, but honestly couldn't separate that from what I expected after my hard workout the day before.  I came back home and worked with the weights for awhile.  I still felt pretty good, and was hoping that the horror stories of "the day after" would not apply to me.  But, about noon, somewhere inside me, a switch was thrown, and I was hit by a crippling wave of exhaustion.  I still had chores to attend to, but it was hard.  When I wheeled the trash bin out to the street, I had to sit and rest, once on the way down, and once on the way back. Knowing that I couldn't work in this condition, I called off sick. after which I collapsed on the couch and began clearing the backlog of Law & Order episodes on the DVR.  It got warm inside the house, so I set up my zero gravity chair in a shady spot in the back yard, and that's where I spent the balance of the day.  It was like that up until about 8:30 pm before I began to rebound.  

This morning, I woke up rested, energetic, and completely free of pain. After dropping Mom off at daycare, I walked 5.4 miles through Ewa at the fastest clip I've done in well over a year.  When I arrived home, I did my normal workout with the weights.  Once I get cleaned up, I'll have about an hour to catch a nap before going to work.

Except for the fatigue (which I also experienced after the first shot) this was largely a non-event, and I'd like to think that my efforts at mitigation had a lot to do with that. 

At least, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

Coincidently, the CDC relaxed its masking guidelines the same day, so it looks like we are in fact moving back to normal, whatever that was.  Here in Hawai'i, the Governor has decided to ignore the new guidelines, pronouncing that they would be impossible to enforce.  And I know that a large number of people who are embracing the fear.  I see them every day, driving in their cars, alone, with the windows rolled up and the AC on.  Wearing a mask.  For them, the fear has become comfortable, the walls that define the box in which they live.  I empathize with them, but at the same time, the science tells me that I no longer need to be afraid.  I am protected, and that's that.  Yes, I heard about Bill Maher, but that's...what?  One case out of 156 million vaccinated people?  I like those odds.

So, for me, the past has truly passed.  I can now look forward into a much brighter future.  

It's a much better view, trust me.