Better for it

A sideways look at age, Colin McQueen - writer, Getting Older, Humour 2 Minutes
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…And so, after the ego-boosting trip of my flu jab, I rolled up yesterday for my Covid booster and, disappointingly, not one person questioned my entitlement to receive it.  I had obviously aged overnight.  I wore a short-sleeved shirt, the nurse was jolly and friendly and it was all over in seconds – a million miles away from the hullaballoo of paperwork and facemasks that accompanied the first vaccination just thirty months ago.  Despite the weight of knowing that I do, after all, look every bit as old as I am, I felt smug on my walk home.  My left arm was still a little sore from the flu jab and I had no doubt that by today, my right arm would be similarly sore, but I could cope with that: the chances are that whatever illness should befall me this year, severe covid should not over-concern me.  Super-boosted, like Peter Parker, I am Covid Man: what has just bitten me has made me superhuman.

Which is why the super-nausea I felt this morning came as such a surprise.  I seldom feel sick and even more infrequently do I succumb to the whole vile tumult of actually being sick – the blank refusal to let whatever has gone down, reappear, almost always prevails.  But this morning… oh dear, it felt like it could be a close call.  I did not do the dreadful deed, but lordy, it felt like I ought to.  Everyone always says, ‘Just do it.  Get it over with’, but I can’t do that.  I would honestly rather feel sick for a month than actually be sick for thirty seconds.  That was just not going to happen.  In my world, what goes down stays down and bugger the consequences.

So, bloody mindedly, I did what I always do in such circumstances and steadfastedly refused to change my routine.  I drank coffee – unadulterated and black, I am not a complete idiot – I ate toast swamped in a thickness of butter that left my statins atrophying in their bubble pack and I told myself that it was all in my head, but it wasn’t.  It was in the pit of my stomach and it was knocking very loudly on my Lower Esophageal Sphincter with something that felt like a sledgehammer.  I felt sure that I must have drunk or eaten something untoward – like a whole rancid cow from the feel of it – but for the life of me I couldn’t think what.  So I Googled and, lo and behold, I found that after sore arm, stiff arm and headache, the most common side-effect of the Pfizer injection is nausea.  Well, it’s a small price to pay I suppose…

I walked the kids to school and then I listlessly kicked around the house whilst my stomach performed the kind of routine that would net Simone Biles a cricket score and I ignored it the best I could, until ignoring it became just that little bit easier and, although I couldn’t face lunch as such, I did slurp some soup like a proper old man and I really did feel better for it.  By the time I walked to pick the kids up from school, I was pretty much the old me.  The one that not even a very slightly sore arm could bring down…

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Published by colinmcqueen

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13 thoughts on “Better for it”

  1. I had terrible reactions to the Covid shots and booster which got progressively worse. Sick in bed for days after with the added bonus of swollen lymph nodes under my arm. That was painful and sore for two damn weeks. I know I probably should, but I haven’t gotten this new booster yet. I swear the reaction is worse than having Covid.

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    1. For me, although I felt bad, it was only for a a few hours. It’s a balance of risk, isn’t it, when the vaccination itself makes you very unwell.

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  2. I keep reading about the latest Covid jab and it does not give the idea of getting it any great appeal, though I shall go through with it if urged next month. I can deal with sore arm and headache. Nausea though…unlike you, I would rather be sick than feel queasy. I think nausea is even worse than itching which is worse than a degree of pain. I hope having conquered it, you will continue to feel better!

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  5. I’m with you Colin, as my main reason I hate actually puking 🤮 more than hours of feeling nauseous, and will actually avoid “Barfing a rainbow” like avoiding an open gate to the garden of a rabid dog (look away now for your own mental well being if you don’t like gory details) is:
    That diabolical, despicable, disgusting bit of sick that gets stuck beyond the back of the nose, but not far enough into being in the throat to join the rest of the vomit. That despicable bit, that isn’t going to be dislodged easily and hangs around for a horrible long while, as it goes slightly more acidic, cold and solidifies into a vile lump. Then when it’s been there to annoy and revolt 🤢 the delicate senses of the nose to the max, it decides it won’t budge via a good 🤧 blow, but only if it is sniffed back 🥴 and swallowed effecting the other sense of taste, thus making you want to throw up 🤮 yet again!!

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  6. Well done for getting through it. Yes, not a pleasant subject but people who are casual about being s**k are crazy. I too would rather put up with the nausea than, er, expunge the cause.

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