Tenn. blood clot patient doesn’t regret getting J&J vaccine
A Tennessee woman, who was hospitalized for blood clots after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, is speaking out about her ordeal.
The unidentified patient spoke with several media outlets from her Nashville hospital bed, where she has been unable to walk for a week due to swollen legs and blurred vision.
Doctors said the vaccination is to blame for her extreme side effects, but the anonymous patient said she doesn’t regret anything.
“I think vaccines are incredibly important and life-saving,” she told the Nashville Scene. “I want to be clear that my case is extraordinarily rare and is still being researched.”
“A very talented team of doctors is working to determine what made me more susceptible to this reaction, and I’m confident that we’ll have answers soon, and a more definitive list of folks for whom the J&J vaccine is safe.”
Federal authorities have paused the use of the one dose inoculation after six women between the ages of 18 and 48 developed blood clots, including one who died. Seven million Americans have received the J&J shot.
The Nashville patient is an athletic woman in her 20’s who was reportedly in good health before her March 19 vaccination.
Six days after she got the J&J shot, she experienced eye pain, throbbing headaches, bruises and swelling, the alternative newsweekly said.
She was discharged from the ER when lab tests showed no abnormalities, but was sent to the ICU when a heparin-induced thrombocytopenia antibody was found in her blood.
“My doctors, nurses and techs have been incredible,” she told The Source. “They’ve taken a scary and mysterious syndrome and made sense of it quickly while keeping me informed and calm.”
“I think that’s why they call it medical practice is, we’re always practicing and learning,” she said, in another interview with NBC News. “I’m grateful that I’m young and healthy otherwise, and hopefully we’ll be able to get through this just fine.”
The patient has been able to have visitors, including her father who reportedly flew in from New York.
She is looking forward to getting out of the hospital and indulging in some simple pleasures.
“Hug my dog and tell him he’s perfect. And wash my hair,” she told The Source of her plans.
An expert advisory committee to the CDC said Wednesday it needed more time to study the rare side effects and consider whether to recommend the continued usage of the drug.
