Age: 53.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Gait inability, Head discomfort, Insomnia, Magnetic resonance imaging spinal abnormal, Malaise
Clinical narrative: Excruciating lower back pain, unable to  move or walk, pressure in my head Rushed to hospital via ambulance MRI done in ER; admitted to hospital MRI showed an epidural abscess L2-L5 Emergency surgery performed on Monday, April 26, 2021 - removal of epidural abscess and laminectomies L3 & L4 Sepsis with  Methicillin Susceptible Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA) in my bloodstream Multiple clots in upper extremities Discharged home with PIC line for 6-8 weeks of IV antibiotics. On April 20, 2021, I received my first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, at a local pharmacy. Two days later on Thursday April 22, 2021 I began to have pain in my lower back around 11:30 pm.  I had traveled on Thursday morning for a celebration.  I awoke at 4:00 am on Friday April 23, 2021, with not being able to walk without extreme pain in my lower back. I finally made it to the toilet and after releasing my bladder, I couldn't stand, felt nauseated and as if I were going to pass out. I lowered myself off the toilet onto the bathroom floor of the hotel and laid there in excruciating pain. I tried taking Motrin and putting ice on my lower back with no relief, finally I told my sister to call 911 that I needed to get to a hospital. EMS arrived shortly thereafter and I was taken to the hospital. There I was treated with an IV and pain medications. My daughter, a Physician Assistant, came to see me in the ER and spoke with the doctors; she was concerned that I may have cauda equina, (Cauda equina syndrome occurs when the nerve roots in the lumbar spine are compressed, cutting off sensation and movement. Nerve roots that control the function of the bladder and bowel are especially vulnerable to damage.)  The doctors at the hospital said oh no worries she doesn't have it.  The doctors offered to do an MRI or I could wait and do the diagnostic testing once I got home and follow up with a doctor in my home town.  The doctors were treating me for sciatica.  I was discharged from the hospital on Friday, April 23, 2021 in the afternoon, with muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories.  Sunday April 25th, 2021 I flew home not feeling well at all..I could hardly walk when all of sudden out of nowhere a young girl with a wheelchair comes up behind me and asks me if I needed assistance in the wheelchair, there was an angel watching down over me who sent this young lady to my rescue.  She proceeded to push me in the wheelchair to my gate.  The flight home is a blur as I was feeling so horrible. That evening around 11:00 pm I went up to bed to try and sleep but couldn't, I laid there in agony for about 2 hours; feeling as if my head were going to burst.  I finally said to my husband, I need to go to the ER.  He tried to help me out of bed and every time I tried to move I would scream in excruciating pain.  After some time, I finally said once again, to call 911 so I can be brought to the hospital.   EMS arrived shortly after the call, and the EMS put me into a chair to bring me down the stairsnot without me having the excruciating pain; from the chair I was transferred on to the stretcher again in agony and screaming because of the pain. The ambulance took me to another hospital. There in the ER I was tested for Covid-19 and was negative.  IV was started and pain medication was given, blood drawn, etc.  Dr. said that I would be admitted since the pain was so excruciating that it wasn't going to be managed on an outpatient basis..he said I am going to send you for an MRI to rule out an epidural abscess, I don't think you have it but I need to rule it out. Monday, April 26th 5:00 am went for an MRI and then was admitted to my room on the floor.  Not long after I was in my room, a spinal surgeon came and informed me that I had an epidural abscess and needed emergency surgery today.   The abscess was from lumbar 2 through lumbar 5 and it needed to be removed as soon as possible.  He would not be the surgeon doing the surgery but a doctor from his group would be.  I went into surgery around 5:30 pm that evening.  The surgery was removal of the abscess and laminectomies of L3 & 4.  As though this was not enough to handle, but I was also informed that I was septic and blood cultures were drawn multiple days in a row to try to figure out the microorganism that was traveling around in my blood.  After many days of a fever and on antibiotics, I was found to have Methicillin Susceptible Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA) in my blood and was started on an appropriate antibiotic. At this point I also went for diagnostic testing, CT Scans, Ultrasounds etc  It was found that I had multiple clots in both upper extremities.   I continued to be in the hospital for another   week or so. On Thursday, May 6, 2021 in the morning I had been coughing for the last few days, the doctors were talking about discharging me on Friday, May 7, 2021 so the doctor ordered me a chest x ray to rule out Covid-19, after I came back from the chest x ray, the discharge planning nurse came in and said since you may be discharged home we have to do a covid-19 test on you before discharge.  The Covid-19 test was done around mid-morning  early afternoon my doctor comes in and says that my chest x ray looks like I might have Covid-19  that I will need a test.  I informed the doctor that a Covid-19 was just completed a couple hours ago for my discharge.   It was around 4:00 pm that the doctor and nurses all came in and told me I was positive for Covid and I had to be rushed  up to the Covid Floor, this was Thursday May 6, 2021 4:00 pm.  I was supposed to be going for a PIC Line procedure Friday in the am to be discharged Friday afternoon.  Well once I was found to be positive for Covid, the PIC line procedure was changed to Friday at the end of the day.  I laid on the Covid unit for 24 hours.On Friday May 7, 2021 I went down to the OR for a PIC line insertion in my left upper arm to be able to go home on IV antibiotics for the next 6-8 weeks.   I was discharged home on Saturday May 8, 2021 in the am, with a PIC line in left upper arm, walker, on IV antibiotics q 8 hours,  Eliquis (blood thinner for clots),  pain meds, etc .., homecare, PT and following up with infectious disease doctor, spinal surgeon and the vascular doctor.    When the Covid vaccine was given to me on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 it was given to me by a Pharmacist at a local pharmacy. A multi dose vial was being use, and I did not see him clean off the top of the vial with alcohol, when the injection was performed he cleaned my upper arm off in one area and gave the injection to me in a totally different area of my arm that was not cleaned properly with alcohol.  The injection was not performed properly and therefore a bacterium was introduced into my blood stream via the injection.  As a result of receiving my first dose of Covid immunization, I had an epidural abscess, back surgery, and sepsis which I nearly died from.