Age: 53.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Muscle spasms, Muscle tightness, Pain in extremity, Swelling, Ultrasound Doppler normal
Clinical narrative: Within 3 hours of getting the vaccine on May 14, 2021 I could not bend my right leg, could not squat down, and had terrible pain throughout the back of my right calf and surrounding my knee and upper right thigh. During the next 2 days the pain increased and the swelling increased to become very visible to others. The muscles in my calf and thigh were so tight and so bound up that it looked like balls under the skin, as if I was in a constant state of chronic, extreme charlie horse. And that is also what it felt like. So very painful that I could not bear my own weight without crying. By Tuesday, May 18, 4 days later, I was having to use a cane or have someone by my side because the pain was so extreme and my right leg would spasm and buckle without warning. I called my doctor and made an appt. Pain continued throughout the week. I had to switch to a walker. I saw my doctor on Friday May 21st at 11 a.m. He was concerned about the vaccine causing blood clotting and due to the swelling, binding of muscles, and pain that he noted, he ordered an ultrasound for later that day. I had the ultrasound at 2 p.m..  My results were negative for blood clots. I went home to ice my leg and elevate it until I could see a Dr again the next week as it was now after hours and the weekend. At or around 6:30 p.m. that same night, Friday, May 21, I was standing up at my dining room table and felt and heard a horrific snap or pop. It was so excruciating. I fell to the floor and landed on my bottom first and then my back and right shoulder.  I had to be allowed to lay on the floor for at least 20 minutes before I could calm myself from the pain and fear of being lifted off of the floor. I required being carried to my chair because when I tried to walk, my right foot would just drag. I could not lift it at this time. My family decided I needed to go to the emergency room, as did the on-call after hours doctor at my doctor's office whom I called. I was taken to the hospital because when we called they said they would do an MRI in the E.R. We had to use a wheelchair. After admitting me and going through all of the events, they informed me that they would not do MRI's in the E.R. unless the patient met a certain criteria of trauma and I did not..in their opinion. They sent me home with crutches and prescriptions. That weekend was pure hell, although, the muscles seemed to be diminishing in hardness and tightness and swelling with each day after I felt the snap. Regardless, I called my niece on Sunday to ask her to come stay with me and help take care of me until someone would order an MRI because the horrific pain was still there at random moments of trying to maneuver myself to the bathroom and bed. Finally, an MRI was ordered and I had it done on Wednesday, May 26, at 4:00 p.m.. I did not get the results until Friday, May 28, at appx 4 p.m. Full Thickness Tear in the Posterior Horn Medial Meniscus. It is my own and my family's absolute belief that the Phizer shot caused the binding of my leg muscles, of which they were relentlessly bound for almost 2 weeks, with the 1st week being the most painful and traumatic, subsequently causing my meniscus to snap. Even my Dr believed it was a possibility because of the stats on the vaccine and the fact that I had not injured myself previously or on the day of the vaccination. The pressure that was put on those muscles from the binding/balling and swelling were too much for my muscles and tendons to withstand. The Dr bills, the ultrasound, the E.R. bills, the crutches, the prescriptions, the MRI will all be coming out of my pocket because I am an uninsured, unemployed woman trying to protect herself and her community by getting a vaccination that was supposed to be a positive thing. Only, instead, it has crippled me and now...now, I have to figure out how to come up with money for surgery, rehab, etc. Where is the justice in this? The fairness? The peace of mind? The safety? I want a phone call, in the least, from someone of the highest rank to help me understand all of this and what anyone intends to do about it. This is not acceptable, nor is it my responsibility.