Did you get Covid 19 vaccination after recent chemo treatment?

Posted by charlotte12 @charlotte12, Nov 1 9:45am

I did not check with my oncology team or my family care physician
if I should get vaccinated for Covid and flu. I got the shots yesterday. The CDC recommends '
the vaccines for my age group, senior, immunocompromised. I' asked the oncology nurse if they agree with my decision. Her answer was:
"The vaccinations are your preference and we encourage you to discuss with your primary care physician. ...."
What do you think about this response? It surprised me.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Gynecologic Cancers Support Group.

Thanks for sharing. I had the shots in the same arm, left. I will not get the vaccines at the same time again. Then I know how I reacted to each vaccine. I will ask for the most experienced person at the pharmacy. It was not Walmart, stopped going there. Drive an extra 10 miles to avoid them. My PCP does not provide Covid vaccination. The redness is gone today, it was the size of a hand, 4 days after, except where the punctures are, red spots. Did not have this reaction of the vaccines before cancer treatment. The arm is still sensitive to the touch, but less so.
Did a doc diagnose your husband's nerve damage? Was anything done about it? Can it be avoided by the vaccinator?
The side effects of the vaccine also mingle with continuous side effects of the chemo, neuropathy and body aches. My life has changed forever.

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@cookercooker

You might consider checking that the affected arm isn't infected. It could also be that the person who had given you the shot hit a nerve. This is what happened to my husband years ago, and his arm was sore for about a year after the shot. BYW the arm I got the covid shot in (I had the flu shot in the other on the same day), really ached and was tender to the touch two days following the shot. My other arm (which got the flu vaccine) is still very tender to the touch.

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After reading your comment I did a google search. I found this article:
https://nationalpost.com/health/needle-in-the-wrong-spot-can-turn-injection-into-a-big-pain
I never thought much about the risks of needle injection- more stuff to worry about

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@cookercooker

You might consider checking that the affected arm isn't infected. It could also be that the person who had given you the shot hit a nerve. This is what happened to my husband years ago, and his arm was sore for about a year after the shot. BYW the arm I got the covid shot in (I had the flu shot in the other on the same day), really ached and was tender to the touch two days following the shot. My other arm (which got the flu vaccine) is still very tender to the touch.

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How long has it been since you got the flu vaccination and still experience tenderness on the arm? I thought injections in one arm would be better, then maybe messing up both arms.
I will not do 2 injections on the same day again. You never know how it turns out. Get one,
recover, get the next one, if you have the time.

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@charlotte12

How long has it been since you got the flu vaccination and still experience tenderness on the arm? I thought injections in one arm would be better, then maybe messing up both arms.
I will not do 2 injections on the same day again. You never know how it turns out. Get one,
recover, get the next one, if you have the time.

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Two days ago. I can sleep on the arms without too much discomfort now, but they're still tender. Both arms works better, since two in one arm would be double the pain, I figure. No need to recover from one before the next injection.

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@charlotte12

After reading your comment I did a google search. I found this article:
https://nationalpost.com/health/needle-in-the-wrong-spot-can-turn-injection-into-a-big-pain
I never thought much about the risks of needle injection- more stuff to worry about

Jump to this post

my search engine is duckduckgo, not google-

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@cookercooker

Two days ago. I can sleep on the arms without too much discomfort now, but they're still tender. Both arms works better, since two in one arm would be double the pain, I figure. No need to recover from one before the next injection.

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no more symptoms after 5 days

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@charlotte12

no more symptoms after 5 days

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Terrific.

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I was told by my oncology team to forego vaccinations during treatment. I find this frustrating because I have always kept up on all recommended vaccinations my entire life. I had the series of two shingles vaccinations, pneumonia, completed a couple of years ago. Last year I had the most current covid, flu, and RSV vaccines. I believe that our being immunocompromised would or could interfere with how much response we mount to vaccination. In the mean time, I avoid obviously sick people, crowds, etc and wash my hands and objects around me a lot.

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Did your oncologist give you a reason why to wait with the vaccination?

the cleveland clinic posted about wait time before getting the vaccines for certain chemo treatments,
so get the advice from your oncologist-

"For patients receiving chemotherapy or other immune suppressing treatments: In general, receiving either vaccine during chemotherapy is recommended. But because the vaccines can cause a fever within the first 24 to 48 hours, it’s preferable to receive the vaccines at a time when your white blood counts are not expected to be low. This is because if a fever occurs when your blood counts are low, it may require hospitalization. In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to delay vaccination until after completion of very intensive chemotherapy treatments such as those given as induction therapy for acute leukemia."

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