“Remoted” – Day 385 (Monday)

First stop, dermatology office.

The fourth consecutive installment of Medical Monday continued today with a double header. The morning session kicked off with a dermatology appointment. This was part of the continuation of referrals that were supposed to happen a year ago, but didn’t due to the unusual situation of much of society screeching to a halt. Doctor Dermatology looked at a spot on my nose that has been weirdly cycling between looking like a freckle and then getting dry and flaking off. It was zapped with the freezy stuff (not a formal brand or scientific name) and the sensation reminded me of sparklers. 

The second half of the double header wrapped up in the afternoon with a 40-minute drive to receive the first shot of the COVID vaccine. The vaccine center was in a storefront in a shopping plaza, and ran like a military operation. The precision made sense given the dozens of brown and green camo-clad people administering the shots. My shot was given by someone with a tape proclaiming “Santiago” on his chest. 

The shots were Moderna. In my head, every time I see or hear “Moderna” my brain adds the preface “Mid Century” and it’s amusing. Had I known which shot it would be in advance, I would have dressed mid-century modern for the occasion. It took just 40 minutes to check in, fill out some papers, get the shot, and wait the required 15 minutes to allow for potential adverse reactions, then it was back into the car for the drive back.

Side effects and jelly beans.

The shot appointment sprang up suddenly. About two weeks after preregistering on the state vaccine site, the text came with a code good for 24 hours and a link to make an appointment at the designated vaccine site. Unfortunately, the site was the Hynes Center, which meant Boston traffic and Boston parking fees. Hoping to score something more local, I kept trolling the Lowell General Hospital and CVS sites for open appointments. Every time checked, every site was and continued to be “Fully Booked” except for CVS locations in Chicopee and Springfield, a 1.5-hour drive west.

Late last week a colleague told me about a health center that had open appointments. I was on the site immediately and scoring one of the slots felt a little like winning the lottery. And today, just like that, boom, the first step is done. Six hours after the shot and the sides effects were first, feeling slightly over-caffeinated, followed by a mild headache. These literature provided mentioned headache as a side effect, but the rest of it might have been from the half bag of half-off Easter jelly beans accidentally eaten after supper.