So, lockdowns in the state I live in, New South Wales; has finally been lifted seeing how we have reached a 70% double dose vaccination rate. Yay. But, like with everything there are challenges that arise, and sometimes there ones we don’t even notice for a time.

I received my doses of Pfizer back in June, which was one month before the whole 4 month lockdown. Things were fine, until I started to develop a chest pain near my heart. At first it was a sharp intense pain that lasted maybe a second or two and then it would settle down to this lighter, uncomfortable feeling in the left side of my chest.

The conditions did worry me for a time but they seemed to fade away and I thought it was just some strange occurrence. However, sometime in July it happened again and that was unnerving. I had just started to work for a new team within the Public Health Information System branch at NSW Health. The team is called PHREDDS, Public Health Rapid Emergency, Disease, Syndromic Surveillance team. And they look at close to real time data on emerging clusters of illness and emergency department trends.

From working there, I learned that young males who had received the Pfizer vaccine were presenting at an unusual rate due to chest pains associated with taking the vaccine. I was warned to avoid exercising as it could have an impact on symptoms.

So, a day or two after learning that, I went to the local emergency department. Which is free by the way; if you want to learn about the wonder that is the Australian Public Healthcare System, I recommend reading up about our Medicare program which introduced in the 1990’s by Paul Keating’s Labor Party.

I waited in triage and then discussed the situation with a doctor who then wanted me to have a bunch of medical tests done: blood tests, ECG monitoring and the like. Two hours later, the doctor said that everything looked fine and that my problems were more than likely muscular.

Not fully convinced, because I was the one that had gone through those painful symptoms. I decided to heed the advice of avoiding exercise. I did do a tiny amount of core body exercises but nothing intense like I used to (I had a 45min to hr daily routine before).

Now, after many weeks and months, I have decided to gradually work up to my previous workout routine. I do really miss it, I have never felt more active and healthy when I was doing it everyday.

This post does have a point and isn’t about me whining about my personal situation. The idea I want to pass on, is that from time to time we stumble. There are instances when those stumbles are of our own making, and others which are due to the nature of life itself.

But the important thing is to get back up and keep striving for the ideal life you know you want, the one you deserve. So, there might be something you’re not doing or something positive you were doing that you have stepped away from. Either way, it’s time to dust yourself off and run that race called life again, I hope I see you at the finish line.

Thanks again my Hedites, your ongoing support is something I am blown away by each week, and I deeply cherish it. Remember to like and follow this blog, and if you have gotten one good thing out of it, share it to a friend to get them on a positive journey.