First Dose of Pfizer on 02/01/21 Lot #EN9581
Mississippi
What was your life like before you got the vaccine?:
I was a healthy 33 year old husband and father of two young boys. I loved the job I was at for 14 years before receiving the vaccine. I’m an agricultural pilot and it consumed most of my life. I have accumulated approximately 10,000 hours of flight time. When I wasn’t flying, I could be found in the backyard playing with my boys, fishing, or hunting. I lived a very happy and simple life and was completely devoted to my family and my career.
What was your reaction, symptoms and timeline?:
I received my first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine on February 1st. My adverse reaction stated within 30 minutes of receiving the vaccine. I immediately developed a splitting headache in the top of my head. Over the next few hours the pain moved down the back of my neck and became a severe burning sensation. Over the next 24 hours the headache got worse and I started to develop tunnel vision. 48 hours after vaccination, on February 3rd, I got in my airplane to do a job that would take about 3 hours. I realized immediately after taking off that my tunnel vision was getting worse. Approximately 2 hours into my flight, I turned my airplane around and immediately felt an extreme burst of pressure in my inner ears. I was quickly overwhelmed with dizziness, confusion, nausea, hyperventilating, ringing in my ears, and uncontrollable shaking. Fortunately, I was able to land my plane about 5 minutes later without incident, although I do not remember doing this. After coming to, I went to my longtime family doctor and he diagnosed me with severe vertigo and panic attacks. I’ve never had a history of either of these.
Share your experience with any medical care and any diagnoses you have received:
After being diagnosed with vertigo and panic attacks by my family doctor, I sought a second opinion. On 02/10/2021 (10 days after vaccination) I went to an inner ear specialist that specializes in treating root causes of dizziness. I underwent two full days of diagnostic testing including hearing and balance test, MRI, CT scan, and recorded my intracranial pressure. The MRI showed I had a perilymphatic fistula in both of my inner ears. Essentially both of my inner ears simultaneously ruptured due to brain swelling. I was told for that to happen to both ears at the same time, I would’ve either had a major head trauma (which I obviously did not have) or I had a severe adverse reaction to the Pfizer vaccine.
My doctors performed surgery on my left inner ear on 03/25/2021 and again on my right inner ear on 06/03/2021 to repair the fistulas. Strict 6 weeks of bed rest is required after each surgery. I’ve also had 6 spinal taps to monitor my intracranial pressure over the past several months. During my first surgery, my intracranial pressure reading was approximately 3 times higher than normal.
I was diagnosed with left and right perilymphatic fistulas, Eustachian tube dysfunction, and extremely elevated intracranial pressure.
What is your life like now, after getting the vaccine?:
My life is completely ruined since vaccination. I can’t work and most days I’m too dizzy to even play with my children. Im in financial ruin from no income for nearly a year. I have had two surgeries, 5 lumbar punctures, and over a dozen visits with specialists to repair the damage totaling over $60,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses. I didn’t go to college so I don’t have anything to fall back on now that I can’t fly anymore.
Where has your reaction been reported, and what was the response?:
I reported my adverse reaction to Pfizer and VAERS within 2 weeks of receiving the vaccine. Pfizer sent a letter to my doctors within a few weeks asking their opinion on the cause of my reaction. My doctors clearly stated that nothing other than the vaccine could’ve caused my injuries. Pfizer never followed up after that. Months after submitting to VAERS, they responded by asking me what the lot number was of my vaccine. I immediately responded to them and they never followed up after that.
Is there anything that has helped, and have your symptoms improved?:
My symptoms have improved by maybe half at best. I’m still dizzy most of the time, although not to the extent I was before surgery. I’m still way too dizzy to safely fly an airplane. Sometimes it’s even hard to drive a vehicle. I take 1000mg/day of Diamox to lower my intracranial pressure. The Diamox does help but not completely. Also Diamox is not FAA approved for pilots to take while flying and my doctors say most likely I will have to take it the rest of my life.
What do you wish others knew, or what else would you like to share?:
I wish people would slow down and think hard about their current physical shape before considering the COVID MRNA vaccine. There are no long term studies to show it's safe and no possibility for financial help if something goes wrong. The vaccine injured are truly on their own. The vaccine injury risk might make sense to the older or immune compromised population, but younger healthy people have no business taking on the risk of being injured by this vaccine.
The federal government has yet to acknowledge or help people that have been seriously injured by this vaccine.
