Megan Fathers

First Dose of AstraZeneca on 03/14/2021 Lot # 4120z003

Lowestoft, England / United Kingdom

painted portrait credit: @covidvictimsportraits on instagram

UPDATE 07/27/22:

16 months later & I’m making progress, it may be slow but it is still progress.

I have 2 herniated discs that require surgery due to my seizures being so violent & falling to the floor like a sack of spuds.

I have daily seizures & I still lose my speech, and will sometimes get paralysis in my legs.

My symptoms are still the same as before but either less frequent or less violent:

• permanent nerve damage

• Nerve pain

• Dystonia (leg, head & throat spasms)

• chronic migraines

• ME/CFS

• costochondritis

• Tinnitus

• Photophobia

• Phonophobia

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Nystagmus

• HSD/HEDS

• Sciatica

• Chronic nausea.

I have lost over 4 & a half stone since April last year but I am on the path to be diagnosed with MCAS, POTS & epilepsy after my seizure diagnosis.

I have tonic clonic, impaired, absent & sleep/drop seizures still.

I still can’t leave the house without a seizure or flare up & still can’t hold my children but I have come a long way & made the most amazing friends through sharing my journey

Healing isn’t linear x

ORIGINAL INTERVIEW 12/23/21:

Q: What was your life like before you got the vaccine?

Before I had the vaccine I was a customer contact representative, working from home because of the pandemic, spending time growing vegetables in my garden and looking after my chickens. My favorite thing was spending time with my two children taking them for daily walks and adventures as they’re one and two. I enjoyed going on daily walks with the dog & my two children, and going out to our local pub every weekend to see friends & family.

Q: What was your reaction, symptoms, & timeline?

I had just the one dose. I started to get some speech loss, confusion and migraines, followed by the worst chest pain I’d ever experienced, like someone was ripping my heart out and playing the accordion with my lungs. Then the confusion turned into memory loss (not like I’d forgotten something in the next room - more like I didn’t know where I was, sometimes who I was and even in one case my own children).

That’s how it all started…. And then came the passing out, which caused uncontrollable spasms, in my legs, arms and hands. And then in April the passing out got worse and little did I know this year would never be the same again. I’d begin to pass out every day or every other day. As a result of the syncope, I now have sciatica and a slipped disk. I’d called 111 countless times as I couldn’t get through to my doctors. I had my fair share of ambulances turn up and some lovely long trips to A&E. They all had different theories - some said it was my heart, and some said it was my head. All the meanwhile, still trying to get a doctors appointment in the middle of a pandemic.

There was a lovely team of paramedics that had come to my rescue a few times, after months of feeling tired and alone. I finally got an appointment with them and I was told it was my asthma playing up, followed by my anxiety getting worse because of the pandemic. For 3 whole months that’s what they kept saying - "anxiety". I would ring most days to get a doctors appointment in between passing out. I never knew what kind of person I’d be when I woke up again… if I’d remember my kids, if I’d be able to speak or walk, or what kind of pain I’d be in from dropping to the floor like a sack of spuds. Until finally after 3 months of calling 111, I finally saw my GP who sent me for some tests.

Q: What is your life like now, after getting the vaccine?

No independence. Had to quit my job before I got fired from it. I’m no longer allowed to drive or be alone with my children. I can't even walk 5m unassisted.

My life now consists of tests & doctors appointments, ringing 111 because I can never get a doctors appointment as there are so many others who need the help too. I can’t be alone with my own children, I have a 1 year old & 2 year old that I haven’t picked up in 6 months. I can't even take my child to nursery or to see Santa.

I now have a slipped disk & multiple other problems from the seizures. I forget who I am, who my kids are & my surroundings. I can barely stand let alone walk, so I use a walker or wheelchair.

Q: Share your experience with any medical care and any diagnoses you have received:

I’ve had:

72 hour heart monitor

A week long heart monitor

CT on my brain

MRI on my whole body

Countless blood tests

An echo EEG

Nerve test

Needle test

Multiple referrals to cardiology and neurology, which are still going on to this day and god knows what other tests every time I’ve got to A&E.

Q: Was your reaction reported, and what was the response?

Yellow card system GP - no response apart from various tests

Q: Is there anything that has helped, and have your symptoms improved?

Physiotherapy - spasms and syncope

Medication - migraines

CBD oil

Hyperbaric chamber

Vitamin IVs

None have improved or stopped the symptoms because I have only had one session of each but I can’t afford the treatment & the journey is too long for me to take to get said treatment.

Q: What do you wish others knew?

I wish everyone had all the information before going through with getting vaccinated and I wish the government would do more for the people injured by it. The side effects can change your life if you have a reaction to it. I wish people knew the crippling pain, insanity & loneliness that comes with being vaccine injured.

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