24 Melissa

Melissa

Age 58

Auckland

Type of Vaccine: Pfizer

Date: 29th October 2021 (1st Jab)

Batch FH4752-003

Reason:

I did not wish to take the Vaccine but because my daughter’s wedding was changed at the last minute to Glasgow as her fiancé and family were not allowed entry to New Zealand. I wanted to be there for her.

Also, I was being pressured to take the vaccine because of my underlying health conditions as a breast cancer survivor and recent stroke survivor and due to the increase in covid cases near where I lived at the time.

Adverse reaction:

Started a few days after the vaccine and became worse as days passed, then weeks, months and now nearly 2 years and still recovering very slowly. There are days when it’s been hard and weary but my faith in God, staying positive and strong plus care and support from my family and friends has been my strength to keep going.

The blood tests have shown lots of inflammation in my body including kidney, liver and heart.

Waves of Dizzy spells, pressure sore head, chest tightness, heaviness when standing or walking, floppy body, brain fog, more fatigue than usual and also increased the intensity of all the stroke symptoms I had since March 2021. I was already recovering well after the stroke, walking unaided up to 800m and improving weekly. And then after the first jab I could hardly walk and had huge backwards steps in my rehabilitation, I had to start using a walker and crutch again. I collapsed 4 times at home with all the above symptoms and an ambulance was called every time and I was hospitalised 3 times with the longest being 2 weeks in hospital Dec 2021 as it affected my heart as well. I did not have a heart issue before the vaccine. Now the doctor thinks I have heart issues and I have to start taking heart medication, with a follow up echocardiogram.

At first all the doctors at the Emergency department agreed it was myocarditis but afterwards when I was moved to the ward, the neurologist, cardiologist denied anything to do with the vaccine but thinks its all due to stress, up until the jab I was making good progress recovering from the stroke and was happy. There was no stress until after the Jab! The doctors insisted on discharge after 2 weeks in hospital on referring me to a psychology to help manage my stress with no exemption letter for the 2^nd jab but also insisted that I need to take the 2^nd jab but with a different vaccine, astrazeneca. How crazy is that? I am a stroke survivor and one of the side effects of astrazeneca vaccine is blood clots. I am not taking any more vaccines in my lifetime after what happened to me with the 1^st one.

All Doctors have no answers and do not know how to help me except pumping me with pain relief.

As of today, I’m thankful that my heart is now fine but I am still very fatigued and still have most of the symptoms and still using the crutch to walk and wheelchair for a long distance after 1km. I am still undergoing lots of rehabilitation with Neuro Connection and also a Green prescription program including hydrotherapy, determined to get my life back. I have to start paying privately at the beginning of this year as all government funded rehabilitation finished December 2022.

ACC Claim

I spent lots of money on all the herbal supplements and vitamins as prescribed by NZDSOS and also Neurological Integration System (NIS) therapy and now my private rehabilitation too which is adding more financial pressure on my family.

My GP believed it’s definitely the vaccine and filed the claim with ACC in November 2021 but the claim was declined. A legal aid lawyer is helping me with the claim and we have just filed a new claim last year, 26 October 2022 and ACC is still reviewing the claim.

Informed Consent

From: https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/health-a-z/i/informed-consent/#Overview

Informed consent is the process of talking about options so you can make an informed decision about your health care. This includes the option of saying no to a treatment or procedure.

Key points:

You have the right to make an informed choice about your health care.

Informed consent is an ongoing process of talking and asking questions between you, your doctor or other healthcare provider and, sometimes, your family/whānau.

To help you decide whether you want a treatment or procedure, your healthcare provider must give you all the information you need to make up your mind.

This includes how the treatment or procedure would help your health condition and what the risks of the treatment are.
There are a few situations where you may be treated without consent, such as in an emergency.

What is informed consent?

Informed consent is the process of talking and asking questions until you have enough information to make a decision about your healthcare options. This includes the option of saying no to having a treatment (such as medicine) or a procedure (such as an operation).

To give informed consent, you must know enough about your condition and the treatment or procedure your doctor or other healthcare provider has suggested. You must have this information given to you in a language and way that you can easily understand. You should have access to an interpreter if you need one.

You also have a right to have someone else with you to provide support while you are talking about your options.

Why is informed consent needed?

You have a right under the law to make an informed choice about your health care. This is one of your rights under the Code of Health and Disability Consumers Rights.

Under the Code, health care may be provided to you only if you make an informed choice and give informed consent. You also have the right to say no to a proposed treatment or procedure, or change your mind about wanting to go ahead with it.

When is informed consent needed?

Your doctor or other healthcare provider must make sure that you have given informed consent for every proposed healthcare service.

When you are going to have a series of similar treatments, eg, dialysis or counselling, your healthcare provider will talk with you before starting the treatment to make sure you agree to it. The consent you give then covers the whole series of treatment.

If the agreed plan changes a lot, a new consent process is needed.

Examples of situations when informed consent is required include:

when you are having surgery (an operation) or other procedure

when you need to have an anaesthetic

if students or observers are going to be there for your treatment

if you take part in research

when any part of your body will be taken out during a procedure

if you will be getting blood or blood products

if you are enrolled in a screening programme

if your doctor wants to prescribe a medicine that has not been approved by Medsafe for use in New Zealand (called unapproved medicines)

if your doctor wants to prescribe a medicine for a different use than that approved of by Medsafe (also called off-label use).

What type of information should I get for informed consent?

Before giving your consent, your doctor or healthcare provider must fully and clearly explain to you:

how this treatment or procedure will help your health condition

what happens during the treatment or procedure

what other options there might be

what you can expect after the treatment or procedure

any risks that may be associated with the treatment or procedure.

You can also ask any questions you want about the treatment or procedure.

What are the different types of consent?

You will need to give either verbal consent or written consent.

Verbal consent means talking about and saying you agree to a particular treatment. This includes when your doctor prescribes an approved medicine for your condition.

Written consent means you need to fill out a form and sign it to show you agree to a particular treatment. This happens for more significant treatments, such as an operation.

How is informed consent gained for children and young people?

For children and young people under the age of 16, consent may be given by a parent, guardian or other person acting in the place of a parent. Depending on the child’s age, they will be involved as much as possible and information will be given to them in a way that they can understand.

A young person aged 16 years and over can consent to their treatment as if they were an adult.

How is informed consent gained for people who are incompetent?

In legal terms, people who cannot decide for themselves whether they want a treatment or not are called ‘incompetent’. This may be because of health conditions such as a brain injury or dementia.

Consent for people who are incompetent may be given by their welfare guardian or a lawyer who has an enduring power of attorney in respect of care and welfare for that person.

What if I didn’t get to give informed consent?

If you have any concerns about not getting a chance to talk about and make an informed decision about a treatment before it was given to you, you can make a complaint. Read more about the Code of Health and Disability Consumers Rights.