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Timing vaccine with surgery date

Yeledov

Yeledov

Member
Hi everyone!

Warning: I just want to state at the very beginning I AM ABSOLUTELY PRO-VACCINATION. I AM ABSOLUTELY GETTING THE VACCINE. My spouse is a health care provider and has had the Pfizer vaccine. I’m on immunosuppressants so I am high risk. My other long-term partner has a rare genetic disorder that may or may not make him high risk as well. (Rare diseases are also rarely studied.) I’m not going to engage in any debate about this or any other vaccine.
I know this is a hot button issue for some. It is a bit for me. Just thought I’d be blunt about what I’m willing and not willing to discuss.

So, that said....

Has anyone yet had to deal with timing your vaccination around a surgery date? I’m currently on the waiting list for my surgery date. They have been working through the backlog for a little over a month. However, they are completely unable to even give me a rough estimate as to when they will get to my name. It could be this weeks or months. In the mean time, I have my first vaccination appointment on March 30th. Then, of course, 3 weeks later I get my second shot. I have left a message with my bariatric team. I’m sure they have thoughts about this. I thought I’d ask you all, in the pre-op or just recently post-op, if you’ve had to deal with your vaccination and surgery happening in the same time frame.

I hope everyone is having a good day. If not, hang in there!
 
My mom was vaccinated before her knee replacement revision and was due for her booster while she was in the hospital. She’s a nurse, so I set it up with her boss to get the booster the next week in the parking lot at her work. She was fine. Her surgeon said that the vaccine wouldn’t interfere with the surgery and vice versa. That being said, she had bad diarrhea as a side effect to the first shot and booster. I’d say that’s the only thing that could hinder you after surgery, but it also doesn’t happen to everyone. I’m getting my first vaccine next week also. I’ve never been so excited for a shot! LOL
 
Yeledov said:
Hi everyone!

Warning: I just want to state at the very beginning I AM ABSOLUTELY PRO-VACCINATION. I AM ABSOLUTELY GETTING THE VACCINE. My spouse is a health care provider and has had the Pfizer vaccine. I’m on immunosuppressants so I am high risk. My other long-term partner has a rare genetic disorder that may or may not make him high risk as well. (Rare diseases are also rarely studied.) I’m not going to engage in any debate about this or any other vaccine.
I know this is a hot button issue for some. It is a bit for me. Just thought I’d be blunt about what I’m willing and not willing to discuss.

So, that said....

Has anyone yet had to deal with timing your vaccination around a surgery date? I’m currently on the waiting list for my surgery date. They have been working through the backlog for a little over a month. However, they are completely unable to even give me a rough estimate as to when they will get to my name. It could be this weeks or months. In the mean time, I have my first vaccination appointment on March 30th. Then, of course, 3 weeks later I get my second shot. I have left a message with my bariatric team. I’m sure they have thoughts about this. I thought I’d ask you all, in the pre-op or just recently post-op, if you’ve had to deal with your vaccination and surgery happening in the same time frame.

I hope everyone is having a good day. If not, hang in there!
Click to expand...


What are your concerns with it? Getting it done before surgery? Reactions and surgery? Or? I think a little more context on this might help give better responses.
 
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Tokash said:
What are your concerns with it? Getting it done before surgery? Reactions and surgery? Or? I think a little more context on this might help give better responses.
Click to expand...
I’m concerned about pretty much one thing. The stress on my body if I’m scheduled for surgery too closely to either the first or second dose. I have an autoimmune disorder and am on immunosuppressants so my body is more likely to have a hard time preventing and/or fighting infection. I developed the autoimmune disorder only last summer so I have no idea how I will react to a vaccine or surgery. So I have sent a message to my bariatric team and thought I’d ask the forum if anyone had any experience to share. I know other people’s experiences aren’t going to answer my basic question, which is, should I turn down a spot for surgery during April if I happen to get one? Only my medical team can answer that for sure. But it is interesting to hear what other people have experienced.
 
I wouldn't turn it down. I do not have any health concerns but I do have several friends that have various like yours. I also have some that are supressed due to anti rejection medication they take. Everybody is different and all of them I seen/talked to only had a days worth of reaction that varied from tired to flu like symptoms but 48 hrs later they were fine and back to work without issue. And they only had any of this after the second dose.

Like I said everybody is different and will react differently but everybody I know didn't react outside of normal and in some cases better than those with no health issues.
 
Tokash said:
I wouldn't turn it down. I do not have any health concerns but I do have several friends that have various like yours. I also have some that are supressed due to anti rejection medication they take. Everybody is different and all of them I seen/talked to only had a days worth of reaction that varied from tired to flu like symptoms but 48 hrs later they were fine and back to work without issue. And they only had any of this after the second dose.

Like I said everybody is different and will react differently but everybody I know didn't react outside of normal and in some cases better than those with no health issues.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information. I think the wait is making me play the “what if” game a bit too much. I’ve been at this since August and my pre-op was almost two months ago. I’m trying to be chill about waiting but I’m getting a bit antsy. I can’t imagine how the people that were cancelled on felt!
 
I think you were smart to inform your bariatric team of your concern but I would also place a call to your doc that is helping with your auto-immune disease and see what they tell you as well. They can probably give you a better answer as to how it will affect your body. Good Luck and prayers!
 
Hi everyone!

I got the information I needed from my bariatric department about covid vaccine timing. They have established a rule that you can not have the shot 7 days before or 7 days after surgery. They are doing this not because they think it would impact the surgery but because the reaction to the vaccine might result in confusion about state of health. A lot of people get fevers and fatigue from the vaccine. (I’ve had my first shot and I had fatigue but no fever.) If someone had the vaccine they wouldn’t know if it was just a reaction or if it was something to be concerned about. Seems very reasonable to me.

I also got the inside scoop from the medical assistant about where I am on the waiting list. Apparently, they are currently scheduling people who had their pre-op appointment in early January. Mine was in late January so I should hear from scheduling in a few weeks or so. I have no idea how much lead time they give between the call from the scheduler and the actual surgery date. I know it must be least a little more that two weeks since my program requires a strict liquid diet of no more than 1,000 calories a day for a full two weeks. I’m assuming they will give me at least a few days to prepare for the pre-op diet. Or they could be scheduling all the way out three months in advance. I wish I just knew if it was spring or summer. I’ll take whatever I am offered. I just am tired of living in limbo.

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring so far! We’ve gotten 3 straight days of sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest! It’s been amazing!
 
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