BELLUNO. Eleven between specialist visits and diagnostic tests, to which other insights will be added in the coming weeks. All, so far, without answers.
Who knows Elena Da Ronch, 51, knows she is a volcano, a sporty woman, full of energy, always ready to get on the first plane to go and discover the world. For some months, however, Elena has been suffering from numerous ailments that have upset her life and are proving to be disabling.
The nature of these problems is not yet known, but the possible triggering cause lies in the Covid vaccination done in the spring. “I work in the world in the school, so I had the opportunity to access the Covid vaccine before many others and I immediately jumped into it, because I believed it was the only way out of a situation that limited our freedom for a long time, ”says Elena. “I took the first dose on March 10th and on that occasion I only had a few headaches. The problem arose immediately after the second dose, taken on May 19th ».
If Elena did not work in a school and had to wait for the vaccination window of her peers, she certainly would not have received the Astra Zeneca vaccine, because at that time it was decided to avoid giving it to young women.
The first symptoms, after the second dose, were immediately worrying and traceable to a diagnosis of paresthesia: tingling and altered sensitivity throughout the right part of the body, from the face to the leg. “There are times when the feeling is that of not being able to move. Symptoms involve the leg, arm, head, face. Sometimes all at the same time, other times just a part ».
Paresthesia, however, is not the only problem, because almost daily Elena is afflicted by pains that “travel” from one part of the body to the other. “In some moments it seems to me that the neck cannot support the head. Besides, my vision becomes blurred and my head is spinning. ‘
Da Ronch initially believed that everything could be resolved quickly: «I started going to the gym again, going out for an aperitif with friends and I went on vacation. They told me that with a little patience it would all pass, but it wasn’t like that, quite the contrary. ” Elena notified her general practitioner and went to the emergency room for a few visits, but always to no avail.
“When I returned from vacation I decided to tackle the problem more decisively, doing all the necessary investigations, because pain and ailments continued and even the medicines had no effect.”
In addition to consulting her family doctor, Elena made three visits to the emergency room, a neurological visit to the hospital in Feltre, a physiotherapy visit to the hospital in Belluno and another privately, a private visit to an osteopath, a cardiological visit , a CT scan, an MRI of the head, three blood tests and an ultrasound scan of the legs. In the next few days he is planning another neurological visit to the hospital in Padua, a rheumatological visit and elozone therapy. “To be able to get these diagnostic investigations quickly and to get to the bottom as much as possible, I chose private visits and so far I have spent just under 950 euros, to which must be added almost 300 euros of medicines”.
To relieve pain and stop the paresthesia, Elena was prescribed anti-inflammatories, pain relievers, muscle relaxants and cortisone, which she still takes.
«The drugs have not given me any benefit and the cortisone takes me away from sleep, but the worst aspect is that I cannot understand what I have. All the tests done so far have not given results, nothing has been found and being sick without knowing what you have is really worrying. They have tried everything, from blood clots to autoimmune diseases, but nothing can be seen ».
Physical suffering and lack of responses were already enough to bring down anyone, but the fighting spirit is always present and at this point Elena is really angry: “In the emergency room, since they don’t understand what I have, they dismiss my symptoms as if they were just the result of stress . They refuse to admit that they arose after the vaccine and I have been sick ever since, whereas I have always been healthy in the past. I have talked to other people who report adverse reactions to the vaccine and all receive the same non-diagnosis when they go to the hospital. “
Angry and disappointed, Elena decided to contact the Ulss Dolomiti vaccination office, from which she has not yet received an answer, and the offices of the regional health department, which instead called her back. “They tell me to go to my general practitioner, who knows the situation very well but is certainly not in a position to know more than all the specialists and doctors at the hospital who have visited me. They also tell me to have a specialist visit prescribed me, but no one tells me which specialist should be for my case ».
An attitude, that of the institutions, which in addition to not helping Elena, is certainly not useful to the cause of mass vaccination. «I was vaccinated as I was asked to do by the institutions, now these institutions have to take charge of my health problem and solve it. I was perfectly healthy and now I have been feeling an invalid for four months, I have even sunk one eye from pulling the muscles on the right side of my face. Furthermore, I do not want to hear about a third dose, on the contrary, I want the exemption from any hypothesis of further vaccination ».
Elena concludes with a bitter observation: “I am a little disappointed by the Venetian health care: I thought it was excellent, but now that I am sick and I need it, I realize that it is not exactly excellent”.