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Kristie Estes, Vaccine Survivor

Kristie Estes, Vaccine Survivor

Kristie Estes was a thriving and strong individual … and then she got the COVID vaccine.

Kristie Estes is a 67-year-old retired communications professional who turned old before her time. The wife and mother of three adult children was a strong lady before she got the jab. She cleaned house and did yardwork and went to kettle bell class three times a week.

But life changed after she got her first COVID vaccine shot on Feb. 27, 2021. Now she has crippling muscle and joint weakness, severe carpal tunnel syndrome, stiff joints, an unsteady walk, weak muscles, and other weird symptoms.

“Three days [after the shot] I had a splotchy spot on my right arm that I noticed in kettle bell class,” Kristie said, noting that she’d read about such a reaction occurring among some vaccinated people. After her second shot on March 27, 2021, she soon felt weakness in her legs. “It was like restless leg syndrome, but real painful,” she said.

Two weeks later, she was getting into the tub and noticed her toes wouldn’t bend. Shortly after, they turned black and blue. “Then I noticed I couldn’t easily move my arms back—I kept saying I felt stiff,” she said.

On April 30, 2021, she woke up in the middle of the night. “My hands were in terrible pain—they cramped up and I couldn’t use them,” Kristie said. Her body was inexplicably breaking down—failing in ways she’d never known before taking the vaccine.

In August 2021, Kristie visited a rheumatologist, who told her that she probably had rheumatoid arthritis. Later, he called her back regarding some tests and told her she had myositis, a group of diseases characterized by inflamed muscles, which can cause prolonged muscle fatigue and weakness. Her official diagnosis is polymyositis with bilateral carpal tunnel.

Kristie has had two surgeries for the carpal tunnel syndrome, but they didn’t fix the problem. Currently, she is at about 30 percent normal dexterity, with greatly diminished strength. “I’ll have to take strong medications the rest of my life…. They relieve some of the pain,” she said. She has a IVIG transfusion monthly.

She recently began physical therapy for her walking and balance and soon will start the same for her hands. “It’s helped,” she said. “My ankles, knees—this disease affects every muscle.”

Of course, all these unexpected medical treatments don’t come without cost. Fortunately for Kristie, Medicare has approved the costly IVIG transfusions. Her private medical insurance also mitigates some of the expense.

Besides being costly, these medical troubles are discouraging. Kristie has moments when she’s down and fearing the worst. “I’ll think—if I ever have grandkids, will I be able to hold them?” But she copes, adding, “I just deal with it.”

Asked if she believes in God and how she stays hopeful, Kristie responds quickly and in an upbeat tone: “I certainly do. I’ve had things happen in my life—I think sometimes you have to go through things, and it makes you stronger,” she said.

Staying in touch with others facing the same struggles also helps. Her husband connected her to Team Humanity, a large online support group for the vaccine injured.

“We need to be acknowledged and studied,” she said of herself and her growing group of vaccine-injured compatriots. “There needs to be programs to help those who are financially hurting from this,” she said. “Money is spent on increasing booster shots, but there’s nothing for the vaccine-injured.”

Kristie would also like to see congressional hearings on the vaccine-injured—hearings that would be bipartisan and thoughtful, and which would make progress on the problem. “It’s going to keep happening—the process needs to change,” she said. “They don’t even [currently] have a study of how effective the COVID vaccine was.” She added that the government should want to know the answers and should be supporting the spread of information on the problems of the vaccine-injured.

Kristie also would like more people to simply recognize and empathize with vaccine-injured people—including the mainstream media. “Our lives have changed, and we complied with getting the vaccine,” Kristie said. “They want to avoid us, because it’s uncomfortable—acknowledging the vaccine-injured implies there’s a problem with Big Pharma and Big Government.”

Editor’s Note: Have a vaccine-related story that you would like to share? Email our editors at [email protected] with your contact information and a brief description of your experience to help our editors with the selection process.

Image Credit: Kristie Estes

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Jonathan Barnes
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  • Avatar
    Scott Hopkins
    May 24, 2022, 9:34 pm

    I’m sure there are other stories of people who’ve suffered severely negative side effects from the COVID vaccine. However, I’m confident, though not being a scientist, a physician, nor a statistician, that there are multitudes more people who have been saved from suffering the worst symptoms & death from COVID. It seems reasonable that it’s impossible to ensure a one-size fits all vaccine that has no negative side effects for anyone who receives it. While I feel sympathy for the woman in the story, the story seems to be leaning in a direction of damning the vaccines, while completely failing to recognize that the good done has been overwhelming in comparison to undesirable results.

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    • Avatar
      Lorri Jennings@Scott Hopkins
      May 25, 2022, 12:33 am

      Thank you for sharing this story. There are many tragic events that have occurred during the Covid era. The vaccine adverse reactions have been neglected to be reported. Thank you for being brave and doing so.

      Mayo Dr. Greg Poland, head of vaccine research, developed tinnitus within an hour of his second shot. He still promotes the vaccines.

      Standford’s Michelle Mello, professor of law and medicine, had a family member suffer a stroke after his vaccine. They did a $1M work up and ruled out everything but the vaccine. She still promotes the vaccine.

      Having a vaccine reaction, does not mean you are damning the vaccines.

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    • Avatar
      Patricia Peirson@Scott Hopkins
      May 25, 2022, 1:55 am

      Certainly there are people who have suffered no ill-effects from the vaccine, and their lives may have been saved. That’s wonderful. The problem is that people are being FORCED to get the jab, and some who have "complied", as this woman did, have ended up badly injured or dead. This is what needs to be openly and honestly addressed. These are not just passing "negative side effects" or "undesirable results" like a rash or a headache. These are life-altering, health-destroying injuries. The victims are suffering and will continue to suffer. In the past, vaccines and other forms of medical treatment have been taken off the market for causing injury and death. But for the COVID jab, the severe injuries and death it has caused are being ignored. That’s unethical, unprofessional, lacking in compassion, and just plain wrong.

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      • Avatar
        Jonathan @Patricia Peirson
        June 1, 2022, 12:24 am

        Thanks for the kind words. I find these survivors to be most inspiring, and brave.

        REPLY
  • Avatar
    • Avatar
      Jonathan @Links for 24 May 2022 – Just the Links
      June 1, 2022, 12:28 am

      How about survivor? Victim sounds hapless and these survivors we are profiting seem to have been empowered by their illnesses to speak out for themselves and others. They have been injured (wrongly so) but in some ways they seem stronger for it!

      REPLY

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