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Pfizer Shot, “Feeling Off,” and May 11 Seizure

Day 2 · 6:07:15 · Shawn Buckley · Marylou Lavalle

  • 💉 Dominic took a first Pfizer dose on April 12, 2021; 16 days later he pulled over with blurred vision and dizziness.
  • 🩹 Mild abdominal pain, a bruise on the non-vaccinated arm, leg oddities, and Mother’s Day headaches followed while he never saw a doctor.
  • 🚨 On May 11 she woke to a grand mal seizure, foaming and breathless, called 911, and felt utter helplessness with son Michael.

Marylou recounts the post-vaccine symptoms that culminated in the catastrophic overnight seizure.

← Marylou Lavalle Sworn: Portrait of Dominic | Brain Clots, ICU Gatekeeping, and a Promise to Speak →

Transcript

Shawn Buckley · 6:07:15

Um, so can you, can you share his journey with us?

Marylou Lavalle · 6:07:19

Of course I can. Um, the pandemic hit, as we all know, like this tsunami that came out of nowhere. He He protected us, went to the grocery store, did what he did to, to protect us. I was frightened of COVID I was. I think we all were. Um, watched the news endlessly, and, uh, we wanted to protect ourselves and, and protect those around us, so we put our hand up and we went to get vaccinated. I got vaccinated the week before. Um, he didn't have the luxury to work from home. He was an HVAC technician, um, and he had to be out there, so he, he wanted to protect himself. It was, it was important to him, and it was important to us that he did that. On April 12th, 2021, we went to our local hospital. I went with him, and he got his first shot of Pfizer, and, uh, All I can recall, um, was that a couple of weeks later— not a couple of weeks, I'm sorry, it was the first time he had voiced something to me— was on April 28th, 16 days later after his first vaccine.

Marylou Lavalle · 6:08:37

He was driving to a work call and, uh, he called me and he said, 'I am not feeling well. I have blurred vision. I'm dizzy and I had to pull over.' I think you need to call to get me a COVID vaccine swab, or a swab, I'm sorry. And I looked it up, I immediately did some Googling, and I said to him in these exact words, no, Dom, you know, I don't think it's COVID. You don't have a cold, and dizziness is not a symptom. And I still have that text. The days he was better after that, and just the days that followed, all he continuously said, I feel off, I'm feeling off, something's not right. And, um, he never went to the doctor.

Shawn Buckley · 6:09:29

He described stomach pains to you, right?

Marylou Lavalle · 6:09:31

And very mild, mild abdominal pain. The days that followed, there was a bruise on his non-vaccinated arm. And he kept kind of pointing to his legs on some occasions, just on the couch, like just, just to his legs, that something was off. He couldn't pinpoint it, nor could I. If only I can rewind time and, and know— I'm so well-versed now knowing what, you know, the symptoms of blood clots were. And then um, 2 days of headaches. It was Mother's Day. It was, uh, he had 2 days of headaches. Took Tylenol, gave him Tylenol, and he was lying down. And then the last words he said to me on May 10th, 2021, I'm gonna head up to bed, are you gonna come? And I said, no, no. I said, I'm just going to stay down here and watch some TV.

Marylou Lavalle · 6:10:33

And on the early morning of May 11, 2021, I, uh, I woke up to horror. I woke up to him having a grand mal seizure, rocking, shaking next to me. It's still dark at that point, so I, uh, I didn't know what was going on. I turned the lamp on and, um, It was a sight I will never forget and something that's etched in my mind because it just wasn't him. It was someone I didn't recognize.

Shawn Buckley · 6:11:11

Why do you say that? Can you explain that for us?

Marylou Lavalle · 6:11:14

Because he was just the guy that was always there and in control, and there was no control. He couldn't even tell me what was wrong. He was seizing, foaming at the mouth, couldn't breathe. And right away I called 911. Right away my son come into— came into the bedroom. We felt helpless that we couldn't help him. Helpless. It felt like forever to— for the paramedics to arrive.

Shawn Buckley · 6:11:46

It was the third wave of COVID And I'm just going to slow you down. You're, you're at this stage personally in an absolute panic, and, and you're screaming and don't know what to do. Am I right about that?

Marylou Lavalle · 6:11:58

Absolute panic, utter shock.

Shawn Buckley · 6:12:01

Yes, yes.

Marylou Lavalle · 6:12:04

My son calmed me down.

Speaker M · 6:12:08

Yeah.

Shawn Buckley · 6:12:09

So 911 is called. What happened after that?

Marylou Lavalle · 6:12:13

It was third wave of COVID and it felt like forever until they arrived. And, uh, I stayed in the bed to try to stabilize him as best I could, put him in the recovery position.

Shawn Buckley · 6:12:27

So is he still seizing?

Marylou Lavalle · 6:12:29

That stopped. It stopped. Um, unconscious, just laying there trying to breathe. And my son went to to kind of open every door so we can make sure that the paramedics and firefighters arrived as soon as they could and quickly. And, um, they came in in a hurry. It was hazmat suits and you name it. And I was screaming, and they calmed me down. They said, we need to help your husband, just go downstairs, we will help him. He, uh, he was alive still. Barely blue. Tried to save him the best they could. He came down lifeless, um, in my house and on a spinal board and, um, was rushed to the local ER as I followed the, the ambulance to our local hospital, still hanging on.