CLEVELAND – Aubrey Lewis has been a nurse at university hospitals for four years, and for almost the last year of that period, her work has been dedicated to the fight against COVID-19.
“I work daily with COVID-19 patients,” she said.
She received her first dose of Modern vaccine around January 20th.
“When I first got the vaccine, I didn’t have any side effects,” she said.
But after a few days, he noticed swelling in one of his lymph nodes.
“I felt under my armpit to see if there was anything there and I felt a piece. It was a bit hard, but still mobile, it moved “, she said.
As a nurse, it made her nervous.
“I was thinking, ‘It’s a weird place to have a fragile lymph node,’ but as soon as I put two and two together – that I just got the COVID vaccine on that side – I realized it’s related to that.” said.
But she looked for her.
“I did a little research and it seemed to me that a lot of women thought that the swollen lymph node in the axillary area, which is like the area of their armpit, they thought it was a breast cancer or a malignancy of the breast,” she said. said.
Dr. Holly Marshall, of the Department of Breast Radiology and Imaging, said more and more people are getting vaccinated, receiving more calls from women worried that swollen lymph nodes are a sign of breast cancer.
“We ask everyone who has a screening mammogram if they have received the COVID vaccine and, if so, what part and when it was given,” Marshall said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that approximately 11% of people receiving either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine will have swollen lymph nodes after their first dose and this will increase to 16% after the second dose.
“It means you make antibodies to fight infections, so later, if your body sees a COVID-19 virus, then you can fight the infection,” Marshall said.
Swollen lymph nodes can appear anywhere from two to four days after you get the shot.
“Wait a few weeks and if there’s no change, then come in and we’ll evaluate it,” Marshall said.
Lewis said that regardless of side effects, she is eager to receive the second dose.
“Going into health care, I knew there would be times like this to set the pace for everyone else, so I didn’t hesitate to get the second dose,” she said.
Marshall said it’s important to keep in mind that doctors do not suggest that women delay annual mammography screening, and said these screenings should begin at age 40.
This story was originally published by Jessie Schultz on WEWS.