Dorshan Millhouse
What was your life like before you received the COVID-19 vaccine?
My husband is an active duty Soldier. He has no voice to speak against the government, but as his wife I have every right to speak about our situation. My husband was in good health. No medications. Running 6-8 miles a few times a week, lifting, and lived normally. He drove kids to activities, ran errands, and helped with the house projects.
Describe the symptoms and the timeline of the reaction.
In September 2021 he was mandated to get the vaccine. Seven or so days later he started to develop tinnitus and high frequency hearing loss. It appeared to be a something that was related to Covid vaccine. Then he went on his first run after and he had a weird heart palpitation episode. So I showed my husband what I had found as being tracked by VAERS. He went to the vaccine site and reported the tinnitus and heart issue they looked at their list and said it was not on their injury/adverse reaction list. Col Talbert scoffed and said it was a precondition, told him it was his age, and set him up with an ENT for hearing aids on 10.29.2021. The heart episode he was told can happen on a run. It was separate from the vaccine.
He told his command and asked his command if he could hold off on vax 2 until he was cleared by his ENT because he believed he had a reaction and wanted to discuss with the specialist. They denied and threatened him with a write up if he didn’t go to get his second booster on 10/05/2021.
He goes to get his vaccine, and tells the person about his concerns, and they talked to onsite leadership who said my husband would be fine to get it. They administer the vaccine and within three hours he had a terrible headache, and called me. I told him it sounded like common post vaccine issue. I told him to just keep track of how he was feeling. He had to work late that night due to “national night out” on post and he was over housing. He got home after 8 and looked terrible. He said he thought he may need to go to the ER because his heart was out of control, and he couldn’t feel the entire left side of his body from head to toe.
We rushed him to the ER. They believed he was having a stroke. I mentioned my concerns that he just had the vaccine and I felt his body may be reacting to it. They told us it had NOTHING to do with it. He was having a heart issue. Tests came back normal. They were all bewildered by his symptoms- since the testing was very much showing significant loss of feeling and muscle use of the left side. He was slurring speech, cognitive was a little slow. I again voiced if the vaccine could be a factor since he just had it four hours ago and he had a reaction to the first vaccine. The staff immediately asked if I was vaccinated, if we would have gotten the vaccine if it weren’t for the mandate, and denied it was an issue to factor in. They ended up telling us to go home and come back if things got worse.
We couldn’t believe they released us. He ended up going back several times that week as symptoms got worse. They referred us to a neurologist.
He ended up going to his ENT appointment and the ENT told him he did have a reaction and that he should have been given steroid treatment immediately for a better long term recovery. It was too late to be effective now. He set him up with an MRI. It came back normal.
A few more ER appointments with new symptoms. At this point he shouldn’t be driving. He’s having visual impairments, and both his legs are having weakness. He has arm tremors and spasms that looked like a seizure.
He meets with the neurologist, and he spends 20 minutes asking him how he likes the army, his career, his unit leaders, does a few hand / eye, and gross and fine motor movements and makes him walk a line in the hall. All of which he said “he didn’t find concerning” (even though He obviously had trouble doing the tasks) and he felt it was “classic anxiety”. BUT he would do an MRI and see. It came back normal. Jason had more issues. So he ordered an EEG. No blood work for autoimmune issues. No belief it was a vaccine issue.
We went to the ER after he was unable to walk. At this point we are five months post first vaccine in and the ER doctor is shocked a resolution has not been found for such life changing issues. Tells us that he will admit him if they can’t find the issue. He does a full spine scan. There he found lymph node areas around the clavical, heart, and abdomen appeared to look like he had cancer. He said he had no idea if cancer is the reason for all his issues, or if it is a separate issue On it’s own.
They sent us to MD Anderson. They found he has ZAP70, and a somatic mutation tp53. There are a few others I can’t recall. They diagnosed him with CLL/SLL and they believed the cancer was the reason for his progressive muscular issues that now effect his left and right sides.
He received his first immunotherapy treatment. 4 hours later he had a similar body reaction to the treatment as he had with the vaccine. We called in his symptoms, and they told us to bring him in. We got to the ER at MD Anderson. They admitted him for observation.
A neurology team came in to assess. The professor over the residency program worked with Jason. Told him she read his chart and her assessment - she felt it was in his head. That he had something trigger these issues. That with therapy he would be fine. She was “tough” and was “sorry, but the mind is powerful.” She told him to move more and all would be well. She asked if we had questions and I said that so was concerned about her request for him to workout more because that brings on vertigo and spasms if he works out. She just told us to start small. Just silly, because my husband tries to keep busy every day and will take walks but it could put him down for a few hours. Just didn’t seem accurate. She did. It agree with vaccine factor. One doctor ordered a bunch of autoimmune tests and weeks later we got a result!
It appears Jason has an autoimmune movement disorder, “such as ataxia” Calcium Channel Binding Antibodies were found present.
After showing a Rheumatologist the test results he seemed to say that given Jason’s immediate movement issues so close to the vaccine and the present calcium channel binding antibodies - he said the vaccine should NOT be discredited as a reason for the trigger of those antibodies.
Yes they can run with cancer, but tests did not reveal cancer until months later. So he felt the vaccine shouldn’t be ruled out as a possible cause.
As of now, Jason can’t drive, has the cancer symptoms in addition to the movement disorder. Of which, the neurologist at MD Anderson hasn’t responded to Jason since the test result question was submitted the 3rd. So we should hear sometime next week. We are curious to see what she has to say.
Describe the solutions that helped your symptoms
Symptoms are sporadic. They seemed triggered by work/movement/stress. There was a medication that was given at the ER to help with his full body spasms. Can’t recall the name. Otherwise, he stays home and rides out most episodes.
Which solutions were not helpful?
Quick 20 min neurologist assessments
What would you like others to know?
That military members should not be given 30 day routine referrals for major sudden life changes. They should be treated for immediate care. We went to patient advocacy who was happy to set up an appointment with the medical commander, with the caveat that we needed to keep in mind - it could effect his career, but he has the right to discuss his grievances. A request went out, but the Commander never replied. My husband didn’t want to cause issues so he didn’t press issues. One Primary Care Manager he saw as an ER follow-up came into the treatment room and without a salutation demanded aggressively to know why I was in the room and that he just treats soldiers on his own. When it was told I am there for his movement issues, he reviewed the intake notes and told the medic to remove ALL insights that I had spoken about. Even though my husband’s cognitive abilities are effected and his recall can be a challenge. His Primary Care Manager has not reached out to him post diagnosis nor provided the memo he had requested multiple times. When we arrived at the Clinic she happened to be in, and we asked for an update on the memo. She did not come out to talk with him personally (despite the empty waiting area) but sent her medic. Jason felt that right there showed her inability to connect with patients. Should could have come out expressed apologies for her absence, lack of response time, and validated his new cancer and autoimmune diagnosis. Instead, she sent a medic with basic med skills out to answer our questions. His nurse case manager is to be an advocate, but immediately advocated for the vaccine when he had concerns about his tinnitus being related to the vaccine… One can’t advocate with such strong biases. When we got the cancer diagnosis, and asked about the possibility of medical board, she shared a story of a Solider who was taking advantage of the system and trying to get medical discharge with 100% disability. As if to elude that my husband, a bronze star recipient, who has only 4.5 more years left was trying to MISUSE the system. When in reality, our family of 8 need to prepare financially if it appears we would need to be medically discharged. She also asked my husband if he was in pain. He said no. But because of his limping she assumed he needed medications. She encouraged him to take Advil (which our oncologist told us not to use because of the cancer medications). When we explained he wouldn’t be using it… she tried to throw out other options. She did provide steps for Soldier Recovery Unit and line of duty paperwork. In addition, Soldiers and staff appear not to have a strong understanding of the process of how treatment reimbursement works and the pointing of fingers for various responsibility. Just delaying time. So we have two months of reimbursements but information varies depending on who we talk to. It’s been very stressful. Who to believe, who to trust… As of right now we have been seen at MD Anderson for about two months and it appears our military medical staff have not contacted his doctors to be apart of the process. There is corruption, uncaring, and obvious issues that should be looked into.
