Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
649848 tn?1534633700

COVID-19

Well, we’re going into the third year of COVID-19 and I’m wondering how everyone is doing.  How many of you have had it; were you really ill; have you been vaccinated?  Any other thoughts you might have?  
2 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
649848 tn?1534633700
Wow - it sounds like you’ve had a lifetime of COVID.   I’m sorry you got it and were so sick.  I had a sister who had it and was hospitalized twice for it.  She is immunocompromised, so it hit her really hard and we thought we were going to lose her a couple of times.  She still has pretty severe after-effects and is considered a “long hauler”.  

I can’t answer your question about the Omicron variant in my state.  They stopped keeping (or at least publishing) daily results, percent positive, etc.   Our governor had laws passed (Republican legislature) to prevent mask or vaccine mandates,, etc.  They refused to allow schools to close and those that did are now looking at losing Federal funding because they “broke the law”.  

Everything, here, in Florida is different from other parts of the country.  I read an article yesterday that said Florida is “fertile ground” for the extremes.  

If you haven’t read anything about Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, you should read everything you can about him - not just right wing stuff, some of which praises him, but not all.  He’s taken Trumpism to an entirely new level.  He’s running for another term for governor, but I’m hoping enough people will be reading about the extreme steps he’s taking to control the state.   Of course, he calls it “freedom” but some of his programs remove many freedoms.   I thought Trump was a “wanna be authoritarian”, but I think DeSantis has him beat.  Of course, he’s got aspirations of running for President in 2024.  Although he’s more “Trumpier” than Trump, there seems to be some animosity developing between the 2 of them.  
Helpful - 0
4 Comments
Oh your Governor.  He's. Bad. And you know what is super scary . . . in my part of the country, people think he will be the next president if it isn't . . . gasp . . . Trump. People here LOVE DeSantis.  I can not figure out why.  Our governor is a Republican but he is like that old time, reasonable sort.  He was hands off at schools. BUT, we elected some ultra (maybe QAnon) conservatives to our school board. They ran on no vax, no CRT (which we didn't even teach), no masks, covid isn't real, no mental health or social emotional learning in schools, diversity should be tapered (kid you not) platform. They have 4 out of 5 members on the board now so ya, we did not close nor would they.  They wouldn't even do a two week mask mandate that was suggested.

Trump's ego can not deal with DeSantis's ego and that DeSantis is more popular (people have always loved to hate trump). I am dreading the next election.  OMG. And  . . . have you heard the rumors that Clinton might run again? Can you imagine? I guess grab popcorn and watch them make a joke of the country . . . but I'm not sure I can take it.
I'm sorry about your sister.  That's terrible.  I'm lucky in that it was an illness I recovered from.  I've recently learned I have high blood pressure for real (no more thinking 'maybe', it's official).  So, now that worries me even more.  Luckily, I quickly responded to medication.  I have that familial type of hypertension so blocking the hormone immediately reversed it. And I didn't even have to exercise!  ha ha (I've tried to control it through lifestyle for a long long time. My doctor was like  . . . ya. You probably can't.  I also have low HDL cholesterol for the same genetic reasons.Crappy genes.  boo). I think I've read that with medication, it's not like a high risk issue in terms of covid.  Hope so.
I figured you must be familiar with DeSantis.  I suspect he's going to run for President and yes, could very well be the next one if it's not Trump.   Trump's been pretty upset that DeSantis is more popular, though I can't figure out why.  

Florida, too, has passed laws against CRT (which isn't taught here, either) and they're in the process, if they haven't already done it, to pass a "Don't say gay" law, in which teachers are not allowed to speak with children about sexual preferences, identity issues, etc.  Everything has to be "age appropriate" but nobody has defined the term.  They've also passed a law that parents can demand that any book they don't like is removed from a library and can actually file a law suit over it.  

It's supposed all for the sake of "parent freedom" so parents can have more say about what the schools teach their kids.  Sounds great, except the things that really matter are left out.  Besides that, why should one parent get to decide what the whole school reads?   Just because someone doesn't want their child to read about certain things, doesn't mean that I don't want my child to be able to read those things.  

I'm having a hard time believing that people would go for that kind of crap.   I didn't vote for DeSantis in 2018 and surely won't vote for him this year.   I also didn't vote for Trump last time and won't vote for him again, but I can't imagine Clinton running again.   I'd hate to have a choice between her and, either, Trump or DeSantis.
My sister got really lucky, is all I can say.  She's had leukemia/lymphoma for several years.  It's in remission right now, but all the chemo destroyed her immune system, so she has monthly immunotherapy.  She's also diabetic and has high blood pressure.  I've thought for years that she has a thyroid condition, but they won't test her beyond TSH, so she can't get diagnosed.

I've had high blood pressure for years - it's not the death sentence it used to be.  It runs in my family, as well.  I take a hormone blocker as well to deal with fluid build up and another medication to help keep BP down.   Same here, with low HDL and high cholesterol.  I'm pre-diabetic, with a suspicious thyroid nodule, along with Hashimoto's, but I was never considered high risk for COVID either.  

I simply tried to follow the rules (when there were any to follow) and do what I could to help keep from getting it myself or passing it to anyone else.   We had a good friend who died from it.

I think we're just ready for it to be over.
973741 tn?1342342773
I have had covid officially at least once. The worst part was the anxiety.  I had it before vaccines and was sick for almost two weeks with fever and all the rest (not a bad cough though). Completely lost my sense of taste and smell. But what got me the most was worrying about the issues that at that time they talked about. That your lungs could expel fluid out of nowhere and suddenly and cause you to sort of 'drown' in your own liquid quickly depleting oxygen from your blood.  Good lord, I had (still have) one of those oxygen devices for the finger that I used over and over. Those things seem to be semi rare.  I felt terrible but it wasn't serious. I learned from my doctor at that time that covid works like this . . . you have symptoms for about 5 to 10 days.  AT that point, the virus is either going to die down or THAT is when the serious signs begin to show. So, you watch very closely and track things between day 5 and 10. I had to keep a notebook.  I survived. May have had it again like so many in early January. Had one son that had cold symptoms and I was off for a few days.  That son was contact traced after that (right after he went back to school after winter break). That's what is hard about this.  I'd love for people to get antibody tests to see if they really had it because as more mild variants surface, it is so easy to confuse with many different things. The home tests appear not all that helpful. My experience was pretty straight forward a year ago but it seems so blurry now.

On the plus side, Omricon raged in and right back out. We had two and a half of crazy weeks with something like 200 kids out of the high school building.  Then it fell sharply with 1 student testing positive last week only.  Is that the case for your area too, Barb?

Helpful - 0
2 Comments
I always took Covid seriously.  I used to be more atune to the news before I got busy with some other stressful things in my life.  And I was hearing about this mystery virus in China around November of 2019.  I had exposure through work about a million years ago with vaccines and viruses and always had a healthy respect for how things could bloom into something serious.  And as a planet, we were due. I watched the numbers, watched what the other countries were doing. Not much for a long time. I watched ebola the same way.  It's part interest and part need to know, right?  Anyway, I told my husband who used to travel extensively for work that he needed to wear a mask on the planes (I had them for this purpose, I'm weird.  I lived through H1N1 and made him wear a mask then too.).  I told him that things were starting to pick up in California. He had trips planned for the first of March in LA. I was like . . . bet that doesn't happen in early February. Sure enough, canceled and we know what happened form there. I locked us down like we were told.  I mean, I wiped down groceries I had delivered.  I didn't want to die and would do 'extra' and likely unneeded things to prevent it.  I realized that they (Fauci and company) were learning as they go.  

I stayed that way for a while. I got vaccinated. It was Spring.  I began to loosen up a bit. At outdoor activities for my kids, I did not wear a mask.  I don't sit with other people so still keep my distance. I have been completely vaxed and boosted as have both of my kids.  My husband is the weak link. He has not had his booster and is bad about masks. My kids elect not to wear masks in school part of the day. They are in high school and it is optional. Kind of a situation in which if they feel at risk, they wear the mask they have but it is easier to operate in school without the mask. I still get groceries delivered. I still live in my bubble and avoid crowds. I go through a LoT of soap and hand sanitizer.

I see things getting a bit more back to normal. I'll vax/boost/mask as long as I have to. I think we are getting more toward endemic at this point.  I hope so.  But what is the worry? What the next pandemic or crisis will be. I think covid brought on a lot of depression and anxiety for so many and I resent that. But what can we do?

That was more than 2 cents. Sorry.
I WILL say that the politicalization of all of this makes me ill.  With both sides of government.  It's been ridiculous.  It's a health concern.  And people really believe it is a conspiracy for the government to control us.  Sigh.  I feel like the country has gone a little crazy.
You must join this user group in order to participate in this discussion.

You are reading content posted in the Current Events . . . Group

Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.