Cheetarah

Do any of you feel as though even when we return to...normalcy...what that even is I don’t know anymore...that you’ll have phobias and avoidance issues? 
 

I curbside everything I can and my fiancée is the only one who goes in the grocery store.  I am getting to the point where I don’t even want to go to pick up my orders at Target.  I’m a little bit going backwards, acting more like I did in March (washing bags of Doritos with dish soap - lol - did anyone see that SNL psychic skit?).  
 

I think about the summer of 2019 when I moved where I am now and I SHOOK people’s hands(It’s nuts how that seems so reckless these days)!!  Without hand sanitizer!  I worked on a campaign, I kissed and hugged everyone because that’s what you do. Now,  I haven’t hugged or touched anyone outside my household since March. The idea of it is actually frightening, and when it becomes safer to do these very simple things I don’t think I’ll deal very well with it.   
 

We're starting to see a climb again.  For awhile we were at a 16% positivity rate, then it went down to about 7.  Now it's back to 9.  The hospitalizations are slowly increasing as well(and so many....SO MANY DEATHS).  We're averaging about 150 a day for the state.  I think today had about 180.  

My doctor isn't the one bugging me to come in, it's the practice.  They're like YOU HAVEN'T BEEN SEEN!  Go visit the midwife.  Why am I visiting the midwife for diabetes care...?  And what exactly do you need to see?  Because my feet look great, my blood pressure is phenomenal(I have a meter at home my doc recommended and the readings are sent to her), my meter readings are great, I've had well-controlled Diabetes for 5 years.  I don't argue that I need an A1C and some metabolic panels, but you don't need to shuffle me into your saliva ridden office to get them. 

I'm not over that egg roll.  Corporate is blowing me off.  I'm still having difficulties finding a new provider that not only is accepting new patients but also takes my insurance. 

Goodness, what happened to the format?  I am so confused, lol.  
 

So we are still doing a lot of the same things we were in March.  It was weird not having family over for the holidays.  M’s bday, my aunt and uncle did come over...when it was time to eat cake I shoved the household in one room and them in another, then lysoled the crap out of the air.  
 

Guys, my doctor’s office...I’m so upset.  So that’s the ONE place you should feel safe, right?  Except no.  They’ve been haggling me to come in.  I need labs.  No, I say.  They don’t follow what I feel to be reasonable protocol to begin with. I want to go off site for my labs and then have a telehealth for results.  
 

My fiancée went to pick up my print lab orders and naturally, had to wait 40 minutes because no one had it ready.  There was a freaking half eaten egg roll with a fork on the waiting room table.  Like someone had set themselves a nice dinner area.  1.  No one should be in a waiting room that long these days.  2.  That means someone’s mask came off and no one paid attention.  Also, who eats in the waiting room?  I’m not against a piece of candy or something pre-pandemic, I mean there’s reasons someone might need it like low blood glucose.  A meal?  During a WAVE?  
 

Totally grossed out and between how they’ve handled it I want to change practices.  I’m having a hard time finding a doctor that accepts new patients.  I also called corporate about it and need to follow up today because I haven’t heard anything back. 
 

In other news I’ve had to take a COVID test twice.  I hate when we have scares in this house.  We’ve had one run of the mill cold since March and it was scary waiting to find out if it was JUST that.  A weird world we live in when my fiancée got pneumonia and we were relieved it was that and not COVID.  
 

Can you keep him home ? I believe parents here have the option of not sending.

So far, yes - for the first semester. But the superintendent ultimately will make the choice of offering full remote as an option. It is right now but stuff keeps changing all the time.

I’m not feeling good about school, for M. He’ll be going into 2nd grade(holy crap, has it been that long?). So far, the school is offering the first term as in person, hybrid or total remote. As much as I want him to socialize and be in that setting, there are 2 immunocompromised individuals in the house and I can’t send him.

Interestingly, he actually thrived with e learning in areas where he was weak(reading, for example).

Just today our state health department director was talking about the bulk of cases soaring here in kids 10-19. How can I, in good faith, send him? I can’t do it. Our kids aren’t guinea pigs, and that’s what it feels like.

I’m glad it’s over and you’re feeling pretty good.

Yes, I’ve lost weight - in part due lowering carbs, in part to no take out and then anxiety. I do have cravings though for certain places - I really want a REAL pizza.

I got a partial a few years ago and had some very bad teeth extracted - it was actually relieving. I didn’t have any pain but relief. Sore, but it actually felt better. I hope it’s that way for you!

I get sore throats with my allergies(from post nasal drip). And they’re super bad right now(the tree pollen counts). I do feel some relief when I call the allergen hotline and listen to the counts, and obviously antihistamines help to an extent but I don’t fair well with 2nd gen antihistamines. So it’s usually Benadryl and then I’m a zombie.

I think at this point I am just bound to analyze every single little thing with my body. I have pre existing anxiety, I already was doing this before AND what else am I going to do? Too much time on my hands. I do work remotely(and am super glad I can), but it doesn’t feel like I’m working.

Speaking of guys, when I have a video meeting I fix up everything from the chest and up. I never wear pants when I’m Zooming. LOL. One day I’m not going to realize and probably stand up and get something.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot too, fudgie- one of my friend’s needs to get her gallbladder removed. They’ve been managing it with pain meds for the last 3 weeks but now it’s at the point where she’s in a near constant attack and they’ve scheduled her for a laparoscopic. They said if they wait any longer chances are she will need an open surgery. But even that decision almost didn’t happen.

My doctor called and asked if I wanted to keep my 3 month appointment - I said no. I asked for additional allotment of testing strips(diabetic) and have been really on top of trying to manage my blood glucose levels. I’m testing 5x a day now and from all that I can see, it’s going well but nothing compares to an A1C. My last a1c in January was 5.7 and I feel confident I likely haven’t budged much from there, but still. High stress is doing its thing with my glucose and I’ve had to change stuff I haven’t had to change in years...but I can’t bring myself to go there and potentially expose myself and by extension my family.

We had the lowest death toll today so far in a week. My concern is that people were all “whatever” because it’s Easter and in a few weeks we’re going to see an influx rather than what appears to be a curve flattening.

I’ve been checking my temperature incessantly. It’s almost like I can’t stop. I need to, because there are so many times and reasons it’s going to fluctuate but I feel compelled and anxious if I don’t do it.

Our governor launched an emotional support hotline. Unfortunately you have to wait up to 24 hours for a return call from a therapist. And I’m also sure they’re bogged down since it’s brand new.

I’m sorry, sera! If you need to talk I’m awake.

My friend can’t find an ear or temporal therm, or even multiple oral ones. Her kids are showing some symptoms (3 kids) and she wants to monitor them. People are just telling her oh, sanitize your oral one for everyone...Nah that is just not even close to ideal. I’m usually pretty squirrelly and can find stuff but even I can’t. They are (rightfully) limiting therms to 2 per purchase and there’s none to be found as it is.

On the bright side, my other friend is now doing really well, the guy. He had some residual mild weakness but other than that is getting better every day.

Thank you - she was tested because of the exposure and is nearly asymptomatic. Her patient did test positive a few days before she did, though that patient had been constantly sleeping for more than a week. Not sure if she JUST contracted and is at the beginning of the crap or is lucky to have very mild symptoms.

I will wipe myself with coffee filters and corn husks before I pay exorbitant amounts of money, too! Or I’d honestly go in the shower and use the handheld.

I know! This was priced without markup so it was double lotto. Like the powerball.

Amazon says they’ve cracked down on third party sellers but every day there are more and more crappy people trying to capitalize on a pandemic. I saw 74 for a 4 roll of toilet paper and the worst part, people buying it out of desperation. ☹️

A few times a day I check all the stores online for stuff that’s become impossible to find. I’m just mildly amused it only expects me to travel over 300 miles to get some disinfecting wipes. I tried to put a pic up but apparently I’ve completely forgotten how to utilize this forum. However, I did manage to snag a 4 pack of Clorox wipes the other day online for ship to home and it shipped. My aunt was all “did you insure it?” 😂😂

My partner’s best friend tested positive. She’s a CNA in an adult home. She had been screaming about the lack of PPE for weeks. They wound up having a big outbreak there, almost equally divided between residents and staff.

It was basically inevitable and that’s just horrible. They’re asking sports teams here for rain ponchos for PPE.

My friend’s fever broke after 11 days of them, 14 days of symptoms. Has an appetite. Hopefully this is good as he is in the high risk category.

On the bright side I want to say this was a 24 hour turnover test - they will be implementing the 9/13 minute ones or whatever they are next week. But I am so glad we are starting to roll out more frequent and efficient testing.

My friend tested positive. If we figured it out right, he’s about 11 days in. I hope he will be on the upswing as it seems it goes either worse or better at this point. I haven’t seen him in 1.5 months so there’s no possibility of exposure to us.

We haven’t done any takeout. It’s not the food I’m worried about, it’s the handling and all the packaging. I feel bad because I would like to support our local businesses, but I’d rather stock my freezer because there is no such thing as store hopping. I used to go to different stores for particular items for sales but now everything is one grocery trip for meats and one curbside for everything else. So it’s a lot more expensive. Plus the “sales” are not really sales, but a product of essential markup (legal...they do have wiggle room).

Yes, I am glad tok Fudgie. It’s certainly not ideal or anywhere near where we should be with respect to testing but our governor is a a hard ass. He wasn’t my first choice when I voted, but he’s been a very pleasant surprise. Our mayor is too - she’s the mom who turned the car around because we all didn’t behave. She gave the city one day to not congregate on the lake shore and stuff. Then the next day she’s all I TOLD YOU now we shut them because you all don’t know how to socially distance.

What is everyone doing for masks? I have a friend that sews and she sent me some a couple weeks ago. I don’t have a sewing machine so because what the hell else is there to do, I’ve been tinkering with making them by hand with shop towels my partner had. They’re ugly but functional.

Our testing is improving here - a week or so ago it was go home unless you’re blue in the face. Now we’re testing with an increase of about 1000+ tests a day(not cases...well actually yeah sometimes we have 1k+ a day).

The hospitals are empty(or I should say, waiting rooms and other typically high traffic areas) because like fudgie says, no one wants to go for stuff and risk it. Oh, and the visitor policy is super strict.

I am sandwiched between 2 hospitals where I live now. I can walk to one, drive a couple minutes to the other. When I first moved here and up until recently, the sirens drove me insane. Now I hardly hear them.

Snny, I am sorry!

We figured it out - the last Saturday he was at work, he shared tools and sat next to his coworker who is also awaiting test results due to exposure to someone who had it(about 4 days ago, he was tested). We are not sure if he’s symptomatic.

So it’s incredibly likely it’s COVID. 😞😞

😔 hopefully he recovers well.

I offered to basically throw a bag of Tylenol and a few Gatorades at his door from the car(lol). But now I’m thinking about the people In his department. He notified HR and has not been in for about 10 days but still. Since you can’t pinpoint when it(potentially) was infected no idea if his work folks are at risk or not.

I have a friend getting tested today. He’s been having a fever and fatigue for about 10 days - he does have this raunchy I grown toenail so urgent care gave him antibiotics a week ago and drained it. He still has high fevers so that leads them to believe it’s viral and are doing the COVID test.

If he does have it I cannot imagine where he got it. His wife and kid have been home for 3’weeks, he’s working from home with the exception of going in once a week to get parts. Contact is almost nil though and they send in those crime scene cleaners 3x a day.

It’s either that or about 2 weeeks when he wasn’t taking this seriously and went to a cooking class. 😞😞