Personal covid experiences

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, Happy2BaMom said:

Right now, I can't even say that I'm sorry for that.

I'm so tired of those who don't care being able not to care, because the virus isn't killing 7 members of their extended family. Or any.

I do care, because it means I have to keep hiding in my house, lol. And I don't want people to get sick because they are ignorant. But I understand how you feel. How terrible about your friend... 

[Not_a_Number]

4 minutes ago, Patty Joanna said:

The other result I am seeing (as is my friend who is a hospice nurse) is the slide in mental acuity and in will to live among the parents of friends.  So many are in assisted living/nursing care/rehab places and the loneliness and isolation has caused a precipitous decline in mental acuity and will to live.  This is not something one can measure with scientific metrics, but this IS the tale being told by the caring professionals in the facilities and by the families.  

Yeah, I'm sure it's true, and it's heartbreaking. But there's no will to change it, because it's either isolation or COVID in the nursing homes. Both are terrible options, just terrible. The only reasonable option is not having a lot of spread, but we aren't doing that. 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, Patty Joanna said:

Or lawsuits because the guidelines are not specific enough to give guidance or protection from lawsuits.   

I'm not sure I'm following. What about lawsuits? 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, Patty Joanna said:

I’m editing for clarity. 

Ah, got it. I do wish they were doing something else 😕 . It's very hard on people. 

[Not_a_Number]

@Mrs Tiggywinkle, I'm sorry you're feeling cruddy 😞 . Want to copy and paste your other post or should I do it? 

[Not_a_Number]

Bump. How is everyone doing? 

I think the US is on track to hit 2000 deaths a day within a month or two 😕 . This is so grim. 

Edited November 11, 2020 by Not_a_Number

[kbutton]

On 11/8/2020 at 11:37 PM, kbutton said:

A friend's high schooler is positive; got it from a friend (maybe school/athletics?) whose test results were somehow messed up. I am not sure if it was reported as negative but wasn't, or if it was an initial false negative. Either way, the person was cleared, so this young person was not quarantined initially.

Additional family members have symptoms and are high risk.

[Starr]

My dsil was running the numbers if we keep up the pace we are doubling cases and it's shocking.

39 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Bump. How is everyone doing? 

I think the US is on track to hit 2000 deaths a day within a month or two 😕 . This is so grim. 

 

[Not_a_Number]

13 minutes ago, kbutton said:

Additional family members have symptoms and are high risk.

Oh no 😞 . Keep us updated. 

[Not_a_Number]

11 minutes ago, Starr said:

My dsil was running the numbers if we keep up the pace we are doubling cases and it's shocking.

Are you on the positivity rate thread? That's probably the best current predictor. That's only going to go 2 weeks out, so in 2 weeks, we won't be at 2,000, but I'm guessing within a month or two. 

[Carrie12345]

I don’t have any detailed updates on people I’ve mentioned most recently.

One of dh’s newest employees’ daughter (child) has tested positive. Dh has been having both of the people who work in his office work from home so he could get into the office after working out of state for so long without worrying that he brought something back to them. It wound up preventing him from getting it from her. (I don’t know if she’s been tested or not.)

Another employee (out of state) is in quarantine because she, her husband, and her kids had extended exposure to a positive case.

Another employee got married this past weekend with 4 people missing from the bridal party because they came up positive. (So a few degrees of separation there, but I’m bringing it up because the groom was disappointed dh wasn’t going.)

[Bootsie]

Just found out that a friend's parents (both in their 70s) have had COVID.  She was especially  concerned about her father because he has some underlying lung problems, but both parents have appeared to recovered fully with symptoms that were not too bad.  They live in a multi-generational home with a daughter, son-in-law, and six-year old granddaughter living in an apartment upstairs--they all tested negative, have been quarantining, and have not had any symptoms.  

[iamonlyone]

My friend's mom was able to go home from the hospital today, after being there a little over two weeks. She will have a home health nurse come once a day and is still on 2 liters of oxygen a day. She is glad to be home and is in good spirits.

Today my insurance agent called and mentioned she is working from home since her two children were exposed and are waiting for testing results.

Also today our college dd said one of her friends is positive and in quarantine. (She had not seen him in person recently, so she is not in quarantine.)

And, finally, there are two positive cases at the library where my husband works (only one case previously about a month ago). The department he manages is greatly impacted—no positives yet, but several employees are quarantining, so they are low on staff.

Like others, I am hearing of many more case of friends of friends, and positivity rates are increasing in my state.

[KeriJ]

I have numerous friends and relatives who have tested positive for covid.  I have lived in a lot of places, so they are from various states, but they are people I am actually friends with irl or I am related to. Right now my bil in his 30's is positive with mild symptoms.  But the rest have ranged from mild all the way to one highschool friend of dh who just got off a ventilator after 4 weeks and seems to be on his way to recovery. 

[WendyLady]

Just to share our Covid story. My husband started having symptoms on Oct. 23. We stayed home all weekend and he tested on Monday, got a positive on Tuesday and was told to quarantine along with me and our son. My husband was about as sick as a minor cold. He did have a headache and body aches, he was congested and sneezy. He stayed in our bedroom and I brought him food so that he didn't spread it to the rest of us.

Unfortunately, about the time he was feeling better, I started to feel sick. He went back to work after he was cleared by his doctor at about 10 days after testing.  I tested positive last week. I have felt tired and congested, and I have an occasional cough, but not the kind of cough that a cough drop would help. I did lose my sense of smell/taste. If it were a normal year, this is the sort of light cold that I would have felt fine carrying on in going to school/work with, and even working out. (of course we are keeping our very strict quarantine, luckily my husband is able to do our grocery pick up now.)

Our teenage son thinks he may have had a light case, he had a day or two of coughing and maybe had a headache, but he's not sure. He did not test positive. 

We feel like we have been in quarantine forever, though it has only been 2.5 weeks. The health department nurse told me that we can leave quarantine when I am 72 hours without a fever and not having any more symptoms. I haven't had a fever at all, though I am still headachy and congested, so it may be a few more days or into next week before we can bust out of here. And even then I will stick to my usual mainly at home routine.

I know that many people have been extremely ill, but for us it hasn't been worse than a cold. I'm not trying to say that it is not a big deal. I know that there are much worse cases (our daughter is an RN in an ICU and has been really affected by this.)

We believe that a coworker of my husband's shared it with him. One person in his office complained about having a "head cold" the week before my husband got sick. The night before he started feeling sick, my husband spent several hours in his buddy's truck as they were driving out to a hunting site. The buddy did not get sick. Several people in my husband's office went into quarantine when he tested positive, but no one else seemed to get sick. They have specific masking rules in common areas, but they don't generally mask in their offices. 

Our son started his first job about a month before we got sick - they have been really understanding about him missing for so long. I feel terrible that he has been stuck at home. It's already been a hard year for him and it will be a relief when he is able to go back to his part time job.

eta - my husband and I are both in our mid 40's, a bit over weight, but no other health concerns.

Edited November 11, 2020 by WendyLady

[easypeasy]

My two youngest kids have had several more friends test positive.

All - 100% - have had barely noticeable symptoms. The worst part for each has been staying in their dorm room or house.

None have passed it along to anyone in their household and/or dorm suite (this blows my MIND!).

The suitemates (of the college students involved) have to quarantine for 14 solid days whereas the infected students are freed after something like 10 days/48 hours no symptoms (or something like that).

Craziest virus!!

[Shoeless]

My husband's friend (about 50, male, respiratory therapist), was in the hospital since July.  He died today. Thankfully, his wife and children were able to see him alert one last time before he died. His name was Chris.

My friend Michelle is still on a ventilator and will be getting a trach tube tomorrow. She will still be on the ventilator, but the trach tube will allow them to decrease her sedation so she can be more alert.  I don't have a good feeling about that.  I feel like they are just waking her up so she has a chance to see her family one last time.  I just don't have a good feeling at all. I hope I am wrong. 

[Frances]

2 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

My husband's friend (about 50, male, respiratory therapist), was in the hospital since July.  He died today. Thankfully, his wife and children were able to see him alert one last time before he died. His name was Chris.

My friend Michelle is still on a ventilator and will be getting a trach tube tomorrow. She will still be on the ventilator, but the trach tube will allow them to decrease her sedation so she can be more alert.  I don't have a good feeling about that.  I feel like they are just waking her up so she has a chance to see her family one last time.  I just don't have a good feeling at all. I hope I am wrong. 

I’m so sorry to hear this. I hope your friend can still recover and have many more years with her family.

[Frances]

On 11/9/2020 at 4:40 PM, Patty Joanna said:

There’s no protection against lawsuits because the state guidelines are not specific enough to give guidance and protection for following the guidelines l—so the facilities roll out exceedingly restrictive rules.  
Talked to you daughter socially distant outside today?   Quarantine in your room for two weeks for you!!   

leave the faculty to go to the doctor?  Quarantine in your room for two weeks for you!

Felons at the state pen have better access to friends and family because you can’t sue the state.  You’re better off being a murderer than an old person in a facility as far as COVID goes.   

M

Edited November 11, 2020 by Frances

[cjzimmer1]

7 hours ago, easypeasy said:

 

The suitemates (of the college students involved) have to quarantine for 14 solid days whereas the infected students are freed after something like 10 days/48 hours no symptoms (or something like that).

Craziest virus!!

A young lady from our church tested positive and the health department told her she had to quarantine for 14 days.  However, since she lives at home, her parents have to quarantine for 28 days.  

[TCB]

7 hours ago, MissLemon said:

My husband's friend (about 50, male, respiratory therapist), was in the hospital since July.  He died today. Thankfully, his wife and children were able to see him alert one last time before he died. His name was Chris.

My friend Michelle is still on a ventilator and will be getting a trach tube tomorrow. She will still be on the ventilator, but the trach tube will allow them to decrease her sedation so she can be more alert.  I don't have a good feeling about that.  I feel like they are just waking her up so she has a chance to see her family one last time.  I just don't have a good feeling at all. I hope I am wrong. 

I just want to try and ease your fears a bit. One of the advantages of a trach is that the person can be more comfortably awake, and being more awake really does help recovery. She would have to be reasonably stable for them to be able to do the trach procedure. I’m not trying to say she is out of the woods or anything but I wouldn’t necessarily read anything really negative into it.

[easypeasy]

5 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

A young lady from our church tested positive and the health department told her she had to quarantine for 14 days.  However, since she lives at home, her parents have to quarantine for 28 days.  

holeee cow. I mean, I get it, but 🤯

[Shoeless]

5 hours ago, TCB said:

I just want to try and ease your fears a bit. One of the advantages of a trach is that the person can be more comfortably awake, and being more awake really does help recovery. She would have to be reasonably stable for them to be able to do the trach procedure. I’m not trying to say she is out of the woods or anything but I wouldn’t necessarily read anything really negative into it.

Thank you. I am just really upset about all of this. I just want her kids to have their mama back. :( And I keep thinking of her cat, which seems silly.  The poor guy doesn't understand what is happening. :( 

[mommyoffive]

13 hours ago, MissLemon said:

My husband's friend (about 50, male, respiratory therapist), was in the hospital since July.  He died today. Thankfully, his wife and children were able to see him alert one last time before he died. His name was Chris.

My friend Michelle is still on a ventilator and will be getting a trach tube tomorrow. She will still be on the ventilator, but the trach tube will allow them to decrease her sedation so she can be more alert.  I don't have a good feeling about that.  I feel like they are just waking her up so she has a chance to see her family one last time.  I just don't have a good feeling at all. I hope I am wrong. 

I am so sorry for your loss.  My heart is with his family. 

Sending prayers to Michelle. 

[Not_a_Number]

Bump. How is everyone doing? Any more stories? 

[J-rap]

I've been reading updates.  I'm really sorry for those of you who have friends/loved ones in a serious state right now, or who have even lost loved ones.  

I wanted to share a couple recent Covid case experiences for interesting information sharing.  

My BIL was diagnosed as Covid positive last week.  He and his wife were probably the most careful people I've known so far.  They haven't seen anyone for months, live in a rural community, work from home, do grocery delivery.  The ONLY thing my BIL did where he could have been exposed was to work at the early-voting polls here.  They were EXTREMELY careful.  (Our state generally is.)  Everyone there had on appropriate gear, followed all protocols.    Their (adult) son was planning to visit them last week, so they all decided to test before the visit.  My BIL was shocked to hear his test was positive!  He is older -- 63 or 64, and has absolutely no symptoms at all.  He feels perfect!  So, it's not just younger people who can be symptom-free.

Our pastor was diagnosed about a month ago.  Our church is still 100% online, very pro-mask, etc.  He and his wife only go out to do the essentials.  His Covid experience has been what you hear about.  He had it about a week, thought he was nearly over it, and then it came whooshing back again.  Again he thought he was almost over it, and then it came whooshing back yet again!  Each time, he had to go to the ER.  Our hospitals are nearly full, and because his case wasn't considered critical, they sent him home with hospital equipment, including oxygen and a vitals machine, which were set up to continually send information back to the hospital.  He's finally about it over it now.  He describes it as you often hear about it:  like a truck hit him.

[Terabith]

@Mrs Tiggywinkle, how are you feeling?

[IfIOnly]

I'm feeling frustrated waiting since Sunday for test results. Day 5 after testing, and supposedly we will get results today. My 17 year old son has a doctor's appointment today that he's been waiting on for some time. It had to be cancelled because we don't know if we've got COVID or not going on in our home. His doctor's receptionist said she's heard similar frustration from others waiting to be cleared or confirmed.

[IfIOnly]

Not Covid. Nurse said test turn around times have gone from 2-5 days since Sunday to up to currently 5-7 days because cases are climbing and so is testing. I don't think the long wait time is helpful for slowing spread and getting people to quarantine.

The weird thing is ds has lost all taste and smell. He's eating raw onions and lemons for fun. This kid has a strong gag reflex, and there's no way it's not legit.

Guess that's a symptom of other viruses and maybe we're just hyper aware and noticing this cold/flu symptom for the first time.

[Not_a_Number]

2 minutes ago, IfIOnly said:

Not Covid. Nurse said test turn around times have gone from 2-5 days since Sunday to up to currently 5-7 days because cases are climbing and so is testing. I don't think the long wait time is helpful for slowing spread and getting people to quarantine.

The weird thing is ds has lost all taste and smell. He's eating raw onions and lemons for fun. This kid has a strong gag reflex, and there's no way it's not legit.

Guess that's a symptom of other viruses and maybe we're just hyper aware and noticing this cold/flu symptom for the first time.

I dunno. Is his nose stuffed? If not, given how strong an indicator the loss of smell/taste is, I would assume it's a false negative. 

[Ausmumof3]

10 minutes ago, IfIOnly said:

Not Covid. Nurse said test turn around times have gone from 2-5 days since Sunday to up to currently 5-7 days because cases are climbing and so is testing. I don't think the long wait time is helpful for slowing spread and getting people to quarantine.

The weird thing is ds has lost all taste and smell. He's eating raw onions and lemons for fun. This kid has a strong gag reflex, and there's no way it's not legit.

Guess that's a symptom of other viruses and maybe we're just hyper aware and noticing this cold/flu symptom for the first time.

They think the mechanism in Covid is possibly more neurological than the usual loss of smell from blocked nose etc from a cold/flu.  

[IfIOnly]

1 minute ago, Not_a_Number said:

I dunno. Is his nose stuffed? If not, given how strong an indicator the loss of smell/taste is, I would assume it's a false negative. 

I asked and on a scale from 1-10 he's says his congestion is about a 2. I don't know what to think right now. I think I need to be relieved we don't have Covid for a minute or two. 😟😕

[IfIOnly]

Ds- no coughing, sneezing, needing to blow or wipe nose or anything. 🤷‍♀️

[Not_a_Number]

3 minutes ago, IfIOnly said:

Ds- no coughing, sneezing, needing to blow or wipe nose or anything. 🤷‍♀️

Then I would honestly assume it's COVID 😕. I've never heard of loss of smell WITHOUT congestion in any other virus. 

[IfIOnly]

9 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Then I would honestly assume it's COVID 😕. I've never heard of loss of smell WITHOUT congestion in any other virus. 

I'm just feeling frustrated and overwhelmed with a possible of a false negative right now. Was hard dragging myself to the doctor with the "flu" when all I wanted was to crawl back home and go lay back down in my bed. Also trying to keep everyone supplemented up and pounding the natural stuff and even low level stress about COVID zaps you all while being hit the hardest in the family is just... hard. I'm feeling better but just tired still.

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, IfIOnly said:

I'm just feeling frustrated and overwhelmed with a possible of a false negative right now. Was hard dragging myself to the doctor with the "flu" when all I wanted was to crawl back home and go lay back down in my bed. Also trying to keep everyone supplemented up and pounding the natural stuff and even low level stress about COVID zaps you all while being hit the hardest in the family is just... hard. I'm feeling better but just tired still.

I'm really sorry. Maybe his sense of smell will come back and it'll be a false alarm. I'd just make sure not to dismiss the possibility it's COVID, because I know you'll feel worse later if you expose other people 😞 . 

[MEmama]

1 hour ago, IfIOnly said:

Not Covid. Nurse said test turn around times have gone from 2-5 days since Sunday to up to currently 5-7 days because cases are climbing and so is testing. I don't think the long wait time is helpful for slowing spread and getting people to quarantine.

The weird thing is ds has lost all taste and smell. He's eating raw onions and lemons for fun. This kid has a strong gag reflex, and there's no way it's not legit.

Guess that's a symptom of other viruses and maybe we're just hyper aware and noticing this cold/flu symptom for the first time.

My sister (positive) lost her sense of taste and smell for several days. She hasn’t reported any congestion or cold type symptoms, mainly just exhaustion. Her sense of smell does seem to be slowly returning.

Loss of those do seem to be a pretty clear indicator of COVID right now. I would assume he is positive and quarantine appropriately (sorry if I missed that you are already doing so). False negative tests are very, very common, unfortunately. 

[TCB]

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

I dunno. Is his nose stuffed? If not, given how strong an indicator the loss of smell/taste is, I would assume it's a false negative. 

Me too!

[Not_a_Number]

1 hour ago, TCB said:

Me too!

And you have more evidence than I do, probably. 

[TCB]

6 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

And you have more evidence than I do, probably. 

Actually probably not because I see them further down the line when they aren't worried about taste or smell any more 😪, but it definitely seems like a very frequently reported symptom from what I've read.

[kbutton]

On 11/10/2020 at 8:40 PM, kbutton said:

Additional family members have symptoms and are high risk.

So this family seems to be holding their own so far--saying it feels like bad allergies and wondering if the rapid test the daughter had was a false positive. I think they will complete quarantine and continue being careful.

My great aunt has it--nursing home. She has some moderate dementia and has been in the nursing home for a short time (maybe since late summer or early fall). It's in a rural county that had very few cases until about a month ago. The rate in their county has doubled in the last two weeks. 

3 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

I dunno. Is his nose stuffed? If not, given how strong an indicator the loss of smell/taste is, I would assume it's a false negative. 

Me too. 

[iamonlyone]

On 11/10/2020 at 8:54 PM, iamonlyone said:

And, finally, there are two positive cases at the library where my husband works (only one case previously about a month ago). The department he manages is greatly impacted—no positives yet, but several employees are quarantining, so they are low on staff.

 

And now we're quarantined. We started very mild cold symptoms yesterday, so dh got a CV19 test today. Results are expected in 3-5 days. We feel mostly well; normally we would go about life as usual...but this isn't normal, so we wait.

[MEmama]

9 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

And now we're quarantined. We started very mild cold symptoms yesterday, so dh got a CV19 test today. Results are expected in 3-5 days. We feel mostly well; normally we would go about life as usual...but this isn't normal, so we wait.

Thank you for being so cautious and doing the right thing! 
 

Hopefully your symptoms will continue to be mild. 

[Matryoshka]

15 hours ago, IfIOnly said:

I'm just feeling frustrated and overwhelmed with a possible of a false negative right now. Was hard dragging myself to the doctor with the "flu" when all I wanted was to crawl back home and go lay back down in my bed. Also trying to keep everyone supplemented up and pounding the natural stuff and even low level stress about COVID zaps you all while being hit the hardest in the family is just... hard. I'm feeling better but just tired still.

The false negatives can be really high, unfortunately, like up to 30%....

[kbutton]

I just got word that one of my parent's cousins has COVID, and his wife passed away from it overnight. I didn't know they were ill until now. Of the two of them, I would've thought he would be the most fragile health wise. He had a mild heart attack, was in the ICU, and is now in a regular room--taking food and alert. She became ill quite fast with pneumonia, GI issues, and some kind of bleeding (maybe internally?). 

They are snowbirds and became ill almost as soon as they arrived in their home in the south. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, kbutton said:

I just got word that one of my parent's cousins has COVID, and his wife passed away from it overnight. I didn't know they were ill until now. Of the two of them, I would've thought he would be the most fragile health wise. He had a mild heart attack, was in the ICU, and is now in a regular room--taking food and alert. She became ill quite fast with pneumonia, GI issues, and some kind of bleeding (maybe internally?). 

They are snowbirds and became ill almost as soon as they arrived in their home in the south. 

Oh no 😞 . I’m so sorry. How old was she? 

[kbutton]

9 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Oh no 😞 . I’m so sorry. How old was she? 

77. A very active 77. Her husband is 85 and also quite active (he has aunts and uncles that lived into their late 80s and 90s even with health issues). 

[Not_a_Number]

4 minutes ago, kbutton said:

77. A very active 77. Her husband is 85 and also quite active (he has aunts and uncles that lived into their late 80s and 90s even with health issues). 

Oh, geez 😞 . My in-laws are a bit younger than that age. They are definitely not at death’s door...

[iamonlyone]

Dh's test came in negative. 🙂 That was fast! The info said 3-5 days, and the turnaround was not much over 24 hours! And we both feel fine today.

[Terabith]

19 minutes ago, iamonlyone said:

Dh's test came in negative. 🙂 That was fast! The info said 3-5 days, and the turnaround was not much over 24 hours! And we both feel fine today.

The "is it covid or is it allergies" dilemma has been real here.  Ragweed was very high here a couple weeks ago, and all of us had some levels of congestion.  Hopefully it's just something like that.  Just because there's a pandemic doesn't mean allergies and colds go away.