Pandemic: Life on the ground

[Jersey Girl]

Whatever day this is, check in. I think Monday.

We're both still testing positive and I am here to tell you we're both frustrated. The overarching theme is that we're both over it but still not actually over it. I want to report some symptoms because I don't recall anyone else reporting them on the thread.

Sat and Sun, I don't know why but I was weepy on and off both days. No fever or aches or anything, just weepy. Didn't particularly feel sad or depressed. It was more like deeply sentimental feelings. (Hope that wasn't my life passing before my eyes.)

Monday today, Not weepy and woke up feeling perfectly fine and I mean perfectly. Did a grocery pick up (fat food to increase calorie intake) masked of course. Had plenty of energy throughout the day. About 30 minutes ago I got a bout of unexpected sinus pressure like I've never had before in my life. Took Tylenol and Mucinex to counter that...I hope. Feels like it's working but HECK it was a LOT of pressure. I can't recall a single instance in my whole life where I felt like that.

This Omicron gig is weird, that's all I know. I guess you just have to roll with it. We're rolling.

The problem is we both feel well enough to do things but we can't leave the house. It's like the first lock downs all over again. Ground Hog Day 2.0 or possibly 4.0 by now. I've lost count.

We're alive. We want out. The only good part is I'm carbing myself into oblivion over here and resumed rage shopping.

ETA: I just looked at my post and it's not Monday today. It's Sunday. I don't even know what day it is. Whatevs.

[Jersey Girl]

I'm alive. We think. We both gave up testing because I know we can test positive for approx. 30 days. We still have residual symptoms and I, at least, burn out around 6 p.m. and sleep for a while if I can or I go to bed earlier than usual. The Boy burns out mid-afternoon and then rallies. Not every day, but yeah, this must've been one heck of a fight. If I had to say, our main symptom at this point is fatigue. Not all day long and not horrible, but it's there.

I didn't go to my class. I'm telling you, I was the poster child for Kubler-Ross stages of grief for a couple or three days until I finally reached a state of acceptance and gave up on it. One of my friends in the group offered to teach us (three of us had to opt out) after the holidays. So I still get to have instruction. So nice of her!

Anyway, we're hanging in. This has been a lot of ups and downs that's all I know. Three steps forward, two steps back. Nothing terrible happened so I'm very thankful for that!

[honorentheos]

Anyway, we're hanging in. This has been a lot of ups and downs that's all I know. Three steps forward, two steps back. Nothing terrible happened so I'm very thankful for that!

Sorry to hear recovery has been slow. Glad it sounds like you both are on the mend, though!

[Jersey Girl]

Anyway, we're hanging in. This has been a lot of ups and downs that's all I know. Three steps forward, two steps back. Nothing terrible happened so I'm very thankful for that!

Sorry to hear recovery has been slow. Glad it sounds like you both are on the mend, though!

It's been weird and frustrating. The other day (yesterday?) I felt perfectly normal, by dinner I was stuffy again. I think we both have bouts of normalcy and then it's something different like stuffiness or sneezing, and he's got a lingering cough. The dry climate here might have something to do with these things. I try not to complain because I know good and well how people suffered and died pre-vax with the Delta variant. Just earlier I was using saline nose spray, looked down to wash my hands and my hand was covered in blood. Broken blood vessel from sniffing the stuff I am sure. <---TMI.

Yeah, weird and frustrating. But no fevers, no body aches, no sore throats, no horrible headache except the one day I had crazy scary sinus pressure.

We press on! Or sleep.

[Res Ipsa]

Over the last two weeks, I’ve had several contacts with the health care system. The first was an appointment with a pulmonologist for reactive airway stuff. We were both wearing the same model N95. We chatted a little, and he mentioned that he will likely continue to wear the mask permanently in his practice.

The second was the emergency room in the local hospital. It was early morning, and the waiting room was almost empty. But the ER was full. Over full in fact — the person I was with was on a gurney in the hallway. Then they were moved to a little curtained off room with a comfy chair. An EMT told me that, two days before, the queue to be seen at that ER contained 86 people.

The third was my annual skin cancer checkup. Check in procedures to screen for respiratory symptoms seemed stepped up. The Doc wore a full face shield.

I received a text from my local health district warning that ERs were getting overfilled. And then I found this article in the Seattle Times about public health officials and hospital directors asking people to return to masking in public places.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-ne ... ipledemic/

I hope enough folks will respond and take the pressure off of our hospitals.

[Jersey Girl]

I will never stop masking in public places. I read this on CNN. I think it was yesterday. I'm not editing out the extraneous material, you'll have to wade through it.

Hospitals are more full than they’ve been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a CNN analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. But as respiratory virus season surges across the US, it’s much more than Covid that’s filling beds this year.

More than 80% of hospital beds are in use nationwide, jumping 8 percentage points in the past two weeks.

Hospitals have been required to report capacity information since mid-2020 as part of a federal effort to track the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hospitals have been more than 70% full for the vast majority of that time. But they’ve been 80% full at only one other point: in January, during the height of the Omicron surge in the US. Back in January, about a quarter of hospital beds were in use for Covid-19 patients. But now, only about 6% of beds are in use for Covid-19 patients, according to the HHS data.

Doctor giving vaccine, flu or influenza shot to patient with injection needle. Close up of arm and medical professional. Nurse or physician with syringe. Immunity, HPV or health care concept.
As respiratory viruses strain US health care systems, Biden administration tells states how it's ready to help
The broader respiratory virus season is in full swing across the US. All but six states are experiencing “high” or “very high” respiratory virus as seasonal flu activity remains “high and continues to increase,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of people admitted to the hospital for flu during the week of Thanksgiving was nearly double the number of admissions during the week before. And the latest surveillance data probably does not reflect the full effects of holiday gatherings, as it captures only through November 26, two days past Thanksgiving.

Nancy Foster, vice president for quality and patient safety with the American Hospital Association, says that an influx of flu patients is a key reason why hospitals are filling up. On top of that are challenges brought on by work force shortages and a backlog of patients who delayed care over the past few years.

“The rates are higher because we are seeing patients with the flu in many parts of the country and that has brought a lot of older adults and some young children into the hospitals. Additionally, RSV is filling pediatric beds and cribs along with patients who are sicker now due to putting off care during Covid-19, which has required more intensive and complex care,” she said in a statement to CNN on Friday.

“Workforce shortages have not only made it more challenging for hospitals, but also have diminished the number of patients who can be cared for in nursing homes and other post acute care settings. Thus, patients are spending more time in hospitals, awaiting discharge to the next level of care and limiting our ability to make a bed available to a patient who truly needs to be hospitalized.”

In a letter to the nation’s governors last week, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra noted that flu and other respiratory viruses are “increasing strain” on the country’s health care systems. Becerra wrote that the Biden administration “stands ready to continue assisting you with resources, supplies, and personnel” – but he stopped short of making a formal emergency declaration, as requested by children’s health leaders last month.

Hospital bed capacity can change day to day, as hospitals adjust the number of beds they make available based on staffing and other resources.

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As of Thursday, about 10% of hospitals are reporting a “critical staff shortage.” More than 90% of hospital beds are in use in Rhode Island, and more than 85% of beds are full in eight other states: Washington, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Georgia, Missouri, West Virginia and Oregon.

Pediatric hospital beds also have been more full than usual for months. About 76% of pediatric hospital beds are in use, up from an average of about two-thirds full in recent years.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/health/h ... index.html

[Jersey Girl]

According to this CDC covid tracker, C19 cases are on the uptick. This isn't the tracker I was following so closely for over 2 years. This CDC tracker looks more unsophisticated unless I'm not doing it right. I really don't feel like tinkering with it. Look at the crap stats on vaccinations.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracke ... acker-home

ETA: Oh. There's a community tracker below the first set of graphs. Don't blame me. I'm recovering from Covid.

[Jersey Girl]

These are our stats. I'm not cleaning up this copy. Recall this is only Covid 19.

COVID-19 Community Level
Low
Recommended actions based on current level
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Get tested if you have symptoms. Wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19. Wear a mask on public transportation. You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others.
Weekly Metrics Used to Determine the COVID-19 Community Level
Case Rate per 100,000 population 140.75
New COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population 9.2
% Staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 4.3%

[Jersey Girl]

NEGATIVE!!!! Hallelujah!

Still feeling a bit weird, tired, and occasionally stuffy. But negative!!!

[Res Ipsa]

NEGATIVE!!!! Hallelujah!

Still feeling a bit weird, tired, and occasionally stuffy. But negative!!!

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!