Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

And nursing homes are lookin' better.

Throughout the pandemic, there has been perhaps nowhere more dangerous than a nursing home. The coronavirus has raced through some 31,000 long-term care facilities in the United States, killing more than 163,000 residents and employees and accounting for more than a third of all virus deaths since the late spring.

But for the first time since the American outbreak began roughly a year ago — at a nursing care center in Kirkland, Wash. — the threat inside nursing homes may have finally reached a turning point.

Since the arrival of vaccines, which were prioritized to long-term care facilities starting in late December, new cases and deaths in nursing homes, a large subset of long-term care facilities, have fallen steeply, outpacing national declines, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data. The turnaround is an encouraging sign for vaccine effectiveness and offers an early glimpse at what may be in store for the rest of the country, as more and more people get vaccinated.

From late December to early February, new cases among nursing home residents fell by more than 80 percent, nearly double the rate of improvement in the general population. The trendline for deaths was even more striking: Even as fatalities spiked over all this winter, deaths inside the facilities have fallen, decreasing by more than 65 percent.

my doc offered as part of my bloodwork to test for COVID antibodies to see if I still had them after the vaccine. Me being a rube, I said "yes".

It came back "negative" and I got anxious, but then I read this IN THE ACTUAL EXPLANATION OF RESULTS:

"Individuals who have received the COVID-19 vaccine will
have a negative result. This assay tests for antibodies
to the N (nucleocapsid) antigen, which is typically
positive in persons who have been previously infected with
COVID-19."

and then I find out the CDC recommends against antibody testing for this reason.

WHY'D YOU OFFER THE TEST THEN, DOC?

Meet you at a crowded bar, Neanderthal, for happy hour.

mother in law got her second shot two days ago, mother got her second shot yesterday, partner is in line for her second shot now, sister just got her first. that's most of the core people that i was most worried about. I'm two weeks off from my second. i know it's only my small world but it matters a lot to me.

It does -- congrats! Me, if everyone in my immediate circle has the vaccine, then I'm totally cool with my not getting yet.

Yeah, as I stated in the KIP COVID thread, I'll breathe a lot easier when both of my parents, both of my wife's parents (and her stepdad) get appointments on the calendar. So far only one of them does, my mother-in-law's first jab is tomorrow, but I guess that's a start!

congrats forks. it's an incredible feeling when the people you most care about/are worried about get their final shots. I couldn't believe the relief I felt with my folks.

love hearing good vaccination news itt

Boy, I just heard a whole bunch of troubling covid-adjacent news. A good friend of mine is a top cancer doc at Stanford, and she told me she has been busier than ever treating cancers that are bigger than ever, because so many people postponed going to the doctor for so long. I have a feeling there might be similar stories from other medical fields, too. And then there's colleges, which have been seeing record numbers of applications at the top level (like, 110,000 applications to NYU, for 6700 spots; my Stanford friend told me over 10,000 applications for 90 medical school slots), which not only makes those top schools even tougher to get into, but have actually led to delays in acceptances, because the admission staff is overwhelmed. At the same time, applications to other typically easier to get into schools are apparently way down, because so many families are in such dire financial straits that their kids can't even consider school right now. The longterm impact of this thing is potentially going to be terrible in ways many didn't even imagine.

Meanwhile, my daughter is qualified for the current vaccine phase here, but because she is under 18 (but old enough for the Pfizer vaccine) no one will give it to her. Frustrating. And my mom still can't manage to get one in PA.

Yeah, that worries me too (the medical thing specifically). I have a couple of things I'm supposed to get checked for every six months, because I'm at a somewhat elevated risk for them, and I've just been completely letting that slide because the risk of getting covid seems higher than the chance that I'll turn out to have cancer at age 36. But then when I think of everyone else who's making that same calculation - many of them much older than me - it's very scary.

In case that seems clueless, I realize I am still taking a risk by not going to the doctor, it's just a matter of trying to balance risks. Don't know if I'm making the right call.

I've been to the GP twice since the original (UK) lock down and, to be honest, it seemed as safe as anywhere.

No routine appointments - everything triaged via the phone. Nobody in the waiting room - some people waiting outside. Face coverings. Use of different doors than usual to avoid wondering through the building.

A subsequent visit to hospital was remarkably unstressful (few people hanging around etc). I'd at least talk it through on the phone with someone.

Yeah, I've been to the doctor, dentist, eye doctor, etc., as needed this past year, and so has everyone in my family. Our reasoning each time was always that hey, you never know when these places might get shut down for real, so might as well go while you can. We've also used Teledoc once or twice, which was a great experience.

Ugh, I really hate those last two posts of mine, I feel like they came across as dismissive of the reality that lots of people do have cancer young (and I certainly know people who have.) Was just trying to say that throughout the pandemic I've been scared to go to the doctor and nervous about the long-term effects of not going, and that's the sort of calculation that can work out fine for the individual if you're lucky but is disastrous if you have a whole country full of people making it at once.

I should probably start going to the doctor; my parents have had to a couple of times, and it's worked out fine for them.

every time I go to the doctor, I get worse news about my health, which isn't surprising because I depression ate really badly and still am, so COVID giving me an excuse not to go and get bloodwork done was something I took wholeheartedly

Part of why I haven't made it to the doctor is that my doctor retired rather than work through the pandemic (as did my dentist), and lockdown has made me even worse than I was before at dealing with things like finding a new doctor.

I've kept up doctor/dentist/eye doctor visits as needed, thankfully no problems with any of them. (Even had an ultrasound followup on my hernia surgery given some lingering pain -- thankfully nothing major found.)

x-posts. I didn't read those two messages as dismissive, btw.

My dad has had multiple procedures, my neighbor got cataract surgery, multiple ppl I know have had babies, I've been in a hospital for check ups and appts 4-5 times...unless you have your own reasons for being extremely cautious, it seems like normal medical care is still happening and is okay?

I don't have any good reasons, I'm just scared of covid and have been locking down as much as humanly possible. Skipping one set of checkups seemed like no big deal at the time; now that it's been a year of lockdown I'm reconsidering.

after a year, yeah, please get those checkups done. To echo Ned, my dentist, blood work, PCP, etc. followed every procedure; in some cases I waited in my car until my turn.

Ok, will do. Thanks, everyone, for the advice and reassurance.

More good news

New: The FDA just approved Pfizer’s request to store its Covid-19 vaccine for two weeks at temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers.https://t.co/7tfvuzeVTk

— Berkeley Lovelace (@BerkeleyJr) February 25, 2021

That should reduce a lot of logistical tightrope walking and make distribution much easier.

And I'm thrilled to learn my sis will get her first shot Sunday, so that'll mean all my immediate family will be covered.

Lily Dale, get that stuff done-- speaking as someone who had cancer in his thirties, I kick myself for not getting regular scopes and blood work done, mostly because I either didn't have health insurance or was frightened of what tests would reveal.

I’ve been going to one doc or another at least once every two weeks bc of some stuff that happened to me in the summer and the only thing that makes me uncomfortable is weirdo patients in the waiting room, and that’s only been once or twice. I otherwise feel way more safe there than any other indoor situation other than home!

xp Thanks, table, I will, as soon as I can. I guess I hadn't really thought about how long it had been until I saw Josh's post.

I've been taking my partner to get blood tests done to rule out some stuff recently and I've been blown away by how meticulously strict both the GP surgery and the bigger health centre have been. The former has a security guard operating a strict regime and it's made me feel much more confident about going along. Even though all I do is walk them to the place so they don't get anxious and then just wait outside, I can see how efficient and thorough everything has been.

Make those appointments and go. And if you are worried about feeling unsafe, practice saying things out loud before you go so you've got some stock phrases ready. "I'm not comfortable with this any more so I'm going to have you to stop and we can reschedule" isn't a phrase any reasonable person can push back on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fNmw3e1LHQ

i dig the kid pointing out the dicknose librarian and shaming the cop

i have definitely been in quarantine too long because him saying "agent J... well done" got me a little weepy.

so:
mother-in-law second shot - serious fatigue on the day after, wiped for the entire following day but was up and out and about the day after (moderna)
mother - no symptoms, no reactions (pfizer)
partner - we're currently in her "day after" and it's been rough. she got woken up during the night with headache that has stuck around since then. she has since developed (for the pat 12 hours or so) a light fever, a huge lump and red rash at the injection spot, bad fatigue, body aches, chills and overheating switching back and forth, difficult focusing, the whole menu basically (moderna)

So my Friday night ritual has evolved to 1) watching a silent movie while drinking; then 2) watching 80s and 90s music videos on YouTube while drinking some more. Tonight I got into the U2 back catalog. Will I sleep again without heavy sedation?

Will I sleep again without heavy sedation?

their back catalog isn't THAT bad

"Bad" is not the relevant word. I knew what "Two Hearts Beat As One" meant to me as a yearning adolescent, and I re-listened to it anyways.

Tonight I got into the U2 back catalog. Will I sleep again without heavy sedation?

So would you say you're...

https://magnetmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/U2.jpg

Mom got her first jab two days ago. She's survived five bouts with cancer, including stage iv ovarian, and like the tough lady she is, she told me today, "I slept for a day, read on the couch for a day, and today I feel fine— we need groceries, so I'm going to Costco."

i'm sorry for posting this here, because it's overtly political. i don't know where else to put it.

are there any U.S.-based groups for people who lost family members to COVID? any political-minded groups, I mean? I very much want to stand with other people who are sick of hearing the GOP mock our grief, mock masks, mock the whole goddamn thing. they would never do that to a group of cancer victims, heart, lung, pancreas, any kind of "normal" horrific death. but it's ok for them to do it on Covid, and they get rewarded for it - laughter, applause for Ted Cruz's stand-up routine about how wearing masks "is dumb".

are there any people here that would stand with me, some day? i want to get a large group of people together, masked and socially distanced, and demand that ted cruz speak publicly with us (or me. it'll probably just be me, still)

my dad is on ECMO, i hope he survives. but i'm getting ready for what's likely, and the perpetrators of the crime are still getting rewarded

Karl, much love to you.

Good luck ZS, your fury is righteous. Without presuming to know your situation or be preachy: please try to make sure you find time to take care of yourself and get some sleep, eat a little, get a bit of a walk in and find a few moments to disengage as best you can. This shit can demolish you just by being near it.

thank you forks, i appreciate it. not preachy at all, it's just good advice. luckily it's about time to take my dog out and it's a nice day, so i'm going to do that in a minute, eat a snickers bar, and play some dragon quest XI. i've already done my ted cruz chores today, including writing to my reps. i saw 2 typos after i had already sent them all individual, but i'm trying not to beat myself up on that. i will shut up about this for today, but it would me a lot if anyone can retweet or like this, just to keep it in the algorithm for a bit longer

My letter to my reps @DickDurbin, @SenDuckworth, @RepMikeQuigley, and the nearby @Marie4Congress, regarding @tedcruz's mocking of COVID victims and masks. Please read, retweet, and help me get their attention. pic.twitter.com/hxpxoV28lA

— Z_tbd (@weinventyou) February 28, 2021

"it would me a lot if anyone can retweet or like this" is kind of like the ultimate accidental typo truth bomb

heh, yeah, but rarely for such good purposes

ZS, so sorry

There's a meme on Twitter about whether you've been in a restaurant since late February/early March of 2020. I haven't, but that's gonna change this week.

I wouldn't otherwise be doing this but it's part of a job interview.

I may still beg off, I dunno. I don't want to hurt my chances.

Probably overthinking but it's weirding me out a bit.

I got my vaccination appointment. Getting the Pfizer jab on Thursday through the city.

On the other hand, I also got a jury duty notice today, my first ever (!), and wrote on the remarks section that I'm immunocompromised and don't want to risk getting Covid...hopefully the courts and the public health department aren't talking to each other about such things :-P

awesome tabes! glad to hear :) (the first part at least)

jury duty is fun and interesting (but I wouldn't want to be locked in a room with complete strangers rn)

good luck dan

mother-in-law second shot - serious fatigue on the day after, wiped for the entire following day but was up and out and about the day after (moderna)
mother - no symptoms, no reactions (pfizer)
partner - we're currently in her "day after" and it's been rough. she got woken up during the night with headache that has stuck around since then. she has since developed (for the pat 12 hours or so) a light fever, a huge lump and red rash at the injection spot, bad fatigue, body aches, chills and overheating switching back and forth, difficult focusing, the whole menu basically (moderna)

was fine on my first moderna shot, got fucked up for a couple of days by the second this week: nausea, stomach pain, mental exhaustion* without being able to sleep, one 3am bout of seizure-level tremors combined with freezing chills

* good to know this can be worse than regular pandmeic brain, 50 weeks in

I'm really stoked that I might be able to hug my mom again sometime soon.

Ooops, I'm crying.

Very happy for you table!