Lockdown and covid in general

[Erebus]

Lockdown's wonderful. No social obligations. I finally get to be just left alone.

I feel similarly to you on this one. The downside is that I live in a countryside area so lockdown generally means it gets busier as people come for days out. As somebody who really isn't keen on crowds, it makes it stressful to leave the house.

I'm starting to understand these two better:

Spoiler

Outside of that, Covid obviously makes me worry about the safety of my family and friends. I know plenty of people who are at a high risk if they catch it. The good news though is that they're also getting the vaccine earlier.

 

[exchemist]

I've learnt to cook a few more things during the lockdown, but I greatly miss the singing, all of which has stopped and will remains so for the foreseeable future. No chance of visiting a restaurant until May, I'm afraid. My son is looking forward very much to returning to school tomorrow, when they all re-open in the UK.

My 93 year old father, who had the Pfizer vaccine (one shot) a month ago in his nursing home, has unfortunately got the virus now (tested +ve 2 weeks ago), so we are about to find out if it can save him. He's breathless on the phone but apparently not in discomfort, no fever, still eating, and oxygen saturation 93%. So fingers crossed, though at his age if it carries him off we can't grumble really. But that adds tension to my life at present.

 

[Polymath257]

How about you also learning to be an excellent cook too?

It would be a good thing, but she isn't patient enough with my mistakes and I am not interested enough.

Instead, I do the dishes . Almost always by hand (we have a machine, but it takes more time and energy than it is worth).

 

[ChristineM]

It would be a good thing, but she isn't patient enough with my mistakes and I am not interested enough.

Instead, I do the dishes . Almost always by hand (we have a machine, but it takes more time and energy than it is worth).

Yeah, hubby does something like that. Well loads the dishwasher. He is actually quite a good cook but he likes to mess the kitchen up because he doesn't tidy as he goes

 

[Polymath257]

Another lockdown change: we have a new puppy. We got her New years Eve and she has been wonderful.

Two months later, though, and I think the dog ate the smaller version of herself that ate that original puppy. Black labs grow quickly!

 

[ChristineM]

Another lockdown change: we have a new puppy. We got her New years Eve and she has been wonderful.

Two months later, though, and I think the dog ate the smaller version of herself that ate that original puppy. Black labs grow quickly!

Awww.

 

[Shaul]

The beginning of the end of the lockdowns has begun.

 

[exchemist]

It would be a good thing, but she isn't patient enough with my mistakes and I am not interested enough.

Instead, I do the dishes . Almost always by hand (we have a machine, but it takes more time and energy than it is worth).

Dat why me belong chemist and you belong mathematician .

 

[Trailblazer]

My 93 year old father, who had the Pfizer vaccine (one shot) a month ago in his nursing home, has unfortunately got the virus now (tested +ve 2 weeks ago), so we are about to find out if it can save him. He's breathless on the phone but apparently not in discomfort, no fever, still eating, and oxygen saturation 93%. So fingers crossed, though at his age if it carries him off we can't grumble really. But that adds tension to my life at present.

I am sorry to hear that, but how did he get the virus AFTER he got the vaccine?
I guess nursing homes are a place where the virus can pass from person to person, not a good thing.

My mother died at age 93 in 2007 and it was needless death because what she died of (bowel ischemia) could have been treated if it had been diagnosed properly, and you wonder why I don't trust doctors.

 

[exchemist]

I am sorry to hear that, but how did he get the virus AFTER he got the vaccine?
I guess nursing homes are a place where the virus can pass from person to person, not a good thing.

My mother died at age 93 in 2007 and it was needless death because what she died of (bowel ischemia) could have been treated if it had been diagnosed properly, and you wonder why I don't trust doctors.

Nobody claims the vaccine completely stops you getting infected, though it will almost certainly reduce the likelihood. The evidence is it effective - 65-90%, depending on circumstances and on whether you have had both doses or not (he has had only one) - at preventing severe disease. So far, he does not have severe disease, 2 weeks after the infection was found. But he is extremely old and frail, so there is no guarantee the vaccine will save him. It just gives him a much better chance. So we shall just have to wait and see.

As for how he got it, all the staff and residents have been vaccinated (one dose). But they had a lot of paramedics in the nursing home 3 weeks ago, due to people being transferred in and out. It seems most likely that someone young and asymptomatic may have introduced the virus without realising. That can happen.

Yes I wonder why you don't trust doctors. I don't imagine you could have diagnosed bowel ischaemia yourself. Not all conditions get diagnosed accurately, obviously, but if you don't seek medical help you are obviously a lot more likely to die than if you do. The fact your mother made it to 93 in the first place will have been because of all the medical diagnoses the doctors got right, during the course of her life.

 

[Trailblazer]

Not all conditions get diagnosed accurately, obviously, but if you don't seek medical help you are obviously a lot more likely to die than if you do. The fact your mother made it to 93 in the first place will have been because of all the medical diagnoses the doctors got right, during the course of her life.

Yes, that is correct.

 

[exchemist]

Yes, that is correct.

Well then, there you are.

It's frustrating when a diagnosis is missed of course, especially if it has life-changing, or even life-ending consequences but, to be rational about it, one has to take the view that nothing human is infallible. Medical negligence is something else of course, but diagnoses can sometimes get missed, even by very good doctors doing their best.

Likewise the vaccine: nobody promises 100% effectiveness and if my father dies I certainly won't blame the vaccine for it, or regard it as ineffective.

He's got to 93 and would never have to got to anything like that age without medicine at certain points, in the course of his long life. I myself have had several things that would probably have killed me by now, if we had not had antibiotics.

 

[Trailblazer]

He's got to 93 and would never have to got to anything like that age without medicine at certain points, in the course of his long life. I myself have had several things that would probably have killed me by now, if we had not had antibiotics.

That's true. My mother would not have lived to 93 without all the medicines she was taking mostly for her heart condition. She also would not have lived another nine years without the open heart heart surgery she had when she was 84.

 

[Duke_Leto]

The beginning of the end of the lockdowns has begun.

One can only hope. Remember when the lockdowns were supposed to last 2 weeks?

 

[Yerda]

My 93 year old father, who had the Pfizer vaccine (one shot) a month ago in his nursing home, has unfortunately got the virus now (tested +ve 2 weeks ago), so we are about to find out if it can save him. He's breathless on the phone but apparently not in discomfort, no fever, still eating, and oxygen saturation 93%. So fingers crossed, though at his age if it carries him off we can't grumble really. But that adds tension to my life at present.

Sorry to hear that. How is he doing now?

 

[exchemist]

Sorry to hear that. How is he doing now?

Well, it's interesting. He has got breathless, at least when he is speaking on the phone, and he's been off his food and wanting to stay in bed, but he has never developed a temperature or other symptoms. Today I was told they got him out of bed into his chair and that he may soon be able to return to his own room from the unit where he has been isolated while infectious. So they must be thinking he soon won't be infectious any more. He should see the doc tomorrow and then we'll get confirmation of the plan of action. So it rather starts to look as if he may be beginning to get over it, though I feel I'm tempting Providence by saying so. Maybe this is the benefit of the vaccine: they can still get ill but it doesn't progress to the runaway condition that kills. He will still need to clear his lungs of course which may take a while and he might get pneumonia along the way, I suppose. He is 93 and immobile, so he doesn't have the help from physical movement to clear them. I'll have a better picture in a few days time.

But thanks for asking. The family "coffin dodger" may yet dodge another one.

 

[exchemist]

Another lockdown change: we have a new puppy. We got her New years Eve and she has been wonderful.

Two months later, though, and I think the dog ate the smaller version of herself that ate that original puppy. Black labs grow quickly!

At least it's only a puppy. The maniacs in the house opposite our back garden have got two (2)cocks, that crow, antiphonally, early in the morning - and at sporadic intervals throughout the day.

Why cocks? They won't even produce eggs! What's the point? They're bonkers. It's going to be hell in the summer, when it gets light at 0500. But, hah! I'm getting new double glazed windows fitted to my bedroom tomorrow, so maybe that will attenuate the crowing to acceptable levels.

 

[Trailblazer]

Well, it's interesting. He has got breathless, at least when he is speaking on the phone, and he's been off his food and wanting to stay in bed, but he has never developed a temperature or other symptoms. Today I was told they got him out of bed into his chair and that he may soon be able to return to his own room from the unit where he has been isolated while infectious. So they must be thinking he soon won't be infectious any more. He should see the doc tomorrow and then we'll get confirmation of the plan of action. So it rather starts to look as if he may be beginning to get over it, though I feel I'm tempting Providence by saying so. Maybe this is the benefit of the vaccine: they can still get ill but it doesn't progress to the runaway condition that kills. He will still need to clear his lungs of course which may take a while and he might get pneumonia along the way, I suppose. He is 93 and immobile, so he doesn't have the help from physical movement to clear them. I'll have a better picture in a few days time.

But thanks for asking. The family "coffin dodger" may yet dodge another one.

Glad to hear he has dodged the bullet thus far.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

If people are not afraid of dying of Covid why are so many people lining up for the shots?
Let's get real, most people are afraid of dying, as if a vaccine would make them immortal......

Considering covid can cause long term and chronic conditions, with all the health issues I already have going on my concerns with covid haven't been dying from it but rather the possibility that one more chronic condition is going to put me on disabilities.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It's set my plans back, and took from me a source of income that I was actually enjoying and having tons of fun, while also helping me improve in social functioning.
But in the year of mostly being home, I've regressed some and my talking is getting more rigid and monotonous. And with people distancing less and acting more normal my social anxieties and agoraphobia have flared up.
But I'm getting my first jab Sunday, and the next a few weeks later. And I'm looking forward to getting back and doing stuff outside of the house without worrying about covid (though I suspect for awhile we'll have to worry about other things as well for a while as unvaccinated c9vid patients continue to choke the medical system).