Just a quick post to let you know what it’s like in Texas right now.
So if you live in Texas you already know that covid has been spreading through schools like wildfire and most schools are unable to require masks so of course when Hailey started feeling sick last week I immediately panicked slightly because that’s what I do. We’d never had to do a covid test before but I know tons of people who have, so I assumed I could find a test easily but all of the normal places that were walk in were now booked for days. Urgent care and walk-in clinics were full. I couldn’t even get a call back from my regular doctor. The clinic near my house gave an estimated waiting room time of ELEVEN HOURS.
I was pretty sure it was a cold but I wouldn’t send Hailey back to school until I knew for sure so they had to go on the quarantine list until they could get a test. The school is full of covid cases so the school district has started doing rapid tests at the nurses office but there are so many they are having to open an overflow building just for testing sick kids and employees, and they won’t even test your kid until they’ve been sick for at least 5 days. So that means no school for every kid with covid, suspicious allergies, summer colds, and the schools are not funded to do virtual school this year so your kid just misses their learning while being exiled to their room and parents stay home to watch them (from a distance) as they miss work. Unsurprisingly, lots of people just send their sick kids to school because they can’t afford to have them stay home for days so that means sickness rips through the school even faster, which is probably how Hailey ended up with their cough.
I was able to get them an appointment for a drive through test at the pharmacy after a few days but the school doesn’t accept the rapid tests (and it wouldn’t matter because the store was out of them) and the nurse was like, “Normally we get the response within 24 hours but the labs are so overwhelmed right now that it’s taking up to 4 business days for a result so you might not be able to return to school until next week even if you’re negative.”
Luckily our regular doctor finally called back after days of being too busy to even answer phones and they were able to fit us in for a test that they could do in their office much quicker, but everyone in Texas is so full of covid that the office was basically closed for safety and the doctors were in full zombie-apocalypse-wear doing back-to-back exams in the parking lot, which was weird as hell and honestly something I’ll probably remember forever.
And, thank the lord, the summer cold we suspected Hailey had was…a summer cold. So today Hailey can go back and only missed a few days of school and we will cross our fingers that they don’t get the other upper respiratory thing being passed around, or the stomach flu, or actual covid, because all of them mean at the very least missed school and worry and mental havoc.
We are VERY lucky that we are vaccinated and have the ability to have healthcare and stay home but tons of people don’t have that and it means that this can be devastating to them even if it’s not covid so that’s why I’m writing this. I’ve lost family and friends to covid. I promise you it’s real. If you haven’t yet gotten your vaccination yet, please consider it. Wear a mask when you can. Please. For you. For me. For the healthcare workers. For your family and friends who may be affected in so many ways you can’t even imagine…even ones as small as people sick with non-covid things who aren’t able to get medical care, or education, or work because this pandemic is making even the easiest things hard.
And if you’re immunocompromised talk to your doctor about getting a booster now. I just had my third shot and it was basically the same as the second. Tired and a bit achey but 100% worth it.
Be safe out there, y’all.
PS. I won’t argue with you in the comments about vaccines and masks. You do what you think is right. I’m just asking you to think about it one more time. Sending love.
I’m so glad they just have a summer cold. And I’m so sorry y’all are having to deal with this, it didn’t have to be this way and my heart breaks for my old state. 🙁
Thank you for using your platform to say this. I hope y’all get through this healthy and not insanely stressed out. (Probably too late on that one) And I’m glad you were able to get the booster. My immunocompromised mom got hers yesterday and I’m so grateful. I just don’t understand people who won’t get it or wear masks.
Thank you Jenny for this post. I work in the medical field and this post is beyond, that’s all I can think to say. We are having the same thing up here in Alaska, just smaller. Thank you for spreading the word! Stay safe everyone!
So glad it was just a cold for them! We do not have all that going on up here in New England right now but schools are starting back up and the fall (then winter) weather is coming shortly so I am sure things will shift soon. I am just trying to balance being reasonably cautious with LIVING and always working on remembering to be grateful. Because even in these stressful time, I know I have SO much to be grateful for!
I’m glad Hailey isn’t positive and that it was just a cold. I hope your family remains healthy.
Texas.
You can now get your beer to go, carry a firearm without a permit, but can’t mandate masks or vote from your car.
How screwed up is thst?
It’s almost as if our state government is trying to kill us on purpose.
Duke
My 20yo son has type 1, is fully vaccinated and got covid at work. He was sick for one scary day. Day 2 he was so much better!!! Day 3 he had no fever until evening. Day 4 no fever at all. Day 6 got his sense of smell back (never lost sense of taste). My husband and I are fully vaccinated and we live in a small affectionate house with our son and I tested negative 3 times. My husband tested negative twice. The vaccine did its job and protected my family. I don’t have a tail And sadly didn’t get 5G implanted
I just started a new medicine that tanks my immune system. I have to wait for a few months to get my booster.
I’m not panicking but I have gotten more N95 masks for the rare day I leave my house again.
Ugh, Jenny. My 6yo got Covid after 7 days in school. Watching my little one so sick is terrible, but since I’ve had Covid, knowing what he was going through is even worse. We all had to test (again), and let me tell you… testing a 2 year old for Covid, using an at-home test is like wrestling an alligator. I know he needed it, but man. It’s a beating. We were all quarantined again together for 10 days and it was hell on earth. I hate this disease, but I hate people who are denying it even worse.
Pap smear. Love it. Where would you put your feet? Would you have to spin around in the drivers seat or just get in the backseat? 🤣 Glad your daughter was okay.
I’m so glad Haley is fine! My husband had a cold but nowadays you can’t be sure so he got tested. It seems surreal that every sniffle now has to be tested like Covid, but what else are we supposed to do? Wacky weird world.
Thank you for sharing your story. It’s so important to get these real world perspectives. I’m glad y’all are ok and i hope y’all remain as such! Peace and love!
I am so sorry you’re dealing with this. I’m angry that we’re all going through it, that people KNOW the right thing to do and still refuse to do it. I know it’s so much worse where you are and I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that we will get past it.
No argument from me. I’m just glad they just had a cold. I worry non-stop about my granddaughter, even though she lives in a state with a mask mandate. She’s 11 and just as worried about it than I am. In a few years, those kids will have a lot to tell us about their Covid fears. Some of us will (or should) hang our heads in shame. Be well, Jenny & family.
I’m glad Hailey has “only” a cold. Though colds can wipe you out. I would hope all of your readers would have been vaccinated unless they can’t be. But glad you are speaking out for vaccinations—thanks!
Thankyou for the reminder of how our choices affect others. Especially those who may not have the same resources. That mindset is importan often, regardless of what is happening on the world stage
So happy to hear that it is just a summer cold. My partner caught Covid last month at a small outdoor birthday party where everyone was vaccinated but didn’t wear masks and I then caught it from him. Luckily we are both vaccinated and it was basically just like having a bad summer head cold for us, but not everyone can be so lucky. Mask up and stay safe.
Read this while sitting at an urgent care, waiting to get my daughter tested in a Houston suburb. She gets sick the second week of school EVERY semester, but what if it’s more than that this time? I hate it!!
I love this so much! I work in a retail based urgent care clinic as a nurse practitioner and I’ve never been so tired! We literally cannot keep up with the number of patients on a daily basis. We have seen up to 72 patients in one day (with 1 NP and 1 medical assistant). I hope that people wisen up and stay home when sick, wear a mask when out in public, and GET VACCINATED! Many hospitals in my area have been on diversion for weeks because they are so short-staffed. This is not because there is a nursing shortage, but because the nurses are over-worked, underpaid and under-appreciated! Stay safe y’all!
I’m so glad Hailey was negative! I will stop complaining about our little covid saga here in Maryland. My son has allergies and woke up with a sore throat so they wanted a negative test, so we went through a drive thru test site and waited what I thought until reading your post was enough to complain about (3 hours). Thankfully I was only a little tiny bit worried about covid because (again, I will stop complaining in the future, my friends will be so glad) the school system here can mandate masks. I am so sorry for what you all are going through in Texas. I just will never understand it.
We have a kid who claims to be sick whenever he’s feeling anxious. It was bad enough last year when there were protocols in place for getting him back to school quickly. This year, it will be so. much. worse. Glad Hailey is ok. Hang in there!!
I can get my booster in December. And I will.
Two weeks into school and it was Covid…and Flu B. In Florida. I feel your pain on trying to find a test. The third grader got covid and the parents got flu b symptoms and the fourth grader got a vacation in her room away from all of us. Everyone else tested negative for Covid but since she was in our house the school/offices asked us to quarantine… Literally for 20 days! Praying for us all. I thought I was having a full mental breakdown due to the worry and stress of school. Turns out I was also fighting the flu so yep- my brain shut itself down and I was beside myself for a while. Good luck and just keep breathing. We are all trying and we win as long as we keep breathing.
So sorry to hear what’s happening in Texas. School just got back here on Monday and we are holding our breath to see what will happen but masks mandatory here so hopeful it won’t be too bad. My 16 year old had his second jab yesterday and feeling fine. So glad your daughter is ok!
Thank you for encouraging people to get vaccinated. Take care and be safe! <3
I just got over a summer cold that my coworkers gave me and then I gave my partner. It was awful wondering if it was really a breakthrough COVID case. I hope Haley is feeling better and that they aren’t too traumatized by the all the anxiety.
I feel very thankful I live in a state that allows mask mandates. My university is actually requiring all students and employees to be fully vaccinated by next week, and masks are required inside all buildings. It makes me feel much safer, even if it is annoying to study in the library while wearing a mask. Not enjoying the mascne, but I’ll take it over COVID.
Even if you think your immune system is strong and you won’t get COVID, or it won’t be that bad for you, please vaccinate and mask for those around you. That way, you reduce the risk of spreading any possible germs to someone else who might not be able to fight back, such as a child too young to be vaccinated, an older person, or an immunocompromised person. Masks protect the wearer, but they are primarily designed to protect other people from the wearer. That’s why surgeons wear them in the OR, and why they ask you to wear one in the Urgent Care if you’re coughing. That’s why it matters to have all the kids and teachers in a school masking, protecting each other. We can all protect each other, showing respect and compassion for our fellow human beings, just by wearing a simple piece of cloth over our faces when we go out and about. You can literally save someone’s life. Our company just lost a potential employee because she had COVID months back and is too mentally and physically weak to return to the work force as she hoped (hearing issues, heart issues, memory issues, etc.) We had another employee out for 9 months trying to recover from COVID, needing to be on oxygen, unable even to do the grocery shopping without becoming exhausted. Who would ever want to be responsibly for possibly causing that to happen to someone? The Children’s Hospitals are overwhelmed, begging for federal aid. They, and other hospitals, are having to turn away other patients, even those in desperate need of care, because they are full of COVID patients, 95-99% unvaccinated people. PLEASE vaccinate and mask to protect the vulnerable. And if you’re medically unable to vax, I’m not blaming you – I’m asking people to vax to protect you.
We had this same experience this past week. My 10 year old woke up with a sore throat onThursday. We did strep test (neg) and doc suggested Covid test. I didn’t want to send him back to school until I had the results. We didn’t get those until Monday. My son finally went back to school today. It was such a weekend of worry as his sore throat progressed to a cough. We used to have amazing test centers and now it requires a doctor visit. We have great insurance and a low copay, but that’s not an option for a lot of people.
I’m also in Texas and it’s so sad. It’s great Hailey only had a cold but your search for Covid tests is heartbreaking. What is going on Texas? It was super easy during the first wave. It’s probably all the former non believers saw friends die from Covid that were all backed up now.
I’m glad you were able to get her tested! I’m in Texas as well and my son caught a possible summer cold, but I had him tested anyway. Nope, Covid. We are masked up in our own home to keep everyone safe! So far my daughter and I (vaccinated) are good!
I don’t blame you for not wanting to argue with people here. But I am filled with rage today about people who we are enabling this way, and the fact that arguing does no good anyway. I just read about a Texas school district that is now closed because two teachers died in the same week. How many more have to be sacrificed this way, before the idiots will say “sacrifice their freedom” and put a stupid piece of cloth on their faces?
Perhaps I need to start day drinking.
I could not agree more
I’m becoming sad to be a Texan
I’m in Florida and I often say it’s like Florida and Texas are racing to get to the bottom. Our governor is insane. My kids are vaxxed and wear masks, but most of the school does not. Our school board passed a mask mandate but with parental opt out, so not sure how effective that will be. We had kids quarantined and testing positive within the first 2 days of school. I feel like I’m living in a literal hot zone. So glad Hailey was negative. Hugs to all.
Here is my opinion and many will not like it. I do not give a shit what happens to me. I am vaccinated but would kill myself if I infected someone else. I missed Tday and Christmas gatherings with neighbors because I feared for older loved ones’ health. I have no family members left except my sister and she refuses to vaccinate. I understand, but hate her for it. A year and a half of solitary confinement has been awful. If you won’t do it for yourself, maybe just do it for ONE other person. Some of us have absolutely no one at this time. Loneliness can kill.
Hooray that Hailey only had a cold! The rest of the nightmare sounds like S. Florida (where I am.). To get a test in a reasonable amount of time after I had been exposed to COVID, I ended up paying out of pocket. I was negative and I’m now fighting with my insurance
My granddaughter got covid and her mother who is a nurse and fully vaccinated was a wreck waiting to see how she would do. She’s getting both her daughters vaccinated as soon as the covid clears up- they’re teens. I’m saying all of this because it scared me spittless.
I’ll argue in comments. GET YOUR SHOT. WEAR A MASK.
Just do it.
I hope that even though Wheels is an idiot, that Hailey is wearing a mask to school anyway. All the protecting we did last year, and for what? For that dumbass in Austin to decide that birthed kids don’t need protecting. In case you can’t tell, I really dislike the Wheeled dumbass and his friends. You are so brave to even allow her out of the house for school. I would be petrified. I have no young children, but I have many friends with grandkids who are worried for their safety. Counting down the days till the under twelves can get a vaccination. And hoping 6 months will be a good enough wait for a booster. I hope it is not too long.
I have spent the months since the vaccine was available to me being the only person in my family that has gotten vaccinated. When the the Pfizer vaccine had been officially approved my mother agreed to go and get hers.
I got a call yesterday to tell me that one of my Aunts had passed away from Covid-19 and my dad is considering finally getting a vaccine but still has not made up his mind. His problem being that he already has had it and thinks he doesn’t need one now, the same with my sister and her family as none of them needed to be hospitalized. Sadly my brother thinks its all a conspiracy and flat out refuses, I’m hoping he will change his mind now that someone in our family has passed away from it but I’m not sure.
I’m glad Hailey is okay and that it was not something more serious. I really wish people would take this crisis more seriously. It would be nice be on the other side of this finally, but I don’t think it will happen this year, and possibly not next year with the way things have been going.
I am a traveling ER Nurse. I am getting requests to travel to Texas multiple times a day. It is a nightmare there. I thought California in January was hell, this appears to be much worse. Please be safe. Wear a mask and get vaccinated.
I’m currently down with covid vaccine side effects (just the general aches and feverish, etc) and it is miserable, but 1000 times better than when I had actual covid last month, so totally worth it for me if it keeps that from happening again. I’m so glad things turned out okay for your child!
Okay, I’m going to check my anger about these anti-mask mandates going around and overcrowded schools and unnecessary risks, and just say THANK GOODNESS Hailey only had a regular cold!! I can’t even imagine how frustrating that whole experience must have been. Sending virtual hugs!
Cases are increasing around here again, to the point where some of the daily numbers are actually higher than some of the daily numbers before we had vaccines at all. It’s ridiculous and frustrating, and I’m in a constant state of worry for my immunocompromised mother (who is fully vaccinated, but hasn’t yet gotten the booster, and has too many necessary doctor/therapy appts so she has to actually be out in this chaos at least twice a week….)
Yes! Totally what is happening here too and I am FURIOUS that the school district is like, oh well let’s just pretend that there is no such thing as COVID and yet I get emails every day telling me more and more students have tested positive and it’s hard as hell to get tested and you can’t do online school and WTF TEXAS?!?
Take care <3 Its a scary time in Texas, especially for women.
My kiddo is still too young to get vaccinated (ugh), but we had a similar scare. Turns out it was just the rhinovirus(cold) but the anxiety waiting to find out was so bad. So glad they’re ok!
I appreciate that you wrote this. It’s nice to get a first-hand account of what it’s like from someone that I trust. I only recently got vaccinated because there has been so much opposing information from both sides I felt frozen. One side says the hospitals are overflowing and then the other side says that they aren’t and it’s all a hoax. And both do it very convincingly well.
Its so bad in Texas right now, I just spent 3 days trying to find a hospital to take my mom with a GI bleeding, a bed at a hospital. Even the hospital her physician has admitting privileges at couldn’t give her a bed. She had the option of waiting In the ER waiting room for an undetermined amount of time until a bed becomes available… and we all know they don’t discharge over night, sooooo, waiting on the other thing, or coming home.
By the time I found her a place her hemoglobin was 6.3, it is an anemic emergency requiring a transfusion at 7.
I am so glad you and your family are well.
We had our own scare this week, with my husband running a temp of over 102 and feeling terrible. I called at least 10 stores looking for a rapid test while waiting for his scheduled testing appointment – finally found one at 8am and the clerk said they would be sold out by noon. Both tests were negative, thank goodness, but my kindergartner missed two days of school just to safe. Such a scary few days and a solid reminder that it isn’t just those that get sick who are impacted – it’s all of us. Please be safe and do what you can to protect others!
Ugh, My brother and sister made a pact that they wouldn’t get the shot. He contracted covid Wed. night last week and is near death. All of the hospitals in Waco are full. They sent him home with meds – hopefully he’ll recover! Pleading with God! So glad to hear you’re all ok! I am so stressed out. I have my church and everyone I know in California praying for him! Please get the shot, people.
Thank you, Jenny. I hope Hailey feels better and that they stay well. Sending love.
Jenny, thank you for writing this. You are more than a kind soul, you are a brave warrior princess stating the truth for all who will listen. My sister is a nurse in FL and the tragedy she is seeing everyday would shake any human being. To my neighbors, if you had a chance to save a life today would you do it? Look into getting vaccinated.
Same with my kiddo – summer cold – I had her stay out a day and then when she did not get any worse (no fever, improving symptoms) I sent her to school. She is vaccinated and always wears a mask. I ordered a Pixel by Labcorp for my other daughter last year – they ship the test next day to your house and you send it back and you get the results online in about 1 day. Something to think about if there is a next time.
That sounds pretty horrifying – the testing is so necessary, and if the resources are so strained, the spread is just going to keep going.
Glad to hear Hailey just had a summer cold. Hoping that’s the worst health event you all have this year.
I’m Canadian. Your story is both heartbreaking and terrifying to me. I just don’t understand why Americans think this is the better way to manage public health.
All of this—what Jenny said. Please please please.
Please get vaccinated. We are currently driving back from IL to PA after the funeral of my fully vaccinated mother who died from Covid. She was 93 and had other health issues, but this is killing younger, healthier people. So please do the kind, caring thing and get vaccinated.
I feel like we’re back at playing the game of “is it a cold, allergies, the flu, Covid or my period…” Spin the wheel and let’s see ..
Yes.
A friend’s husband is sedated & intubated in a Laredo hospital, and all the hospitals are so full that he couldn’t be transferred to one better set up to care for him until he was too unstable to be moved. This “wave” is vicious.
Do everything you can to be safe!!!
I know what this is like! I’m a vaccinated teacher. I ended up with a sore throat and achiness at the end of my first week back with students. I literally interact with nobody outside of school aside from medical professionals and people briefly selling me food, and I’m always masked. I’ve been out of school for three days waiting for the results of my PCR Covid test, and the people at the doctor’s office say it might take all week. And then, if I’m negative, I can go back to work if my symptoms clear up. My poor students are watching documentaries without me, and I’m feeling like an awful teacher trying to give them assignments without actually being present to teach anything. It’s shaping up to be another challenging school year, but at least my symptoms are mild at present, whatever it is that’s making my throat sore.
As a librarian in a school with multiple sick teachers and many classrooms currently at home quarantined, thank you for this post! It’s so hard to understand the chaos that our schools are in unless you have a kid or work in one. It’s truly a mess right now. But teachers are still doing what they always do…loving on those kids and doing their best to teach in unimaginable situations.
I picked up an at-home covid test from CVS today. Originally, my plan was to find one to have on hand but that plan changed when I received a “close contact” email from her school. The first two places I tried were out of stock even though the website showed that tests were available. I got lucky with my third try, though. Having the at home test might not help if your kiddo has any symptoms but it could be useful as peace of mind if they’ve been exposed.
Glad they were negative!
I will never comment on here again as my full name was shown. Now I have no privacy.
(Usually that doesn’t happen. You must’ve had a gravatar at some point with your last name on it. I deleted it here and I’ll go find the other comment. If you look in the url when you comment it’s probably there and you can just delete it. It will automatically show up on all wordpress blogs if you have it activated it. ~ Jenny)
You go. girl! Texas is on the struggle bus in so many ways right now!
I’m glad to hear that it was just a summer cold and that Hailey is able too go back to school. Your photo of the health care worker made me feel so sorry for them swaddled head to toe in that non-porous gear out in the Texas sun and heat. I hope they get to take turns and spend some time in the air conditioning.
❤️
So I am a Kiwi (from New Zealand). Our entire country is in a level 3/4 lockdown (level 4 lockdown means the floor outside your house is lava and you STAY AT HOME unless you have to get groceries or supplies (one person from your household bubble, masks and sign in required) – only essential services are open (and the government determines what is essential), which is basically food (supermarkets/butchers/greengrocers only), gas stations and pharmacies – schools are closed. Level 3 is the above, but takeaways can operate (so restaurants/cafes/fast food can operate if they can do take away orders safely) and schools open to the students of essential workers only). Yes, its harsh, but we went from 1 community case to 687 (yesterday) in two weeks – we can’t afford to have it run rampant in our community and are not willing to say ANY lives are expendable if possible. And our hospitals wouldn’t cope.
We have a daily press conference (usually at 1pm) that gives us the latest update, usually fronted by our Prime Minister and our Director General of Health, and the first thing she (our PM) said when announcing the lockdowns a fortnight ago was BE KIND. We know that this isn’t easy, but as a nation, we are generally more about the rights of the many, outweighing the grips of the few – in other words, we’ve had a mostly normal 18 months where life has been able to continue on almost as it was pre-covid, with the exception of being able to travel internationally with the ease of before.
I know this is the antithesis of many countries elsewhere, where the rights of the individual seem paramount, but if I can make sure my mother and neighbours and people I care about live, I’m happy with that.
I’m also aware of the damage polio did in our communities when it ran rampant when my mother was a child (her cousin survived it). Those who did survive it are now suffering post-polio syndrome, which is having devastating long-term effect. I think that we will see the same with long-Covid. Death is not the only thing to be concerned about with covid – those who survive it may have increased vulnerabilities that is going to have consequences far beyond the now.
Sorry, didn’t mean to turn this into a diatribe – stay safe, everyone, however you choose to do so!
Yup, we had to scrounge around for a test a few weeks ago and just as we got into line, they came out and said they couldn’t take any more samples because their little booth was flooding (yay, Houston!).
you go, girl! Texas is on the struggle bus in so many ways right now! And to whoever said that their mom said she’d get the vaccine when the Pfeizer one is fully approved, I think it is!
If you’d like to feel a little less helpless y’all make sure you and your fellow constituents are registered to vote.
I had to take my husband to the ER for a non COVID emergency. We were lucky to get a room but then waited 3 hours before anyone came in and 6 hours before any tests could be run. At the 8 hour mark we got a COVID negative result, so glad they automatically tested every patient. At 12 hours we got a possible diagnosis. He never got hooked up to a monitor even though it was a suspected cardiac event. All this is to say those nurses deserve better. It was a circus overflowing with patients. Get your shot if you are able. Wear your mask.
My husband and I (both vaccinated and I had Covid before the vaccine was available) were sick for 3 weeks with “not Covid”. Our MD’s office only does rapid tests. Since TEST NE testing 3 times said I was negative when I had Covid in November, I take test results with a pound of salt. If you feel sick and can self isolate please do so. At least mask up!
Thank You, Love You and Ditto Ditto Ditto! My hubby, bless his aging heart, finally got his first Covid shot Today! I have had both of mine since March, but he has been afraid it would cause more heart problems. However, since his heart doctor even urged him to get it he did. Very relieved. Now I just need to get him back for the second dose. So if you haven’t yet, do it for the ones you love. Even for those you don’t know. Just do it.
I don’t know what Haley’s school accepts as far as tests, but there are at-home tests that you FedEx to a lab and get your results in a few days. It’s not ideal, but you might want to look into ordering one or two to keep on hand.
I had to go that route a couple of times last fall when the only testing sites near me in Chicago were drive up sites and like lots of people who live in a large city I don’t have a car. So it was either play the midnight appointment availability lottery online for one of the few walk up clinics doing testing, or do an at-home test.
One of those times it did turn out to be covid and my husband and I work down for about 3 weeks before I could test clear again.
Texas is so fucked up! So glad I got out of there when I did.
I’m so very thankful that Hailey doesn’t have Covid. You are much, much kinder than I am when requesting people vax up or mask up (or both). I’ve decided there’s a special place in Hell for those folks that are just too selfish to care about anyone but themselves. Gov. Dumbass Abbott paid a visit to my mom’s neighborhood clubhouse (300 people! Inside! Most over 75!) and then announced the next day he had Covid. WTAF?!
I did the SAME EXACT THING with my daughter last week. Couldn’t send her to important dance rehearsals in prep for a performance and possibly infect the entire studio of kids so ran around like a crazy person for a test. That was negative but being a responsible mom had to do it.
Side note of how to do unvaccinated respectfully…my friend was set to fly out but had found out her 2 older kids who she hadn’t seen in 10 days at that point had turned out to have Covid when she’d seen them last with what they thought was just strep. She being unvaccinated not at all for political reasons went out and got the rapid test as well as the longer test. Both negative and she didn’t even tell me til the day before flying out (when she had results) and asking me if I was still ok with it. Not upset and would have understood if I said no. Good news is after flying in an airplane for the first time in a long time it made her so nervous she got vaccinated the day after she got home. Her choice after considering all aspects she had doubted and how it affected her daily life
Thank you Jenny! I’m so glad it was just a cold. I’m not really into parking lot Pap smears, either.
If our country did what New Zealand is doing (thank you Kat post #66,) we might be in better shape right now.
Some of my family came to visit earlier this summer from out of state and vacationed on Cape Cod and did a day trip to Provincetown the weekend after July 4th before the authorities realized it was a breakthrough infection superspeader location. They wore masks indoors, and pretty much avoided indoors. They then visited here in CT with masks off outdoors and inside with family since we were all fully vaccinated. The very next week we found out about the Provincetown incident and the rise of breakthrough infections and then I got a sore throat. We were lucky enough to get tested right away, and it was just the west coast fire smoke that was the cause, (because CT gets all the pollution from all the states west of it,) but now everyone is ignoring the masks and social distancing because they think that they did their part if they got vaccinated. Please, everybody wear your masks properly, sterilize/wash your hands, and get fully vaccinated. We have to stop transmitting this virus and stop it from mutating to a more serious variant.
I’m praying for Texas and Florida for covid surge survival and the entire West Coast for fires, and the entire rest of humanity for covid and fires and floods and tornadoes and hurricanes from global warming. If we don’t start all believing in science and facts we are in for a long hard road ahead.
Everybody please make sure you vote in all your elections to make a difference in our country and for the planet.
You’re so awesome, and such a good writer. I’m glad it was just a cold and that you weren’t getting a Pap smear. Thank you for your compassion and sense of humor.
Isn’t it a shame that abbot won’t prioritize the health of people who have actually been born? And my liberty is being compromised by the dumbasses that won’t mask up or get vaccinated. I love my home so much, but sometimes I’m so embarrassed to be a Texan.
So glad it was a summer cold, although that still sucks. I love Texas, but NOT our current situation. Our children (future) are more important than mask/vaccine politics.
Fight that cold, Hailey!!
Are students and teachers allowed to wear masks if they want to? I know Florida was trying to ban masks completely….
(Yes, they can if they want to. Luckily Hailey is in an arts school with lots of musical theater kids who can’t afford to get sick so almost all wear a mask. The rest of the school? I’d say 80% wear masks so it’s pretty good considering. But there’s no social distancing, the kids are packed in together in the halls and at lunch. We have one school in the district with really horrific covid numbers so I think it’s scared a lot of people into wearing masks who didn’t before. ~ Jenny)
So relieved it is JUST a cold. Even bad allergies are worrisome now-a-days. Fully vaccinated here too. Will take the booster when my age group is eligible for it. Hang in there.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I’m a nurse and we’re all pretty much crying ourselves to sleep all the time now because we’re so overwhelmed.
So happy it’s just a summer cold, also sorry that your governor is a twat waffle of the first order. Stay healthy. ❤️
It’s crazy that the usual Texas insurance plan of “just don’t get sick” has been amplified to cartoon-like proportions. Like how coyote tries to stop road runner levels of crazy.
Stay safe, y’all.
I don’t have social media so hopefully others read this and can share this idea with anti- Maskers: we don’t complain about having to wear shirts and shoes to eat in a restaurant. We don’t protest organizations that expect men to wear ties to work. So why protest masks? Also, unless you have the world’s biggest arm, you cannot cover both your nose and mouth when you sneeze into your elbow, so wear a mask! No one wants your snot droplets! Even if it isn’t covid! Finally, what is up with people distrusting vaccines yet are fine with taking horse dewormers that have not been tested and are sending some people to the poison control centre?!? ((At least they don’t have worms). There are children dying every day from lack of clean water, people being abused, animals being harmed, and people are wasting energies of having to wear a little cloth over their mouth and nose and get a shot that will probably save their lives? Talk about not recognizing privilege and being ungrateful for what we are getting for free that other countries are literally dying to have.
Sorry for the rant. This teacher is tired of adults being stupid and setting poor examples for my students.
I’m so glad they’re okay! ❤❤❤ This shit is bananas, I can’t even imagine being a parent right now.
Jen, got my third last week prompted by your post. I love you and so glad no one is sick!
The good news is that the vaccination line at HEB (grocery store for non-Texans) was 5 times longer than the line to pick up meds. Glad folks are making the effort. Our Covid numbers have skyrocketed around here and you best not have an emergency.
Texas seems crazier than most of the States right now – Florida being the exception. Have you ever thought of leaving?
I really feel for women who need feminine healthcare right now. They have to worry about being narced on if they get help. It’s so weird. My Mom was born in 1924 and she’d be heartbroken to see us going backwards.
I think someone must have told her a personal story at some point that made her realize that opinion didn’t matter – safety did. She made sure all her kids understood that.
I feel for you with the school situation as well. So scary! I hate that our kids are at such risk and we’re putting them there – because there are just so many who can’t afford to be out of work anymore. It’s so sad.
Plus all the folks who think their opinion matters more than common sense. (sigh).
Hang in there.
First of all, yay they are ok! So glad all three of you are all right. I’m also sorry Texas is such a disaster zone :/
When I’m dealing with trumpites or the news gets me down, I watch this guy who does a caricature of a trumpite and he makes me feel better. He’s a true patriot of comedy if you ask me.. Brent Terhune:
https://youtu.be/CrP0VFnehq8
Secondly, I absolutely believe in science, despite the fact that I admittedly keep having a severe allergic reaction to the Pfizer shot (neurological reactions that lasted 4-5 weeks and months later now I’m having anaphylactic type of responses).
I’m on a boat load of Benadryl at the moment and hopefully I’m getting to an allergist soon 🥴 however if I could do it all over again, I would have talked to my PCP first, and also had a thorough physical to rule out as much as possible any preexisting conditions so I would have had a greater chance of success.
I also would have gone with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine simply because it would have (probably?) been more compatible with my body type. The Pfizer shot makes my body attack itself like a peeved great white on Shark week.
Everyone’s system is different. My system just happens to be of the weirdo unicorn variety! My husband got the double stick of Pfizer and he did swimmingly.
I’m disappointed but accept that I could only get the one shot, and my husband and I live in a very isolated way due to my one shot status.
For those of you who can vaccinate, do so, but empower yourself medically first so you can chose the best option for you!
VOTE VOTE VOTE
I’m an X-ray tech at a regional trauma center in California. Vaccines are mandatory for health care workers and masks are required for everyone (with high, uncomplaining compliance where I live) so it’s way better here than in Texas. And still I’m basically catatonic from the defcon 4 stress I’ve been under since last March. I don’t know how all y’all cope in low compliance states. Such remarkable selfishness and willful ignorance on the part of so many. Breaks my heart.
I’m in Washington state and in my area things are pretty sensible. People are wearing masks and getting vaccinated. And our numbers are still pretty bad/going up. School opened with what I guess was the best they could do as far as safety measures but it doesn’t sound like enough. Masks are mandated and air filters have been installed – great. But some things just don’t sound workable – how can halls that previously had kids packed like sardines in passing periods achieve a 6′ distance, even if they stagger the class releases? How can we expect kindergarteners to pull up a mask between every bite while eating together in the lunchroom? So frightening.
GIRL. 100% with you. I work in Texas schools, and we are so lucky because the district I work for took the mask mandate to court and WON. So, students have to wear masks staff has to wear masks. The safer the better <3
What a mess! I’m so glad it was just a summer cold. Our local drug stores have OTC COVID rapid tests you can do at home. A friend will be giving her daughter one every Sunday night before heading back to school each week, especially while hospitals in our area are full (again).
Yes! Get your vaccine!
I wish everybody in the world had parents like you and Victor! Hugs!
As a nurse in Texas, can confirm.
thank God and everyone Hailey only had a cold!!!
What’s so sad is that it doesn’t have to be like this! In San Diego unified school district we have weekly testing at school! And it’s required if you are playing sports but are not vaccinated. It’s all so sane.
Stay safe. Thank God your daughter is ok!
I was talking to someone about this today. It’s scary that the virus is twisting and mutating in an attempt to continue to replicate. I had both my shots in the spring and I have to say I’m not being controlled by Bill Gates, or picking up 5g, and I’m not magnetic. So disappointing.
All I want to say is that I’m glad that Hailey did not have Covid and I hope all of you stay safe! ❤️
We are in Oklahoma. My husband was sick with a nasty cough and had 3 negative tests. The urgent care dr. kept saying that it looked like COVID so he isolated. After the 3rd negative, we are pretty sure it was actually RSV. It’s going around pretty bad right now too.
The young daughter of a friend of mine caught COVID from a family with whom my friend had agreed to form a pod. The daughter unknowingly took the virus to her school. Once the girl was recovered, she didn’t feel like she could go back to school because everyone knew that she was responsible for the outbreak, poor kid.
I do not know how to talk to most people who refuse to get the shot. (I know there are people who truly cannot, for health reasons, get vaccinated, and I am aware of the issues that lead communities of color to hesitate.) I read how we are supposed to coddle them and gently persuade them to consider maybe reading some material about the vaccine’s safety. The _NY Times_ published a whole chatbot to teach us how to respond to anti-vaxxers without making them feel threatened. We try to bribe them with money, with college, with beer. Everyone here has made cogent arguments in favour of getting vaccinated and I thank you all. I hope seeing that so many of us are vaccinated, safer, and grateful will convince others to step out and roll up their sleeves.
My daughter started 1st grade here in Germany three weeks ago and they do rapid tests with all kids in class twice a week. Also masks are mandatory. For our 3-year old we got a box of 20 rapid tests to do at home from daycare and we have to test him at least once a week. Only way to get out of testing is being fully vaccinated or having had covid. I can’t wait for the vaccine for my kids because even with all those things numbers are high for kids and I am afraid.
I often get startled reading accounts like this. It’s such a contrast to where we’re at here. On September 10th covid will no longer be deemed “critical to society” here in Denmark, meaning the epidimics law no longer applies (most notably restrictions can’t be enforced anymore). 75% of the population is fully vaccinated, most who are unvaccinated are under-12yrs (and thus are not offered the vaccine) and while numbers are climbing some, especially in schools and among young people, everything is manageable and basically back to normal. Been a long time since overbooked doctors’ offices and hour-long waits for tests.
I hope it gets better soon, for all of you still stuck in the covid-crazy. Sending you happy thoughts
Getting tested is not quite that hard in Maryland. As a teacher, I have been creating lesson plans that are fairly easy for students to follow from home if they are quarantined. I have a few students out for that reason now. Hopefully, the teachers at your school are planning lessons that way, too!
Colorado is a lovely state to live in. I have experienced zero swan attacks since I moved here in 2001.
Both of my daughters (5 and 10) contracted Covid in their first week at school. We went nearly 18 months without getting sick (even while my husband worked his public-facing job every day, we were eating out at restaurants, going to Target and Home Depot at least once a week, etc) and literally on my 5 year old’s 5th day of school EVER she came home with a 103 degree fever. Her sister woke up with a matching fever the next morning.
I got sick a few days later (fully vaccinated). My husband (also vaccinated) just tested positive yesterday.
The only one who didn’t get sick (yet) is our 12 year old son who was vaccinated over the summer.
I’m so glad it wasn’t COVID, Jenny and that Hailey’s on the mend.
My mother just lost her husband from COVID but we can’t go to the funeral, even though it’s outdoors. It would require my disabled husband to fly 2,000 miles to a house where neither my mother nor my siblings who’ll be there are vaccinated. It hurts my heart, but we don’t dare go. And, frankly, I’m pissed off about it.
Im so sorry you went through this and so happy it was just a cold. We’ve been suffering allergies the last week and it always scares me but luckily my husband has a job that provides free testing every day, I work from home and never leave (and if I do I wear a mask and we are both vaccinated) and our 7-year old wears his KN-95’s every day but yeah Texas is awful right now!!! Our school superintendent sent out a letter saying there are a lot of cases in our school system and MOST were people who had symptoms and didn’t get tested and came to school or who KNEW they had someone at home with COVID and came anyway. And then he asked people to please follow the rules. Which is insane. But he also won’t do what several other systems in Texas are doing and MANDATE masks (which worked last year!!!!!). He is an awful superintendent and a coward as far as I am concerned. If people aren’t following the rules and kids are getting hurt/sick because of that you change the rules to make it so the kids don’t get sick!!! UGH.
I’m so grateful that Hailey doesn’t have Covid. Nothing is “just” a cold these days.
I’m baffled that folks won’t get vaccinated because they don’t know for sure what’s in the vaccines, but the same people are lining up to buy and ingest poisonous, sometimes fatal HORSE Deworming medication.
Darwin must be rolling over in his grave like a cement mixer . . .
Please stay healthy, all of you.
So glad it was just a summer cold. We just went through something similar. All five of us had a cold, but that meant missed school, and so many Covid tests. My husband and I are vaccinated, but the three kids are too young. You know it’s bad when kids are excited to get a vaccine
Living in Texas right now SUCKS, y’all. My daughter is in third grade and thank the Lord our school district still believes in mitigation procedures and contact tracing. We’re also in Dallas County and have chosen to keep our mask mandate in place. Even with that luck, my daughter woke up Saturday feeling gross, so we got her a rapid test Sunday morning that was negative (at which point she of course had zero symptoms). Flash forward to Monday after school when we get contact by the nurse that she’s a close contact of a positive case and has to quarantine until after the holiday weekend, regardless of test results. Because of course. We were able to get a PCR appointment at a pharmacy about 20 minutes from our home for yesterday (we’re in the same boat with testing, you really have to hunt for availability) and are currently waiting for results. She’s currently symptom free and my husband and I are both vaccinated, but I don’t want to take chances. She’s now asking if she can double mask when she goes back to school because she’s now had to get tested twice in one week. She’s eight, guys. It breaks my heart that she’s thinking about things like that. It makes me angry that she’s more thoughtful than half the adults around her.
We’re lucky enough that my husband can work from home in these cases, but I work for the school district and this year we have to take PTO for any COVID related days off. So I’m still working while double masking and staying at my desk. It’s a minor complaint since I have PTO, but it’s very real if I run out of days and start having to take unpaid days when I’m sick. And like I said, other people aren’t in the same boat, and they’ll be sending their exposed or sick kiddos to school because they literally can’t afford not to.
Get vaccinated. Wear your masks. Be careful who you choose to be around. Remember that this is not just about you. Our kids are relying on us to protect them, because they don’t have a choice in this.
Jesus Christ, Texas. I’m so glad Hailey is okay, but hate that this will Be The Way their entire school year, probably. How did we get here??
Virtual hugs to everyone, especially in healthcare and emergency services, who have been dealing with this for 18 months. And to all the children who are the innocent victims of adult stupidity. WTH is wrong with Texas (and Florida and South Dakota and …)?
I’m over in California, and the news I’m hearing from the other states is just wild to me. Apart from wearing a mask everywhere (a minor annoyance at worst) our lives have been pretty normal. I went in for my yearly physical last month and the doctor’s office was nearly empty. We go grocery shopping, dining in at restaurants, we even went to a water park last weekend and felt very safe outside unmasked with 70%+ vaccination rate in our county.
My daughter just started TK recently, and the precautions the public school is taking are pretty reassuring. Mandatory masks for all, vaccines for all staff, social distancing, filling out a symptom checklist on an app every morning, an isolation tent outside for kids who start showing symptoms during the school day, staggering arrival times through different gates so kids aren’t too crowded coming in, eating lunches outside, required hand sanitizer when entering or leaving the classroom, individual school supplies for each kid… they even limit how many kids can be in the bathroom at once. My daughter’s school has had three confirmed cases so far, publicly shown on a COVID dashboard website for the district, where I can see that many other schools nearby haven’t had a single case (yet).
She was going to preschool before this, and somehow managed to bring home a new cold every month (all of them tested COVID negative thankfully) despite all the precautions the school was taking, so I’m still crossing my fingers that the emergency authorization for the 5-11 age group comes through by the time she turns 5 in October. Maybe then, we can finally start to relax.
Weirdest side effect of covid 19 — parking lot Pap smears.
Up here in Canada we have 84% of people over 12 have one dose ..76% have both but even then we still have mask mandates for schools. There is even talk of all kids over 12 needing to show proof of vaccination before being allowed back into in person classrooms…like at universities. In my province, Ontario, we just instituted a vaccine passport to get into gyms, restaurants, sports venues. I am all for this ..hopefully this will be the inventive everyone needs to get their jab. Thus protecting those who can’t.
I’m glad it was just a cold, but as a parent of a high schooler myself, the scary thing is that if you can catch a cold, you can catch COVID. It’s like you are just rolling the dice every day and hoping craps doesn’t come up–and there is no winning roll; only various degrees of loss.
My kid wears a mask and is vaccinated, but we get emails from the school system about new COVID cases almost every day. Our district won’t close a school unless 20% or more of the kids are out due to COVID. The schools did not require masks the first week, but started after the first elementary school had to be closed on week 2. Then the protests began–kids and parents are out protesting the mask requirement pretty much every week. So now my kid crosses a picket line of unmasked, unvaccinated adults and kids to get to school. Oh–but I did get a notice that her meningitis booster was due, and only have 30 days to get that or else she has to stay home. Because that’s definitely a greater threat right now than COVID.
What happened to this country?
Jenny, I’m so sorry. I’m a psychiatrist and do all telehealth so I have major Doctor-Survivor-Guilt because I’m not at the highest risk- though do work in a hospital occasionally. I wept at the photo of the Zombie Apocalypse Swabber. It’s so fucking scary. Your story reminded me of the exact “there’s no test anywhere for you, even though you’re a doc who spent all day getting coughed on because you’re an *MD*. Intensivists and anesthesiologists are 🦠M!D!s!🦠 but ma’am, you’re a psy-chi-a-trist.
I called four hospitals I’m affiliated with before I found a test and an occ health provider who agreed, not even psychiatrists should die of COVID. No one should. And hours later, someone finally included me in that category.
I love every human on earth who is fighting this in any of the ways available to them. I love you all.
Ask your loved ones how they are feeling, with their feelings, not their lungs or sense of smell this time. There’s another hidden, underground pandemic of anorexia, depression, substance use (NO JUDGEMENT FROM ME- only you can tell your story) cutting, toying with ODs and of suicide.
Talk to anyone who may be lonely about how they are coping. Psychiatric illness can be lethal too. I’m preaching to the choir on this point, but I can’t emphasize enough, ask about emotions and safety. Loneliness, hopelessness.
I used to work 3-6 hours a day 4 days a week before March 10, 2020. Then, shit got real as MA closed everything, and all the teens in my practice at some point in the last 18 months have needed higher level of care- which used to have a wait list of 2-4 weeks. Now, for teen residential eating disorders, it can be 6-8 MONTHS. I work 6-18 hour days a few days each week because there are literally more people needing inpatient beds than there are beds available. I’m grateful to know how to teach parents how to pinch hit and make their home an inpatient unit- but that only works 24 hours, max.
Love your people. Believe a person who says “I can’t take much more.”
Please stay well, Jenny and family, and all of you reading this. And seek help if COVID is breaking your brain. Sometimes just having a friend who can look you in the eye and say “Me too, sister” can go miles.
We’re all in this together.
Thanks for listening to my traumatized bumbling ramble.
Oh, and get vaccinated. There are no individuals in a pandemic. Global contagious tragedy highlights that there never were individuals unreliant on and unaffected by and not responsible for our web.
If you have the luxury of choosing not to get vaccinated, be a part of the web of all of us, and stay home. Double mask to close the gaps on the sides of your surgical mask. Isolate yourself so you don’t get sick, transmitted it to others snd become a meat cauldron playground in which the sloppily replicating mRNA virus can make its errors in replicating, and stumble accidentally upon an advantageous error that takes us past epsilon into zeta, eta, theta, iota, tau, upsilon, omega…
“feeling really grateful that im not here for a pap smear” this made me laugh out loud! so glad it was just a cold, and nothing worse. i have a friend with covid who was just intubated. its a scary thing…stay well, stay safe jenny.
A very Texas story here: someone I know of here in Texas was able to get their twenty-ish grandson to finally get the vacc by promising to buy him a shotgun. How’s that for incentive! This place, geez!
All of the comments herein from fellow Texans are a balm to my spirit. I’m so tired of the GodGunsEaglePatriotProLife4FetusesButNoOneElseScienceIsFakeNewsCult45 kind of Texans.
FOR THE LOVE OF TACOS—-PLEASE VOTE!!!
Jenny M. Post #91- I have allergic reactions to everything but I did okay with Pfizer, but I got the neurological reactions and the heart reactions that some of the teenagers who got Pfizer had. Even though I still am having some ongoing neurological and heart reactions months later, I’m still going to get my 3rd booster shot.
If you’re not at risk for blood clots you might want to ask your doctor for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because it isn’t the same exact technology that the Pfizer and Moderna use in their shots, but wait until your reactions subside somewhat.
When I had my allergic reaction to penicillin years ago which was my first major allergic reaction to a medicine, I started becoming allergic to just about everything, pets and including chemicals in detergents and cleaning items and bath and body products. I also developed chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. It took many visits with a naturopathic doctor and a restrictive diet of only natural healthy foods and drinks and low sugar and starches. Lots of veggies and fruit and yogurt and probiotics and whole grains and organic food only for meat and dairy and produce, nothing without natural ingredients for cleaning clothes and the house and myself. It took a few years before my system started to get less reactive. I’m now able to walk down the cleaning products aisle in a store after years of being unable to do so. You’re going to want to find a good natural grocery store to find the items you can’t get in a standard grocery store.
I know this sounds like a long time to deal with your allergic reactions until you get better, but believe me it pays off in the long run. I’ve gotten to know other people who have had this same struggle, and they all had similar responses and found out in the long run that with this kind of over reactive immune response that standard doctors usually think it’s all in your head, but naturopathic doctors and some osteopathic doctors understand these types of immune system freak outs and know how to help you. I now get my flu shot yearly and my tetanus shot and other common vaccines without fear, but I am extremely careful and cautious about what medicines I take, and I always carry my epipen and Benadryl and Pepcid to stave off an allergic response.
Your system will improve in time as long as you avoid things that set it off, so hang in there and be kind to yourself.
Being connected with all of you helps immensely to keep me afloat. I’m grateful to be with you via The Bloggess.
Thank you for writing this and sending remote hugs. I can’t believe the level of stupidity this pandemic has revealed. It seems the human race might actually be getting stupider, the more access there is to information.
I took my daughter to an outdoor birthday party and found out four days later one of the girls had Covid. Now we’re waiting for the test results. No symptoms so I don’t think she has it. And thankfully we have always homeschooled, but if it were two weeks later in the year she’d miss our co-ops. I’m worried for the school year.
I’m so glad Hailey is okay, and so sorry for the awful school situation with quarantine. I’m so worried for schools and children this year. Thank you so much for promoting vaccines! As a former ICU nurse I so, so appreciate people like you giving me a little of my faith in people back.
For fucks sake. That is all just awful. Except for the parts where Hailey is fine and you had a booster. The rest of it is sheer fuckery.
Dear MissusB
Well said. That Hailey is well makes me happy.
The rest IS sheer fuckery.
I read your comment to a good friend and I had to show her your name before she believed I hadn’t posted it myself.
So, another thing that makes me happy, I’ve found my verbal doppelgänger.
Stay well. ❤️
Thank you so much for encouraging people to get vaccinated. I am made so upset by the people who claim it’s just like the flu or that it is made up! I am usually very passive but I’ve now taken to sharing my story in grocery lines etc. when others are making those statements. I had covid in March 2020 and wasn’t super sick initially but ended up being a long hauler and have lost a year and a half of my life. No flu has ever done that to me! Thankfully the vaccines improved me and after my second shot I’m left with mild symptoms and liver disease (which I didn’t have previously) but I am so much better that I am grateful for my current situation. So the threat from COVID is so much more than just death and overrun medical systems. It can completely change your life and health, possibly permanently. I encourage everyone I meet to get vaccinated and take precautions. Thanks again to being such a strong but not strident advocate!
I totally understand this. I’m in just the same situation.
Last week I went to a convention in Houston, with attendees from around the world. While I did the best I could to stay masked, complete and total masking wasn’t going to happen. And the result was that since Tuesday I’ve had muscle aches, a wet cough, post-nasal drainage … all the markers of a case of Con Crud. I’ve monitored my pulse and ox saturation (high 90s in both cases, normal for me), and I’ve had no fever to speak of so … I have Con Crud. I’m treating it with Mucinex and my usual regimen of respiratory medications. Tests? I don’t think it would tell me anything I don’t already know. I’ll just stay home for another week and try to out-wait the bug.
I was recently hospitalized with sepsis; a blood infection which has a 20% fatality rate. I couldn’t get out of the ER because there wasn’t an available bed due to COVID. Thankfully, a bed came open. In a COVID ward. I shudder to think how that bed came available. I’d already been vaccinated, so at least I didn’t have to worry about that, as well as the sepsis. I worry for all the people who are (or were) as ill as I had been and haven’t been able to get treatment due to the obdurantly negative anti-vaccers now being taken into ICUs. Bless those who are ill and hope that they are able to get help.
I’m reading this from my home. I should be at work, but we are in strict lockdown at the moment: I live in New Zealand, and for most of the pandemic, we had a normal Covid-free life, thanks to a strong and efficient government who had the gut to act quick, and act strong (❤️ Jacinda Arden ❤️), and a population willing to “sacrifice” a tiny amount of personal freedom for the health and safety of the population (❤️ the team of 5 millions ❤️).
Recently we had ONE case of delta variant detected in the community (we were 100% covid free for months, having only few cases in quarantine of people entering the country from oversea).
One case…
A full lockdown for the whole country was announced at 6pm, effective at midnight the same day.
We had 6h to shut down businesses, and organise our life from home…
One case. Total lockdown. 6h to get ready…
You know what? It worked.
People trusted the government, and did it. There was no fuss, no strikes, no complaints.
It’s been a couple of weeks that we are in this situation. The country has relaxed the restriction rules, expect for the city I live in, epicenter of the outbreak. And people are still wearing masks all the time. Vaccination center are busy with people ready to queue for more than an hour to get the vaccine. Most businesses who have reopen give paid leave if you are missing work for a vaccination.
The number of cases has never skyrocketed (maximum 90 new cases per day, for a population of 5 millions), and it already started to drop drastically, with zero casualty from this outbreak…
It breaks my heart to see how things are going on in the rest of the world (I know New Zealand is a lucky “special case” not necessarily comparable to the rest of the world tho).
You are right to point out the less visibles effects of covid. Its not only about health. Its about education, mental health, constant stress. It’s about the awful decision the situation forces you to do. It’s about pushing down even further the ones that are already struggling. It’s about the banalisation of the daily horror the world is in…
I wish you and your family are well. I wish your readers the same. And I wish, with all my heart, that people will take the right decision regarding masks and vaccination, not only for them, but for their family, their colleagues, the people that are, actually, their life…
Texas, where viruses have reproductive rights and women don’t. Stay strong
I am thankful they are in the clear for Covid and that the school and their classmates are embracing the masks.
I cannot comprehend how the individuals in the top levels of governing, who should care about the wellbeing of their community(ies). It takes a complete lack of reason and empathy to legislate with so much disrespect for their constituents – current and potential.
Much respect to your health care provider’s team for their determination to help.
I am just getting over a summer cold myself. I’m in Florida. Definitely got if from my friend’s preschooler. It wasn’t too hard for me to get a test to make sure I didn’t have Covid but it wasn’t easy either. Hope Hailey has a speedy recovery.