Coronavirus support

[Bubbles]

On 4/16/2020 at 2:17 AM, aggedy_ann said:

Woke up with increasing shortness of breath and a whole host of other symptoms but no fever.   Was tested this afternoon.   I should know in 72 hours.   It’s gonna be a long three days

Hope you feel better soon.  I tested negative despite having all the symptoms a few weeks ago - the tests are supposedly showing 20-30% false negatives, so I'm still convinced I had it, and will continue to believe that until I actually get it lol!  It was a crappy 10-14 days, but I was a stone lighter after it!

[aggedy_ann]

On 4/16/2020 at 3:20 AM, Joal 555 said:

Sending you positive thoughts and best wishes. Try to stay as strong as possible and if at any point in the three days (or beyond) you want some support or just someone to vent to, please feel free to PM me.

 

14 hours ago, matilda3948 said:

Oh I'm so sorry! I hope you test negative or that your symptoms are mild. Hopefully no fever means you'll escape unscathed.

 

13 hours ago, Leas said:

Sending you lots of positive thoughts! Hope you test negative! Sending you all the love in the world! ❤️

 

3 hours ago, LimeyBlimey said:

So sorry Aggedy! Praying it comes back negative and that you'll feel better very quickly 

Thanks guys....it came back negative, although I’m not 100% convinced.    Still sort of breath with activity, but at least the scary shortness of breath at rest is gone.   

[aggedy_ann]

14 hours ago, Shay said:

So obviously I'm not a doctor and can't give you medical advice, and I don't know what your other symptoms are, but I just wanted to share that my sister has been having shortness of breath and chest pain the last few weeks and no fever and she was told she suddenly has asthma and seasonal bronchitis for the first time so she's been put on a couple of different inhalers. Again, not a doctor and can't say that's what you have, but hopefully the lack of fever points to something else.

This is my second round with COVID like symptoms.  The first was a horrible cough with no fever and that’s what they told me, except I had preexisting asthma.   It was just an asthma exacerbation and wouldn’t test because I didn’t have a fever.   
This time, I went to the other hospital because something wasn’t right.   

[aggedy_ann]

51 minutes ago, Bubbles said:

Hope you feel better soon.  I tested negative despite having all the symptoms a few weeks ago - the tests are supposedly showing 20-30% false negatives, so I'm still convinced I had it, and will continue to believe that until I actually get it lol!  It was a crappy 10-14 days, but I was a stone lighter after it!

I’m negative, but yeah, I question it.  I questioned it at the start of March when I had fatigue and an awful cough and they assured me it was my asthma and wouldn’t even test.  I want an antibody test as soon as they become available here and reliable.  I anticipate the results will show somewhere along the line I had it.   I’m just surprised I got my results back so quickly...they said they were prioritizing HCPs.   
Work is having me come back tomorrow; I know it’s because they need the RN coverage for the weekend, but I’m hesitant.   I have my own stash of surgical masks and I’ll wear those as opposed to the cloth masks, but if the test was wrong....I’m still exhausted and short of breath, so yeah.   The joys of a short staffed nursing home....

I hope yours was negative and just some weird gross crap (as I hope mine is) but once you can take an antibody test, do.

[Glatissant]

^That sucks, Aggedy. I have a friend in a similar situation (her and her husband have both had all the classical symptoms for a prolonged time, but she's a nurse so her work is eager to drag her back in). With what I've been reading about the high rate of variable negative/positive test results on the same patient (especially from at-home or drive-up testing, since the swab needs to be extended so far back in the nasal cavity to get a viable sample), I think it's safe to assume someone who has all the symptoms has it.

[aggedy_ann]

@Glatissant

I went back in to Urgent Care tonight.   They don’t know why I’m short of breath - told me to follow up with my primary as everyone wants to blame the asthma.   But they gave me off work through Monday to get it sorted.   

[Bubbles]

6 hours ago, aggedy_ann said:

I’m negative, but yeah, I question it.  I questioned it at the start of March when I had fatigue and an awful cough and they assured me it was my asthma and wouldn’t even test.  I want an antibody test as soon as they become available here and reliable.  I anticipate the results will show somewhere along the line I had it.   I’m just surprised I got my results back so quickly...they said they were prioritizing HCPs.   
Work is having me come back tomorrow; I know it’s because they need the RN coverage for the weekend, but I’m hesitant.   I have my own stash of surgical masks and I’ll wear those as opposed to the cloth masks, but if the test was wrong....I’m still exhausted and short of breath, so yeah.   The joys of a short staffed nursing home....

I hope yours was negative and just some weird gross crap (as I hope mine is) but once you can take an antibody test, do.

Yea I got my results back after 48 hours, but that was 3-4 weeks ago when testing was more scarce.  I got a phonecall to say I could return to work.  At this point I was almost going to ED because the shortness of breath was so scary, so I didn't go back to work.  It started with a scratchy throat and cough, low grade fever and no appetite, turned into diarrhoea a couple of days later, then a week into it I had 3 days of shortness of breath that were the scariest thing I've ever experienced.  But yea.. I was negative.  I took 2 weeks off work in total because I felt really crap, and I'm still convinced it was covid because I've had flu and chest infections before, and this felt like neither of those.  I have no underlying respiratory issues and I've never had to work to breathe before, but this felt like there were resistance bands around my chest forcing me to put effort into breathing.  I would also really love an antibody test.  We have patients coming in who clearly have covid from their symptoms and xrays, but are testing negative.  I don't believe it for a minute.

I'd actually prefer if I had been confirmed positive.. at least then I'd know for sure that I was a supersoldier..

Take time off if you need to.  Did you get a chest xray done? No matter how busy and short work is, you are no use to them if you are sick, and they should understand that.  Our Trust has already said that sickness during covid won't count on our records, but I felt terrible being off and knowing everyone else was struggling along.  I wouldn't expect anyone else to come into work sick though, and I'd rather they stayed away if there was any chance they would pass an infectious disease on to the other staff or the patients.  Look after yourself!

 

 

[aggedy_ann]

@Bubbles I ended up back in Urgent Care tonight for shortness of breath.   The guy checked everything...I mean, he ruled out heart failure.   I’m supposed to call my primary on Monday and be seen since it’s the shortness of breath and major fatigue that are the main issues along with chills and body aches. I’m scared to work with the fatigue.  I don’t want to make a mistake because I could be a false negative and exhausted.  So I’m really glad he gave me off through Monday to get this sorted.   
I had a chest X-ray tonight...was told it was ok.   They want to push it back to asthma, but I’ve never had issues like this with asthma before.   And that’s my thing...I don’t want to get everyone there sick.   It’s a nursing home....we’re always short, but I can’t care about that right now.   I’m no good like this.  

[Shay]

Yeah, I'd say regardless of whether you're sick or not, you're no good to work in that condition and should take the time off you need to get better. I hope you feel well soon.

[Reader]

So my state got a grade of D in the category of how well we’re social distancing. I can’t stand people. 

[bloom]

i'm exclusively calling obvious current events 'the pandy' from now on

[Heathcliff]

My heart took a dive when I read on the news that antibody tests might not be the silver bullet I hoped they would be. Apparently there is no reliable antibody test yet (to show you'd already had COVID-19) and even then they're not sure having it once will mean you cannot get it again.

Which is a bit of a blow. 

[Joal 555]

46 minutes ago, jejune said:

i'm exclusively calling obvious current events 'the pandy' from now on

.....and if everyone across the world started calling their new baby boys Andrew, it would be known as an Andy Pandy.......

 

(Sorry! Carry on!)

[aggedy_ann]

30 minutes ago, Heathcliff said:

My heart took a dive when I read on the news that antibody tests might not be the silver bullet I hoped they would be. Apparently there is no reliable antibody test yet (to show you'd already had COVID-19) and even then they're not sure having it once will mean you cannot get it again.

Which is a bit of a blow. 

It’s too soon for a reliable test, just as it’s too soon for a vaccine.   There will be one...we just have to give it time.   
 

I also feel as do some others I know, that when there is a reliable antibody test, we will find that more have had it than we expected.  

[bloom]

38 minutes ago, Joal 555 said:

.....and if everyone across the world started calling their new baby boys Andrew, it would be known as an Andy Pandy.......

 

(Sorry! Carry on!)

ARE you sorry, joal?  

 

( ❤️ )

[Joal 555]

35 minutes ago, jejune said:

ARE you sorry, joal?  

 

( ❤️ )

Not in the slightest...

( ❤️ )

[LimeyBlimey]

On 4/17/2020 at 6:54 PM, aggedy_ann said:

 

I went back in to Urgent Care tonight.   They don’t know why I’m short of breath - told me to follow up with my primary as everyone wants to blame the asthma.   But they gave me off work through Monday to get it sorted.   

Have you given any thought to possible Anxiety? My husband gets shortness of breath and chest pains on occasion when things get bad for him, so much that a few months ago he went to the ER about it and they found nothing wrong. Tested his lungs, his heart, everything. He ended up just taking another of his emergency xanax (low dose) and felt better. I'm an asthmatic and I get occasional anxiety attacks that make it a little hard to breathe.

[aggedy_ann]

57 minutes ago, LimeyBlimey said:

Have you given any thought to possible Anxiety? My husband gets shortness of breath and chest pains on occasion when things get bad for him, so much that a few months ago he went to the ER about it and they found nothing wrong. Tested his lungs, his heart, everything. He ended up just taking another of his emergency xanax (low dose) and felt better. I'm an asthmatic and I get occasional anxiety attacks that make it a little hard to breathe.

I think part of it is anxiety...at least the shortness of breath while I’m at rest.  I have a history of anxiety and am on medication for it (buspirone).   The part that concerns me is the shortness of breath with activity which is new and started with the asthma flare in March and hasn’t gotten better despite new meds.  I had concerns that March was COVID, and just not sure now.   Urgent care didn’t want to adjust asthma meds, wanted to leave that for my doc. After I talk to him, my next call will likely be my psychiatrist, especially because a lot of the anxiety is related to COVID. 
 

Edited April 20, 2020 by aggedy_ann

[Sneezus Christ]

stay strong, im sorry to hear of your trouble. sending out those positive vibe to ya

[bloom]

i'm not a very zen person, in fact i am the extreme opposite, but i'm trying to be so about this. in the spirit of that, i really wish -- genuinely -- that mask couture had been a thing before this all started, lmao, and i am enjoying looking at masks online, seeing what masks people are wearing in public when i have to go out, etc. here's the mask i bought (please forgive the peek of my unfinished tattoo, which to me feels like going outside with a giant stain on my shirt or something):

didn't know masks were cute this whole time, but they are, apparently. i also am genuinely likely not ever going out in public again without one except to formal events for the rest of my life. the threat of pandemic is too great for me now and although i hope this won't happen again in my lifetime, a ptsd response is requiring that i protect myself from now on. speaking of that!

PLEASE WEAR A MASK IF ONE IS AVAILABLE TO YOU.

not because i think they're cute but because of the following:

my mask protects you, your mask protects me.

this shit is droplet-based. my wearing a mask protects me (immunocompromised and asthmatic, chronically ill) only a little bit; you wearing a mask protects me a lot more, more than a lot of things i can do for myself. (this is a bizarre general 'i' although what i said about myself is true.) also, don't fucking wear it as a necklace. don't wear it over your mouth and not your nose. why do this? if it isn't covering your breathing holes, you numpty, it isn't being protective. i am sympathetic to sensory issues to a degree but i have severe ptsd from having to get breathing treatments so often when i almost died of the flu in 2013, to the point where the n95s i had before were giving me flashbacks and panic attacks when i wore them because i felt like i couldn't breathe. i did anyway because i am trying to protect myself and others. the mask thing is really important, dudes.

[Travel]

Your mask is really cool, @jejune!

[bloom]

thanks, @Travel! i also did these ones myself (the patterns on them, i mean, not the actual masks jfc)

[aggedy_ann]

Here are two of mine.  My green ones are in my purse and my car.  

[Travel]

I totally dig them! 

[aggedy_ann]

@jejune I like both your sets of masks.   
 

I’ve been making the cloth ones for me and my nursing home since we’re using them there, plus I just can’t wear the same mask every day.