People don’t understand or talk about the often chronic effects of long Covid, which varies in severity and symptoms, but can be far more debilitating than the initial illness. You don’t want it. You can be moderately ill for a few days, only to find you are having cloudy thinking, headaches, nausea, fatigue and other symptoms for months or longer. That’s scary. Plus, the new vaccine with recent variants isn’t widely available until later this month, weeks after schools and colleges resumed. We are still in trouble.
I’ve been battling Covid/Long Covid since June 24, 2020. I spent the first 22 days either in bed or the bathroom as anytime I put anything in my body it was immediately, violently ejected, including the tiniest sip of water. I lost 30 lbs in 3 weeks.
I have lived with constant nausea for over 3 years now. My Brain Fog is so severe it takes me upwards of 30 minutes to write a simple non-comment. Taking a ten minute shower is so exhausting I have to rest for at least 30 minutes afterwards.
I’ve learned I must be gentle with my energy for if I expend too much of it doing a task, I will pay for it dearly. I volunteered at a Food Bank for 3 hours one Tuesday. When I got home around 5, I fell asleep and did not wake until the next morning. I spent Wednesday in bed. Thursday I volunteered for another 3 hour shift. Halfway through my throat hurt. I got home, fell asleep at five, and knew I was fucked the second I gained consciousness the next morning. I had come down with Strep that kept me in bed for a week.
The worst part of any extended illness, especially a mostly invisible one, is when people decide you’ve been sick long enough so if you’re not better, it’s your fault.
I wish Covid was a mild flu or bad cold. If it presented that way for any of you, that is fantastic. I wouldn’t wish what it’s done to me on anyone. But please, my friends, do not be cavalier about this virus. It is not gone. The latest booster is supposed to be released the middle of this month. Please get it if you can.
Also just lost my COVID virginity. I have asthma so I knew it would be kinda ugly. Symptoms a little different - no stuffy nose or loss of taste, but headache, fevers, some high, chills, a dry cough, and tiiiired. I am at 90% and it is four weeks after it started. Still coughing. Ended up on meds to settle the asthma.
I lost my Covid virginity a few weeks ago when a loved one brought it home from a convention. It was rough, I'm not going to lie. The sore throat was vile, and 2 weeks later I'm still dog-tired. Grateful for no lung involvement. I tend to work through illnesses, and I took 3 days off (even though I don't get sick days at the tiny company where I work, feh) because I literally couldn't function. I believe I had RSV after Xmas 2022, which was pretty bad as well. I'm getting both vaccines as soon as they're available, and I'm masking up again all over the place.
SER you hit the nail right on the head, my COVID filled, congested, aching head that is! I tested positive for the first time last Friday after I woke up with a terrible sore throat, feverish, head & body aches. These are NOT mild symptoms for me. For the last 35 years, including the last 3 1/2, I've worked in an ER. Never got COVID because of the magic of masks, vaccinations & following rules. Now, 2 weeks away from retirement, after 35 yr in that ER setting and Never having called in sick ( I'm not invincible but my " mild" illnesses always happened on days off & big things like babies & knee replacement were scheduled well ahead) I've been out sick for 5 work days. And I've been sick, nothing life threatening but exhausted, congested & the worst sore throat ever persists. Over the years I worked with many a mild cold or sinus infection I could not have worked with this...the fatigue, loss of appetite, terrible throat made time off required. We don't wear masks anymore except around known COVID positive folks & we often don't know that people are positive til later, if at all ( because some really don't have symptoms & are only tested as part of a general work up for other things). I wore my mask at work longer than most & wish I had continued.
Here's the kicker, if I test negative today ( day 6 after positive) I would be expected back to work tomorrow. However, my usual scheduled days off give me an additional 4 days til return...lucky me. Occupational Health staff tell me we can't call this " work related" illness unless I can name the actual patient(s) I had "an unmasked exposure of more than 15 minutes, less than 6 feet apart to". Doesn't matter to me, I have 100's of hours of sick time accumulated. But seriously? Not work related in an ER, with no mask requirement and a known uptick in cases?? What are we playing at? Besides pretending people are only having those undefined "mild symptoms " we're also pretending one is as likely to get COVID from the customer in line at Trader Joe's as in an ER full of wheezing, sweating, yelling in your face, people with COVID. The worst thing? The administrators & Occupational Health staff NEVER asked about my symptoms or how I'm feeling! Way to protect your "Frontline Heroes"...hypocrites all!
Ooo, I wish you a good recovery and I'm sorry you got sick. I've yet to experience Covid, though I worked retail(convenience store, then drug store) since the pandemic began. I've started masking again in grocery stores and more crowded indoor places, because I know we're going through an uptake of cases.
Frontline heroes like you and 'essential workers' like me deserve better than this, we all deserve better. The masking thing was and is some of the most ludicrous parts of going through a pandemic. Soooooo many people just ignored/still ignore basic precautions and were really mad and ignorant about wearing masks. My company went back and forth on how to deal with customers, and in the end, decided not to have their minimum wage or barely above minimum wage workers try and enforce masks in the store.
I truly don't understand how people can be so....uncaring. My oldest friend of almost 35 years died from Covid complications(she was a kidney transplant patient with heart issues and the like, so very high risk), and she could've got vaccinated in January 2021 at Hopkins but didn't because her idiot boyfriend told her it would hurt her.
At her memorial service, various family members on her side and her boyfriend's side were all talking about how vaxxed people were dropping dead left and right from heart attacks, and it was the most baffling, maddening conversation to overhear at a funeral for someone who died from Covid.
Her boyfriend was taking about suing the hospital because she was in ICU and none of her family or boyfriend were vaccinated and the hospital wouldn't let them in. He also wanted to sue the EMT's for not taking her when she was well enough to say she didn't want to go.
I lost her right after my only sister, and it's just so sad.
Sorry, I sincerely hope you get better soon and I am sorry your work is treating you like that, that's ridiculous! 🙋🏻♀️☮️
Jesus, what a story. I don't think I could have a avoided making a scene at the memorial and I *hate* conflict. I'm so sorry you lost your friend and your sister too. My heart goes out to you.
It’s an added risk for specific public figures to admit to any severe medical condition, especially the POTUS and First Lady. Whether it’s intentional or not, or how unacceptably biased it might be, there are plenty of people who are repelled by seeing illness or physical impairment of any type. They have a strong association with those conditions and a personal fear of weakness. Some even vote Dem. It’s not okay. It’s not fair. But it’s enough to send those folks running. And, the severity of whatever condition someone is experiencing isn’t our business unless it might impact their ability to perform their duties to us. The WH is unique in that it’s part of their duty to project strength at all times. Our interpretations of what is strength vary, but the First Family represent everyone. It’s just simpler to retain some privacy. The Biden family already have enough issues with Hunter’s past addiction problems and current alleged scandals, and the constant propaganda about Biden’s age and cognitive acuity. I’m sure if it became severe, we would see him taking special time out of his duties to attend to his wife’s situation.
I have long COVID. It truly sucks, but has slowly improved over time. I think I read it averages about 8 months for symptoms to clear, if not longer. I had COVID last August. It was severe. Far worse than the worst flu. And the long COVID symptoms were immediately severe as well. I’m in the southeast and surrounded by people who won’t take precautions. It’s hard to blame them for not wearing masks in hot spaces, of which there are many. Hot and humid. But indoors is often cooler, so they have that option. They mostly don’t care. Also, my hubby has National Guard drill weekends every month, where he’s forced into close quarters with lots of people from all walks of life. That’s how I caught COVID. He got it first after a drill weekend, and brought it home to me before realizing he had it. Nobody in the NG is going to voluntarily wear masks in this heat either, and I can’t blame them. Their uniforms are already way to hot in this environment and they are frequently outside. To make protective measures worthwhile, they’d have to implement ALL of them, including distancing measures. It’s impractical for the military. Until people again start dying badly, en masse, I don’t expect to see any public outcry or serious demands for protective measures to be reinstated.
Mild is always a very relative term. My case of chicken pox was mild-to-moderate and I still have 4 small scars, 3 on my face, close to 40ys later. It was definitely worse than the nastiest bug bite I've gotten. (the after-bite itching I mean. Horse flies have a bite like a saber toothed cat.)
When I had it in January most of the symptoms were less severe than the colds I typically get, except for the fatigue. The fatigue was unreal and lasted to some degree for 2 full weeks.
This is the NIH's definition of mild COVID: Individuals who have any of the various signs and symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, malaise, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell) but do not have shortness of breath, dyspnea, or abnormal chest imaging.
Thank you for this, Stephen. I am literally the only person in my workplace who is still masking - in a building with sealed windows. My workplace is super-woke, and I assume everyone has had at least 3 or 4 vaxes. We do an onsite flu vax every year and I've asked if the Covid vax can be added to that event. The answer was a resounding "maybe."
Fuck these people. I need to not be working there anymore.
What I've learned from Covid is that people today in general know and understand less about contagious disease and vaccinations than my grandparents did
People don’t understand or talk about the often chronic effects of long Covid, which varies in severity and symptoms, but can be far more debilitating than the initial illness. You don’t want it. You can be moderately ill for a few days, only to find you are having cloudy thinking, headaches, nausea, fatigue and other symptoms for months or longer. That’s scary. Plus, the new vaccine with recent variants isn’t widely available until later this month, weeks after schools and colleges resumed. We are still in trouble.
I’ve been battling Covid/Long Covid since June 24, 2020. I spent the first 22 days either in bed or the bathroom as anytime I put anything in my body it was immediately, violently ejected, including the tiniest sip of water. I lost 30 lbs in 3 weeks.
I have lived with constant nausea for over 3 years now. My Brain Fog is so severe it takes me upwards of 30 minutes to write a simple non-comment. Taking a ten minute shower is so exhausting I have to rest for at least 30 minutes afterwards.
I’ve learned I must be gentle with my energy for if I expend too much of it doing a task, I will pay for it dearly. I volunteered at a Food Bank for 3 hours one Tuesday. When I got home around 5, I fell asleep and did not wake until the next morning. I spent Wednesday in bed. Thursday I volunteered for another 3 hour shift. Halfway through my throat hurt. I got home, fell asleep at five, and knew I was fucked the second I gained consciousness the next morning. I had come down with Strep that kept me in bed for a week.
The worst part of any extended illness, especially a mostly invisible one, is when people decide you’ve been sick long enough so if you’re not better, it’s your fault.
I wish Covid was a mild flu or bad cold. If it presented that way for any of you, that is fantastic. I wouldn’t wish what it’s done to me on anyone. But please, my friends, do not be cavalier about this virus. It is not gone. The latest booster is supposed to be released the middle of this month. Please get it if you can.
Also just lost my COVID virginity. I have asthma so I knew it would be kinda ugly. Symptoms a little different - no stuffy nose or loss of taste, but headache, fevers, some high, chills, a dry cough, and tiiiired. I am at 90% and it is four weeks after it started. Still coughing. Ended up on meds to settle the asthma.
I lost my Covid virginity a few weeks ago when a loved one brought it home from a convention. It was rough, I'm not going to lie. The sore throat was vile, and 2 weeks later I'm still dog-tired. Grateful for no lung involvement. I tend to work through illnesses, and I took 3 days off (even though I don't get sick days at the tiny company where I work, feh) because I literally couldn't function. I believe I had RSV after Xmas 2022, which was pretty bad as well. I'm getting both vaccines as soon as they're available, and I'm masking up again all over the place.
I have no problem marching in cadence.
Once a bunch of us were briskly walking from the parking lot to the stadium.
Because of traffic lights, we all seemed to stop and start at the same time.
So I offered my leadership skills and began
"A one, a two, three, four, a one, two, three, four !
I dunno but I been told!"
Then realized I couldn't say "that" anymore!
Leadership skills down the toilet! Again.
Splains why not a jarhead officer. Oh well.
First: I have not stopped wearing a mask to work. Second: let me recommend the mask company my husband and I buy from (very happy with quality) https://wellbefore.com/pages/home?utm_source=Google_Search&utm_medium=g_kwd-1085074149118__&utm_campaign=15237090922&utm_term=well%20before%20masks_p&utm_content=134396436450_611735879001_&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxuCnBhDLARIsAB-cq1q_VzNrqcG4mQlGWKOK1I2TsC2_h3o1WXYjaF90fa2Aog2iTQNdumgaAp47EALw_wcB
I also buy from Well Before. Really nice masks!
Fellow seniors: I got the RSV jab a week ago and had no problems whatsoever.
If I go into town today, I'll do that and a flu shot, too. Thanks for the reminder.
in this context "mild symptoms" sounds like "a little pregnant"
SER you hit the nail right on the head, my COVID filled, congested, aching head that is! I tested positive for the first time last Friday after I woke up with a terrible sore throat, feverish, head & body aches. These are NOT mild symptoms for me. For the last 35 years, including the last 3 1/2, I've worked in an ER. Never got COVID because of the magic of masks, vaccinations & following rules. Now, 2 weeks away from retirement, after 35 yr in that ER setting and Never having called in sick ( I'm not invincible but my " mild" illnesses always happened on days off & big things like babies & knee replacement were scheduled well ahead) I've been out sick for 5 work days. And I've been sick, nothing life threatening but exhausted, congested & the worst sore throat ever persists. Over the years I worked with many a mild cold or sinus infection I could not have worked with this...the fatigue, loss of appetite, terrible throat made time off required. We don't wear masks anymore except around known COVID positive folks & we often don't know that people are positive til later, if at all ( because some really don't have symptoms & are only tested as part of a general work up for other things). I wore my mask at work longer than most & wish I had continued.
Here's the kicker, if I test negative today ( day 6 after positive) I would be expected back to work tomorrow. However, my usual scheduled days off give me an additional 4 days til return...lucky me. Occupational Health staff tell me we can't call this " work related" illness unless I can name the actual patient(s) I had "an unmasked exposure of more than 15 minutes, less than 6 feet apart to". Doesn't matter to me, I have 100's of hours of sick time accumulated. But seriously? Not work related in an ER, with no mask requirement and a known uptick in cases?? What are we playing at? Besides pretending people are only having those undefined "mild symptoms " we're also pretending one is as likely to get COVID from the customer in line at Trader Joe's as in an ER full of wheezing, sweating, yelling in your face, people with COVID. The worst thing? The administrators & Occupational Health staff NEVER asked about my symptoms or how I'm feeling! Way to protect your "Frontline Heroes"...hypocrites all!
I'm so sorry you are having to cope with all of that. That is some BS on the part of Admin and OccuHealth people.
Ooo, I wish you a good recovery and I'm sorry you got sick. I've yet to experience Covid, though I worked retail(convenience store, then drug store) since the pandemic began. I've started masking again in grocery stores and more crowded indoor places, because I know we're going through an uptake of cases.
Frontline heroes like you and 'essential workers' like me deserve better than this, we all deserve better. The masking thing was and is some of the most ludicrous parts of going through a pandemic. Soooooo many people just ignored/still ignore basic precautions and were really mad and ignorant about wearing masks. My company went back and forth on how to deal with customers, and in the end, decided not to have their minimum wage or barely above minimum wage workers try and enforce masks in the store.
I truly don't understand how people can be so....uncaring. My oldest friend of almost 35 years died from Covid complications(she was a kidney transplant patient with heart issues and the like, so very high risk), and she could've got vaccinated in January 2021 at Hopkins but didn't because her idiot boyfriend told her it would hurt her.
At her memorial service, various family members on her side and her boyfriend's side were all talking about how vaxxed people were dropping dead left and right from heart attacks, and it was the most baffling, maddening conversation to overhear at a funeral for someone who died from Covid.
Her boyfriend was taking about suing the hospital because she was in ICU and none of her family or boyfriend were vaccinated and the hospital wouldn't let them in. He also wanted to sue the EMT's for not taking her when she was well enough to say she didn't want to go.
I lost her right after my only sister, and it's just so sad.
Sorry, I sincerely hope you get better soon and I am sorry your work is treating you like that, that's ridiculous! 🙋🏻♀️☮️
So sorry you went through that.
Jesus, what a story. I don't think I could have a avoided making a scene at the memorial and I *hate* conflict. I'm so sorry you lost your friend and your sister too. My heart goes out to you.
It’s an added risk for specific public figures to admit to any severe medical condition, especially the POTUS and First Lady. Whether it’s intentional or not, or how unacceptably biased it might be, there are plenty of people who are repelled by seeing illness or physical impairment of any type. They have a strong association with those conditions and a personal fear of weakness. Some even vote Dem. It’s not okay. It’s not fair. But it’s enough to send those folks running. And, the severity of whatever condition someone is experiencing isn’t our business unless it might impact their ability to perform their duties to us. The WH is unique in that it’s part of their duty to project strength at all times. Our interpretations of what is strength vary, but the First Family represent everyone. It’s just simpler to retain some privacy. The Biden family already have enough issues with Hunter’s past addiction problems and current alleged scandals, and the constant propaganda about Biden’s age and cognitive acuity. I’m sure if it became severe, we would see him taking special time out of his duties to attend to his wife’s situation.
I have long COVID. It truly sucks, but has slowly improved over time. I think I read it averages about 8 months for symptoms to clear, if not longer. I had COVID last August. It was severe. Far worse than the worst flu. And the long COVID symptoms were immediately severe as well. I’m in the southeast and surrounded by people who won’t take precautions. It’s hard to blame them for not wearing masks in hot spaces, of which there are many. Hot and humid. But indoors is often cooler, so they have that option. They mostly don’t care. Also, my hubby has National Guard drill weekends every month, where he’s forced into close quarters with lots of people from all walks of life. That’s how I caught COVID. He got it first after a drill weekend, and brought it home to me before realizing he had it. Nobody in the NG is going to voluntarily wear masks in this heat either, and I can’t blame them. Their uniforms are already way to hot in this environment and they are frequently outside. To make protective measures worthwhile, they’d have to implement ALL of them, including distancing measures. It’s impractical for the military. Until people again start dying badly, en masse, I don’t expect to see any public outcry or serious demands for protective measures to be reinstated.
Mild is always a very relative term. My case of chicken pox was mild-to-moderate and I still have 4 small scars, 3 on my face, close to 40ys later. It was definitely worse than the nastiest bug bite I've gotten. (the after-bite itching I mean. Horse flies have a bite like a saber toothed cat.)
Got my first bout of the 'vid this week and yeah, even at 39 and a little chunky but otherwise healthy, this hasn't been a pleasant time.
When I had it in January most of the symptoms were less severe than the colds I typically get, except for the fatigue. The fatigue was unreal and lasted to some degree for 2 full weeks.
This is the NIH's definition of mild COVID: Individuals who have any of the various signs and symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, malaise, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell) but do not have shortness of breath, dyspnea, or abnormal chest imaging.
Yuck. That's bad enough.
as long as you're not dead yet, it's mild
Thank you for this, Stephen. I am literally the only person in my workplace who is still masking - in a building with sealed windows. My workplace is super-woke, and I assume everyone has had at least 3 or 4 vaxes. We do an onsite flu vax every year and I've asked if the Covid vax can be added to that event. The answer was a resounding "maybe."
Fuck these people. I need to not be working there anymore.
What I've learned from Covid is that people today in general know and understand less about contagious disease and vaccinations than my grandparents did