Coronavirus

[earlene]

Well, our plan is looking good. We met with our banker yesterday & I spoke with the realtor this morning. Due to her self-quarantine (one of her clients tested positive, which she found out a couple of days after do a showing, and also a secretary in her office also tested positive), we are proceeding with only phone calls and electronic missives & meetings at this point. That's fine for us, we already know the property well enough, having been intimately involved with preparation for sale in the first place.

My son & DIL are very happy that they are so close to being out from under the burden of this house and all the nightmares of renting during a pandemic. I sent them money to get the mortgage payments up to date, so that won't be hanging over their heads while we wait for the process of the sale to complete itself (the appraisal, the title search and all the other required stuff that takes some time). And once we have a binding agreement I can start taking things over there to prepare it for my other son.

That's the nice thing about it being in family as well as in town; I can actually start getting things in place for when my older son comes, so he & we have less to do when he actually does move in. We have some furniture for him, which will make it that much easier for him. Moving furniture 2000 miles is costly, way more costly than what he has is worth, so I am happy we have things he will be able to use, as is he.

In the meantime, I have surgery the day before Thanksgiving, so I'll be having another CoVid test a few days ahead of that, as per the current requirement for pre-surgical lab tests. I'm actually glad that it is required so it will be done. I don't have any real concerns that I have been exposed or have symptoms, but I like knowing for sure prior to traveling to California to help him with the move.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

In the meantime, I have surgery the day before Thanksgiving,

LOL I'm sorry, but I had to laugh. It all seemed fine and dandy until I got to this sentence and you @earlene blithely saying this like you're the Ringmaster of a 3-ring circus, but you must step out for a bit to eat a piece of cake! You're one amazing woman!

Wishing you all the best and most certainly, that all runs smoothly, especially the surgery.

 

[earlene]

LOL I'm sorry, but I had to laugh. It all seemed fine and dandy until I got to this sentence and you @earlene blithely saying this like you're the Ringmaster of a 3-ring circus, but you must step out for a bit to eat a piece of cake! You're one amazing woman!

Wishing you all the best and most certainly, that all runs smoothly, especially the surgery.

Zany, my surgery is minor: a simple ganglion cyst repair and a repair of a thumb joint that was damaged in a skiing accident (not recent.) If I have to wait for it, it won't be a problem for me personally, unless I have to wait until after Hubby retires, then insurance coverage could be a factor. Same hand for both surgeries; sort of 2 for the price of 1.


However, my husband just commented to me that 'they might cancel your surgery' because we had a horrendous spike of cases in our county yesterday: 273 new cases in one day! We live in a much less populated county than many others, so this was a huge shock, paticularly since most days there aren't even that many tests performed in our county. In addition to that, MIL's nursing home called yesterday to report that they are on 'double lockdown' because there are 5 staff & 2 residents who have tested positive. This is the first time a single resident (aka patient) has ever tested positive here. And also the first time more than one staff person has tested positive.

I speculate that the increased testing in our county was a result of a combination of contact tracing & the recommendation by public health officials that people get tested if they voted in person at public polling sites (particularly with long lines, etc.) Hubby & I voted in person at the country elections office on the first early voting day for Illinois and there was no line of people when we went and in spite of his work, we have felt pretty safe with the precautions we both take.

Although... Hubby did work the polls on Tuesday for 14 1/2 hours in a large room with unknown air quality. But he wore his mask properly all day (he always wears his mask properly all day at work as well), eye protection and gloves and was behind a plexiglass barrier as well. The distance between the other judges was 5 feet on either side, so his only concern is how close he was to them, rather than the voters themselves. Still, we have no idea about the air ventilation methods used in the building where the polls took place that day, and his mask was not an N95, which it probably should have been in that situation.

So now, we obviously feel the need to be even more cautious when shopping or whatever.

And I am seriously considering buying an air purifier to increase our air quality at home. I've been thinking about it for some time now, but have just sort of kept putting off making a decision. I think it's time for that decision.

PS: The county where the surgery is scheduled (next county over) also had a huge spike in cases yesterday, as well, so it is possible my husband is correct and the surgery could be cancelled. We shall see.

 

[BattleGnome]

I would suggest the air purifier. A few weeks ago I posted a Mayo Clinic article about it: get a virus rated filter and keep the air moving. Anything is better than nothing. A few months ago I read an article about radiators, specifically the near useless/confusing ones in NYC apartments - apparently they were invented/installed during the 1918 pandemic and intended to be warm enough to keep the house from freezing with your windows open. even without the science the hope was in ventilation at all costs

 

[Catscankim]

@earlene I am so sorry for all your troubles. Will be keeping you and yours in my thoughts.

Hospitals are greedy, so I am 99.94% (pun intended) sure that your surgery will not be cancelled. Most hospitals started elective surgeries as soon as they possibly could after the pandemic started, and I don’t see them changing their minds now.

Stay safe, and good luck on your surgery.

 

[TashaBird]

I have sparkle mica everywhere. So, I can relate to this metaphor. Hope y’all are staying safe and sane.

 

[Lin19687]

@earlene I am so sorry for all your troubles. Will be keeping you and yours in my thoughts.

Hospitals are greedy, so I am 99.94% (pun intended) sure that your surgery will not be cancelled. Most hospitals started elective surgeries as soon as they possibly could after the pandemic started, and I don’t see them changing their minds now.

Stay safe, and good luck on your surgery.

I just want to point out the words "elective surgeries" which means ANYTHING that wasn't do e on your ER visit... basically.
Please know that just because it is called that doesn't mean it isn't a serious or semi-emergent problem. ie: a massive Hernia is elective, strangulated hernia would also still be elective depending on how long it has been strangled....

Hospitals still need to make money to run or they shut down.

 

[earlene]

Well, first, my surgery is not in hospital; it's at an ambulatory surgery facility. I had an EKG today in prep for it, so it's not being cancelled due to CoVid, at least not as yet. I will have a mandatory CoVid test 2 days prior to the date of surgery and then isolated until the surgery.

However, my husband came home from work a few days ago and said one of the other Supervisors at work tested positive, and because of contact tracing (and with videotape verification) 3 others he has exposed via playing cards together (without masks on) in the breakroom at lunchtime, they all are out for 14 days. Hubby had not worked with any of them last week because he was off work for most of the week, however, this does leave his shift short-staffed. Today he worked as the only supervisor and no Lead, so with the staffing dificulties, it was an exhausting day for him and he was really looking forward to this 2 days off.

Then just as he was getting settled in for a relaxing afternoon, one of his staff texted him that one of the 3 who were sent to quarantine has now tested positive. As it turns out, she also exposed more staff the day after the incident where they were all exposed playing cards without masks on? Guess how she exposed the others the next day? Playing cards in the break room while not wearing masks! So now more staff have to get tested and quarantine.

So now I am feeling anxiety. He always wears a mask around his co-workers. But I don't know how safe that break room is when he eats lunch. He assures me he was not exposed on those particular days, because he was off for the election (he worked the polls & took a couple of extra days as well). But that's no guarantee some other exposure might not have happened.

 

[Catscankim]

I just want to point out the words "elective surgeries" which means ANYTHING that wasn't do e on your ER visit... basically.
Please know that just because it is called that doesn't mean it isn't a serious or semi-emergent problem. ie: a massive Hernia is elective, strangulated hernia would also still be elective depending on how long it has been strangled....

Hospitals still need to make money to run or they shut down.

I was saying that exact same thing. Sorry I wasnt clear enough, and sorry to upset you.

 

[Dawni]

Loves, need a few more prayers please.. On top of everything, my uncle just tested positive for covid

He was taken to the hospital Friday, in the middle of the storm, when he complained of tightness in the chest. Prior to that him, his wife n my cousin were all sick with flu like symptoms. They have recovered but he's still bad.

Please keep my other countrymen in your prayers too. Our government cannot help everyone with covid plus the people who are affected by the two storms.

 

[AliOop]

@Dawni you definitely have my prayers for healing, comfort, and relief from these storms.

 

[Relle]

No cases in the last 5 days in Australia.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

@Dawni you definitely have my prayers for healing, comfort, and relief from these storms.

Ditto.

 

[earlene]

Dawni, best wishes to your uncle and your family.

 

[beckster51]

Loves, need a few more prayers please.. On top of everything, my uncle just tested positive for covid

He was taken to the hospital Friday, in the middle of the storm, when he complained of tightness in the chest. Prior to that him, his wife n my cousin were all sick with flu like symptoms. They have recovered but he's still bad.

Please keep my other countrymen in your prayers too. Our government cannot help everyone with covid plus the people who are affected by the two storms.

Dawni, I hope all goes as well as it can for you and yours. I thought about you when the storms hit and hoped you were OK. Now, your uncle is sick? It seems it is a constant challenge these days. Take care of you as well as everyone else.

 

[beckster51]

Well, first, my surgery is not in hospital; it's at an ambulatory surgery facility. I had an EKG today in prep for it, so it's not being cancelled due to CoVid, at least not as yet. I will have a mandatory CoVid test 2 days prior to the date of surgery and then isolated until the surgery.

However, my husband came home from work a few days ago and said one of the other Supervisors at work tested positive, and because of contact tracing (and with videotape verification) 3 others he has exposed via playing cards together (without masks on) in the breakroom at lunchtime, they all are out for 14 days. Hubby had not worked with any of them last week because he was off work for most of the week, however, this does leave his shift short-staffed. Today he worked as the only supervisor and no Lead, so with the staffing dificulties, it was an exhausting day for him and he was really looking forward to this 2 days off.

Then just as he was getting settled in for a relaxing afternoon, one of his staff texted him that one of the 3 who were sent to quarantine has now tested positive. As it turns out, she also exposed more staff the day after the incident where they were all exposed playing cards without masks on? Guess how she exposed the others the next day? Playing cards in the break room while not wearing masks! So now more staff have to get tested and quarantine.

So now I am feeling anxiety. He always wears a mask around his co-workers. But I don't know how safe that break room is when he eats lunch. He assures me he was not exposed on those particular days, because he was off for the election (he worked the polls & took a couple of extra days as well). But that's no guarantee some other exposure might not have happened.

How frustrating and scary! I hope all goes well, Earlene. And I hope your surgeries go well. You definitely have too much going on!

 

[earlene]

My surgery was post-poned due to an anomaly in my EKG; I just got the call this morning. They want me to be cleared by a cardiologist, and of course I can't get an appointment soon enough for that to happen. First off, my cardiologist is in Texas and and I had not yet found one here to replace him. Second, even the surgery center didn't think I'd be able to get clearance before the scheduled date anyway.

So I searched for a local cardiologist who does AVT ablations, patient reviews & my Insurance site to get a cardiologist to call for an appointment. I can't get into see him until February 1st, so no hand surgery this year. I contacted the hospital where my ablation was done to start the medical record release process, printed & completed the form, which I have to FAX or mail to them with a photocopy of my government-issued ID so they can send the info to my new cardiologist.

I would have put this in the gripe thread, except it's probably a good thing. Having hand surgery a month before driving across country & helping my eldest son move, was not the best plan anyway. The drive and the process of his move will be much easier with full use of both my hands.

Another co-worker at Hubby's work tested positive for CoVid & is now out for a minimum of 2 weeks.

One of the co-workers who tested positive last week was hospitalized, on a ventilator and so sick she thought she was going to die, but is now back home again. She will be out longer than the originally expected 2-week quarantine, because her doc won't clear her this soon, for obvious reasons.

Hubby said yesterday that because of the above hospitalized co-worker's condition, he has been able to come down hard on all the staff that report directly to him, demanding they take this more seriously. No more maskless faces while taking card-playing breaks in the break-room. It's about time they realize this is life-threatening. And they should be wearing gloves, too, despite the fact that that might make playing cards more difficult. But, geez, people, 20% of staff are out because they tested positive, are sick or are out on quarantine from exposure by a co-worker!

The good news is that upper management is now requiring they all wear face shields as well and have provided 3 different types to accommodate different needs/preferences.

 

[The Park Bench]

I'm sitting outside of the surgery center because, as of yesterday, they won't let loved ones in. My 23 year old son is having his first surgery ever. At least I personally know the recovery room nurse who is keeping me updated. God did not give me a spirit of fear, but I would still prefer to be in there with my son

 

[Kari Howie]

I just posted on Facebook a coronavirus paper I wrote for our church that y'all may find useful. It's on my FB page Kari Roberson-Howie.

 

[Obsidian]

I get to go in for a corona test today and I'm not happy about it.
I wear my mask, stay away from people and wash often but a good 90% of the population here doesn't.

I have anxiety and its running full bore, I'm scared and trying not to freak out. The test itself has me freaked too, I have a issue with things going in noses.