Since I've taken up this platform I've only put out one post "of my own" and that was really just a test to see if anyone would engage on this strange, new place I was checking out. I prefer to respond to other people and discuss what's on their minds rather than to put my own topics out there. But this has really been bugging me lately, so I'm going to throw it out there and if no one cares then nothing changes and I'll keep kicking it around in my own mind.
If you don't want to hear or think about COVID feel free to tune out now and not follow along with the rest of my thoughts.
I am really interested in what people have to say here, and I welcome any real life thoughts on the subject whether you are having the same experiences or not. What I'm really not interested in is any "COVID isn't real" or "plandemic" nonsense and I'll block accordingly.
I'm a scientist. I think accordingly I like numbers and stats. Those stats are often hard to come by during things like a pandemic, because science is often slow.
So, while I read a lot of studies and journals about what's going on in the world, one of the first things I did as I realized what *could* be happening was to start reading personal accounts wherever I could. One of the places that I keep in my mind daily is the long haulers sub on reddit. Every day I remind myself about the human toll by reading their, often jarringly, personal takes.
In that vain, I've been thinking a lot lately about the people I know and care for. My wife and I have never kept a very large social circle. It's just not the type of people we are. But, we have some family nearby and a handful of friends and coworkers with whom we keep in touch.
I'd like to share some generic info about the people we are closest to and what I'm really curious about is:
Is our experience unusual? Are you seeing something similar?
All anecdotal, of course. I'm not looking for a scientific, case study on the people around you. Just, generally, is this the way the world is now?
First up, my father. He's in his 70's, so some decline isn't unexpected. However, he's always been a very active person with a sharp mind. In his own words, since his 2nd COVID infection recently, he's "not up to much of anything" physically, and has absolutely crushing brain fog. I don't know if I've ever known someone who's read as many books as he has, but, he just can't at this point.
Continuing with family, my wife's parents. My mother in-law was never the healthiest person. It's hard to tease out her longterm issues from her more recent, but, cognitively she never had issues until recently. Now she's basically exactly what you see in the movies when they're trying to show you that someone's begging the decent into dementia. My father in-law had zero health issues until this year and now has cancer. COVID related from T-cell issues or not at all related there's no way to tell.
My wife's best friend since they were kids is clearly the lucky one here. She locked herself down for two years, never went anywhere without a mask and then at the beginning of this year just decided to be done with all of that. She's travelled around the country to weddings and restaurants and swears she's as healthy as ever and never even got sick this year. I take her at her word.
My best friend, on the other hand, also was extremely cautious for a couple of years and then decided he was over it early this year. He's a veteran and hasn't missed his morning run, rain, sleet or snow, for decades....until he got COVID. Afterward he physically couldn't any longer. All of his joints hurt. He was diagnosed with autoimmune, or rheumatoid, arthritis. Now, if you ask him COVID has absolutely nothing to do with it. It was just a coincidence, and, again, I'm not here to argue that. I'm talking strictly anecdotal experiences here.
I'm going way back to my first real post on Mastodon here. I've mentioned my wife's best friend quite a few times over the last couple of years.
I had another post about her when she asked about COVID precautions, and then refused. She went to Japan a few months back, unmasked, of course.
So, she calls my wife tonight and starts with "I'm wearing a heart monitor."
Long story short, after listening to her whole story of doctors visits, she has PEM. Her doctors haven't quite gotten there yet.
My wife went ahead and said that was pretty common after COVID, and she said, "Oh come on. I've only had it four times. Some people have had it way more often than me."
She has no clue, despite our best attempts.
@BE Some people can't be helped, no matter how hard you try.
Very true, and a lesson I am firmly aware that I'm working on. I have a hard time with that one!
@BE I've regrettably come to the conclusion that there is a disconcertingly high number of people who are not capable of making good healthcare choices for themselves (or others in their care).
@BE I think it is deeply rooted in human psychology. They can't believe in any world-view which would require them to change their behavior.
I once had someone who spent an extended stay in hospital specifically because of Covid (which resulted in a collapsed lung) tell me that Covid was just a cold now and that he couldn't suffer any more consequence due to how badly he'd had it previously.
People get actively disable and they won't change their outlooks.
@BE
My best friend now has a fibrillater...
I got tired of nagging at her about her boosters and she caught...RSV, recovering from that, COVID, almost died and now has the fibrillater.
My neighbor ...35-36 years old, had Covid twice and now is getting a pacemaker.
He can barely function but tells a great story on how much beer he & his brother bought when they found out they were positive and had to quarantine.
You can't fix stupid.
@palin @BE I gave up talking about covid with people a while ago - it’s pointless. I get to hear them talk about how they are sick and they can’t work for a few days (because obviously it’s so mild, they can’t even dial into a meeting from home /s). I don’t say anything, I change the subject after just an “mmhm” or a “shame”. I only talk about it on mastodon and with my wife who has the same view about it as me. We eye-roll so hard when we exchange COVID tales from work.
We had long since given up as well, however, my friend blacking out at work and me being called from the hospital as his emergency contact, and now this situation, both over the last few weeks, we thought gave us the opportunity to try one more time. Obviously it didn't go anywhere in the moment with either of them. Maybe it planted a seed.
Where I am, I see people who can't find words in conversation anymore. Three...no FOUR (and you should see me now as I keep correcting that number as I think) spouses have died after COVID. One refused vaccinations, one succumbed in combo with preexisting conditions, and now two spouses have "died suddenly". I needed a rental car and the rental place is backed up. The auto shops are backed up from crashes. Even had an officer tell me that there are a LOT of crashes nowadays.
1/2
2/2
People in no way shape or form will put all this together as fallout from a SARS virus. I have a lot of hippyish right wingers here that simultaneously want to avoid lead but also think it's in every vaccination.
Nobody is seeing it. It's all just "coincidence." I mean, of course there's no definitely way to be CERTAIN that all those people have fallout from COVID but the pattern is there, and if we get wave upon wave of immune-resistant variants this is NOT going to get better.
Having slept on this, and discussed over tea with my wife, we realized that with this latest health situation, we now can't think of a single person whom we interact with in real life that hasn't had a new onset health problem in the last 4 years. Not. One.
Small sample size, for sure, especially because we keep a small family and friend circle(we're both only children, for example). They range in age from my wife's friend, in just her 30's and now probably dealing with PEM, to my dad who is now in his upper 70's. We, literally, can't think of one person who we would describe as "fine" at this point.
I know it's not a statistically important sample size, but, if you really step back, imagine May of 2019, and think hard about it, who would have thought we'd be saying that 5 years later? And that everyone would say that it's normal and acceptable?
This week in 2019 we were preparing for a huge trip. We had Amtrak tickets and rental cars all lined up, and we visited 14 states, and spent some time in Washington DC, on a genealogical expedition throughout the whole summer. It was probably the best trip of our lives.
Mind blowing. That's all.