Wellness Check?

[Judy K]

Things sure are quiet around here. Is everyone doing well? Affected by pandemics or riots?

My household is doing well enough. No Chinese Wuhan flu in the family, or in our immediate area. Our county has had slightly over 2 dozen cases with no deaths. My younger brother has been dealing with cancer since last August. Luckily his chemo & radiation (in Columbus) ended just before the covid panic kicked in to high gear. Sure am glad to be country gal for a multitude of reasons right now.

[jimwasson]

Well at this end. I've concluded my work as an OT at a county extended care / subacute rehab facility, and am now 'retired.' We were wearing masks at work all day for the last 2(+) months, and had screening questions / temperature checks each day. As of the day I left, we had no residents / patients with the virus.

We've had 759 cases of COVID-19 to date in our county, with 28 deaths. Other counties in Michigan have had a much greater problem.

Our church is slowly returning to having live in person services, with an internet option for those who don't feel safe in gathering or who think they might pose a significant risk to others.

[Judy K]

Congratulations on your retirement, Jim! Hope you can get out and enjoy the summer now. Can't imagine what you've had to deal with, particularly with some of the strange rules your governor made for the poor state of Michigan, according to Fox news.

In my county in Ohio most of the churches could still hold services but decided to shut down to protect the older members. We've been 'open' since the mid-May, but too many people are still afraid to be out and about. My best friend got into such a tizzy that she had a couple of panic attacks which possibly led to a 'minor' heart attack. She nearly had another one when she was told that no one could be with her or visit her in the hospital.

[jimwasson]

Churches here were never prevented from meeting by the government, and some have quietly continued to do so throughout.

[RonKiley]

I am alive and well. No virus or flu. I did get an upsetting health issue today. The “permanent” dental bridges I have are deteriorating and need to be replaced. The doctor is trying to minimize my cost. I have a major problem. I have no insurance and no money. LOL but I am having fun playing whistles, harmonica and ukulele. We have been going for walk outside each day that the temperature is below 80. I didn’t realize the board was still up until I saw a post on Facebook of Josh playing a low whistle. I will be back from time to time as long as people are posting. I am 81 now so I can’t travel as much as use to. I can visit friends here and on faceblook and instagram. Good to see you all again. Ron

[Judy K]

Hi, Ron!

Good to hear you are doing fairly well at 81. Hope Ms. Ella is also doing well. Sorry about the dental issues. Would offer to start a go fund me for you but I'm close to the same in the 'no money' category. Found a very good deal on a used car (a much needed item!) that required cash for payment. All my liquid assets just flowed right away in the purchase.

Come to Ohio. We have some pretty good insurance available for people with no insurance and no money. A few years ago it probably saved my life.

[mack]

Mack is well and mostly active
Maybe a little more productive.
Isolation hasn’t been preventive.
Just the opposite-inventive!
Folks with fewer life distractions
Finding musical attractions
In whistles!
Yep still making them!
Still obsessed!

[Judy K]

Hi, Mack!

Can't say I noticed much isolation here either. Life went about same as always. My nephew took over any shopping needed, which he had been doing anyway since December. The "re-opening" rules have been crazier than isolation rules. Getting my new vehicle tagged is going to be very irritating & troublesome. Think I'll use up every day of the temporary tag in hopes for a return to sanity at the DMV.

[Joelle]

Hi y'all!

Thankfully my family has stayed safe through the virus and riots. Some indirect effects though -- we live 20 minutes from a major mall here in Georgia, and about an hour from Atlanta. So with the riots, we've been avoiding some highways or areas of town until everything calms down. And my college switched to online mid-semester, so we moved to Florida then back up to Georgia again in the span of a couple months. Then we had a virtual graduation ceremony; they mailed us our caps and gowns

What a blessing that your brother's treatment wasn't affected by this, Judy. Glad to hear everyone is doing well

[Judy K]

Good to see you, Joelle!

A virtual graduation with a mailed cap & own? Wow, that had to be a bit weird ... much like most of 2020.

Congratulations on your graduation!

[jrc]

All well here - 3rd week of a new job (again). Hopefully the last for a long time. Karen works from home - has been out maybe three times since March 16th and hasnt' missed it a bit

Been lurking a bit. Always good to hear from you all, glad you're all 'rona free.

[Judy K]

Hey, jrc!

Glad you both are doing well. Good luck with the new job. Hope it leaves you some time for your music.

[ConnieS]

Well, I’m pretty sure I got the virus, but it was a mild case. Not bad enough to seek treatment, so no official testing. On a Tuesday I ran into someone who had had “chills” the day before. No fever, though, and he felt better, so he thought it was safe to run around. Thursday the neighbor had a huge tree removed, a piece at a time. Every time I opened the door family would go on about how wonderful it smelled, but I couldn’t smell anything. Then later I found some potatoes that were so rotten they were liquified. I showed Roger, who practically retched. But I didn’t smell them.

So I laid low. Sunday I felt some mild cold symptoms, took some zinc, felt better by Monday. Then we self isolated for a couple of weeks. Roger got a scratchy throat. That’s it! I’m very thankful for both of us. Were it not for the no smell smoking gun, I would have thought we both had mild summer colds. Honestly, I’m not going around bragging about it much, because the contract tracers are pretty thick in my neck of the woods. I know a couple who had to fill out a 35 page form for them.

Thanks for asking, Judy, and I’m glad everyone doing okay virus-wise!

[Judy K]

Wow, Connie, glad you & Roger are doing well now. The girls are also doing well?

I hadn't heard about the 'no smell' side effect. Looked it up and found the following:

Most common symptoms include:
Fever
Dry cough
Tiredness
Less common symptoms:
Aches and pains
Sore throat
Diarrhea
Conjunctivitis
Headache
Loss of taste or smell
a rash on skin, or discoloration of fingers or toes
Serious symptoms:
Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
Chest pain or pressure
Loss of speech of movement (think this should be or movement)

Seems like almost any disease is covered with these "symptoms". In late November/early December of 2019, most of the schools in our area were closed due to a widespread 'flu-like' disease that did NOT test as the flu. Everyone who had this suspects they had the Wuhan flu then.

[ConnieS]

That loss of smell thing has kind of become a red flag, as it’s not been the hallmark of other illnesses—at least as far as I know. Unless you have a stuffy nose and can’t taste or smell. My nose was clear, as is reported by COVID patients.

You know, Judy, that November illness—we had that over here, too. In fact, I was pretty sure I’d already had this thing. One of our school systems shut down for it. The dry cough was terrible and lingered for a while. And my immune system was weak for most of the winter.

So I do wonder about that. Did I not have COVID the second time? The guy I ran into on Tuesday, had spent the weekend with his brother, who had just been contact traced for working with someone with COVID.

I dunno. I wonder if maybe I had a strain that had mutated, and I could get it, but it was mild because my antibodies kind of recognized it and fought it off. I am clueless.

Did you get the one in November, Judy?

[ConnieS]

Oh, the girls are doing well. They’re both staying away from college until college can get its act together on this. One works at a Casey’s full time and the other is laid off from the public library. She’s been laid off since March, so she’s looking around for other jobs.

[Judy K]

Did you get the one in November, Judy?

I've managed to avoid about everything catchable so far. In November, we were in Columbus for 3 weeks. My brother's cancer surgery was on the 6th ... and it did not go exactly right. He ended up in ICU for a week because some stitches were torn loose while removing a tube. (It is a crime that medical error is the 3rd leading cause of death in this country.) My little sister and her family most likely had "whatever" in November. She went to the ER; was told it wasn't the flu, yet was treated for respiratory problems.

I think no one will ever know the truth behind any of this mess. I know that I am more than ready to start kicking over the traces with each new rule or order.

She’s been laid off since March, so she’s looking around for other jobs.

Has she tried any of the remote telemarketing style or customer service jobs? I know a few people who were doing customer service calls from home before the covid hit the fan. One lady is very good and usually makes however much she wants each year. She has health issues so working from home really works well for her.

[ConnieS]

She hasn’t tried remote customer service. Not sure of the fit with her anxiety disorder (unhappy customers all day), but she’s pretty good at gushing what she can handle.

Right now she’s in the running for a University library job, which would be a GREAT fit and would allow for some free schooling.

It’s horrible what happened to your brother. I hope his whole medical situation improves. These are tough times for medical treatment. I feel like I should be praying for him, and will do so.

[Judy K]

We appreciate any and all prayers, Connie. Thank you!

Just that one 'goof' made a 14 hour surgery into a 16.5 hour surgery. I don't know how the surgeons can handle it. Luckily his surgery this month was only 4+ hours and he was home in 5 days. A much better result!

I'll send up some extra prayers that your darling daughter get the perfect job. I can't imagine a better job environment than being surrounded by books all day.