General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI just found this on Facebook: STAY AT HOME!
I debated w/ myself about going to the Emergency Room. I really did.
This shortness of breath is no joke, yall. I can kinda breathe alright so long as Im just...being.
Deep breaths hurt, though...its an ache, a burning sensation, & I cough if I try to breathe too deeply. I cant get up or move around too much because its hard to breathe & I feel lightheaded. I cant even really talk much because talking also makes it hard to breathe.
I have a headache, my throat hurts, my chest hurts, I feel feverish...I have all kinds of symptoms, some of which are common for this virus, others not so much but have still been reported w/ positive COVID-19 patients.
My symptoms are considered mild based on the Drs assessment last night. Mild. If this is mild, Id hate to feel what the 21 hospitalized patients in MN or the 5 we have/had in ICU felt.
If youre wondering why theyre shutting everything down for COVID-19 when they dont shut down for the flu?
Vaccine for Flu? ✅
Vaccine for COVID-19? 🚫
While some of you dont get the flu shot, quite a few people do. That means fewer people get the flu which, in turn, means fewer people spread the flu which means hospitals dont get so overwhelmed all at once.
COVID-19 is spreading like WILDFIRE. Yesterday, MN had 169 cases & this morning we had 235. Hennepin County is experiencing the fastest spread w/ 89 cases. Dont forget, thats ONLY MINNESOTAs numbers & ONLY CONFIRMED cases.
There are hundreds, thousands more not even being tested, like myself.
Sitting here in the ER right now, Im thinking of how they say you can be exposed & be asymptomatic for up to 14 days, spreading it (potentially) to hundreds of people without even knowing you have it.
I started having symptoms March 19th which means I could have been exposed as far back as March 5th.
Even though I pretty much already shelter in place (all I do is go to work, go home, & go to the store for groceries); wanna know where all I went in that 14 day time frame when I wasnt even feeling sick & had zero symptoms?
I went to Walmart.
I went to Target.
I went to Aldi.
(Seriously, yall panic buyers need to stop because I had to hit up 3 different stores to get what I needed.)
I went to the gas station.
I went to work.
I rode public transportation.
I picked my son up & dropped him back off at Job Corps (which means my son could have been exposed & carried it to JC w/ him).
I went to Church.
I had my oil changed.
I drove a loaner car.
The girls went to their fathers (possibly carrying it to his house where he lives w/ his very pregnant girlfriend & her two kids).
Now Im wondering how many people I could have spread it to? The sweet cashier I always chat w/ at Target that has lung cancer? The single mom I met at the store one night? The tech at the dealership? The person who used the keypad at the gas station or the store after me? Did I spread it to any of my coworkers?
Imagine if my Jason Aldean/Morgan Wallen concert hadnt been cancelled? Or if Id gone to get a mani/pedi during that time frame?
You wanna know WHY states are ordering people to STAY AT HOME, to SHELTER IN PLACE?
THIS. IS. WHY.
Because its new, we dont know much about it nor how to really treat it, weve never been exposed to it, & there isnt a vaccine.
Because its spreading like WILDFIRE.
Because, while most people (80% or so) have mild symptoms, not everyone is so lucky. Some peoples lungs fill up, they get pneumonia, they cant breathe & therefore suffocate or their oxygen levels get too low & they go into respiratory/organ failure...
Because people are coming into the ER & STEALING the masks the Drs & nurses use to protect themselves & the wipes they use to disinfect the beds, machines & other equipment.
Because my nurse said that they are, indeed, running low on supplies, on masks, on PPE, on other necessary gear & that they improvise where need be & are making do w/ what they have...
But they dont have enough.
Theres just not enough...
Theres not enough test kits to test all that have symptoms.
Theres not enough supplies for our hospitals, Drs, & nurses to protect themselves & those that come through their doors.
Theres not enough equipment to handle the potentially massive influx of people w/ mild or, worse, severe symptoms.
Theres not enough.
FM123
(10,054 posts)MLAA
(17,318 posts)Glad you shared it.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,678 posts)This needs to be seen everywhere, by everybody.
So brutally graphic and necessary.
Thank you for posting it, my dear The Velveteen Ocelot!
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)I hope she's okay. I'm so grateful for posts like this explaining what "mild" disease is because I think difficulty breathing naturally freaks a lot of us out and we might panic and call 911. But her story is in line with a lot of others I've read.
Here's a link to what I thought was an enormously helpful discussion, "How to nurse yourself through pneumonia at home"
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213134865
SuprstitionAintthWay
(386 posts)Somebody seems to have applied a very broad definition for "mild symtoms" for covid-19, one that's killing a lot of people who have been sent home, sometimes repeatedly, without being tested, to wait and see how much worse their difficulty breathing gets. When many have already told us it can get much worse fast. That's why some people have checked on self-quarantining friends or loved ones and found them dead. Suffocation only takes minutes.
So much of this flows from the disasterously restricted number of tests doctors have been allowed to perform.
Nobody has a clue how many infections there are for every one confirmed with a test. 10? 20? 50? We can't even make educated guesses. We're punching at this explosively contagious thing blind.
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)flibbitygiblets
(7,220 posts)Unless your job is critical, stay home. (And huge virtual hugs to the doctors, nurses, food and grocery workers out there).
ancianita
(36,130 posts)They believe us to be as expendable as the Amazon, oceans, animals, so let the microbes carry on in climate crisis mode.
"We who fly our ventilators and bought medical teams will survive" they think, as they carry the virus down to the greater and lesser Antilles to ride it out.
bucolic_frolic
(43,249 posts)That's what I'm reading on Twitter. Some are even saying Dr. Fauci won't need any further evidence to convince Trump that something serious is up.
I just don't know what to say or do. Atlantic article says to expect 18 months or more of this.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,806 posts)isn't going to happen - and he'll claim he never said he'd do it.
bucolic_frolic
(43,249 posts)Note how I capitalize "Billionaires" ... you know, they're important, like Business Gods
People should boycott their companies.
keithbvadu2
(36,869 posts)How fast can a virus / illness spread?
--------------------------------
Exponential at what rate?
https://i.imgur.com/6ri2fz3.mp4
AllyCat
(16,211 posts)Im with you. This was wildfire before, but now is astronomical.
Hope you feel better soon and thanks for your post!!
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,806 posts)It's from my city, though, which is scary enough.
DENVERPOPS
(8,844 posts)the most accurate description would not be "wildfire", but the term "conflagration"......
AllyCat
(16,211 posts)I believe the one who said it is a medical person
Thunderbeast
(3,417 posts)Many of you know that Google Maps has "Timeline" feature that keeps a diary of where you have been on any given day. While many folks turn this feature off for privacy reasons, I have kept mine on to help me remember things.
If I ever suspect a diagnosis or exposure to COVID 19, it will be a very useful diary that can re-trace my steps over previous weeks.
Just a thought about a potentially useful tool during this epidemic.
calimary
(81,419 posts)That will be VERY useful to see where you went, who you may have encountered, what's the area, what's the neighborhood, where exposure to the virus could be predicted with educated guesses, and testing can go there. Very helpful in refining searches, which we fucking have to fucking do because we fucking still don't have enough fucking tests.
We still need testing.
Full disclosure, there's a bit of me that quickly started grimacing and gritting my teeth, worrying about privacy and individual freedom and the ability to track where people are and have been if/when that ability gets into the wrong hands. Sigh. And that's the chance you alway take. That's the other side of the coin. The up and the down. High and low. Gains and losses. Benefits and drawbacks. "...giveth... and taketh away." One of the two faces of Janus, each looking the opposite direction from the other. Chocolate: tastes terrific/begets blubber. The electricity that lights your way and powers your life can deliver a shock that can kill.
And that has to be understood, going in. Are we willing to accept the risk? Do we even care about the risk in light of the biggest calamities and greatest needs all deluging us at once? At a time of desperation where desperate measures are needed to start solving gravest of problems? Which fork-in-the-road do we take?
There's a risk.
There's ALWAYS a risk.
Dammit.
7wo7rees
(5,128 posts)There is no security in nature; only opportunity.
Same for data it seems. It is a good idea for gathering our own data for our personal diary but we surrender it at the same time.
I feel it's a bad trade, while still an original use for it.
Good luck this week.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)The story isn't bad, as far as the conclusion and message, but holy crap, that's not 'shelter in place' at all.
Shrike47
(6,913 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,806 posts)I think she meant she wasn't socializing, going to restaurants, bars, movies, that kind of thing. I would call shelter in place not going out at all except in emergencies and having things delivered, which is what I've been doing for a couple of weeks and will continue to do for months, if necessary.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)I didn't read into it that way.
Yeah, I have gone one place in the last two weeks, Lowes, because my roof had a small leak and I needed materials. That's it. Pretty much camped in, here.
leighbythesea2
(1,200 posts)But that was the lamest shelter in place. That was like i complied with the schools closed & person to person contact services closed, (salon) and large gatherings are a no.
Great post for giving a clear picture of why its critical to stay at home!
leighbythesea2
(1,200 posts)My best friend whos a paramedic now working at an urgent care was assigned to inventory.
As of Friday, the table-top dispensers of sanitizer,
they had a total of 3.
Michigan--And her assessment is they are in the lull before the storm. People are symptomatic & coming in, but not bad enough to refer to the hospital, mostly. They are being sent home. Give it ten days.
calimary
(81,419 posts)Here's a virtual hug.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,392 posts)Save health care workers, who save lives: Stay home as much as possible!
Joinfortmill
(14,446 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,806 posts)Im fine, hope the writer is OK by now too.
warmfeet
(3,321 posts)Good luck to all not yet having symptoms.
Good luck everyone.
Good luck.
sheshe2
(83,846 posts)pecosbob
(7,542 posts)Today in an eight hour shift I probably was face to face with five hundred people...mostly just there to buy cigarettes or beer or snacks (none of which I would call essential). Groups of five or six that insist on each being rung up separately with a bag of gummies and some chips. People are not getting the message.
CozyMystery
(652 posts)People on the front lines include people who work for essential businesses. It is selfish to risk giving C19 to them. They aren't fully protected any more than the medical people are.
Some of us have C19, don't know it and spread it around. Strictly followed shelter in place isn't about the rugged individual protecting him/herself from disease and death. It is about protecting our greater community of over 300 million people, and in so doing, our individual selves will also be protected.
Not doing so is selfish, but many will grab at any straw to benefit themselves by rationalizing away the scientific facts. Lots of straws available especially from the advice given by stupid, evil people at high levels of state and federal governments, religious organizations, the media, and of course, the rich who want their canon fodder to get back to work.
It freaking amazes me that we are in the midst of a global emergency, and still people use the power of the governments, the power of the pulpit, the power of the media, the power of money, to spread a message that contradicts facts and has already led to disease and deaths.
Our federal government's response to this crisis leaves me without many words, except get me out of here! This country has hit a new low, IMO.