Coronavirus: start the clock · 9:40pm May 8th, 2020
Yesterday was her pain doctor appointment. This remains the one thing where she actually sees the physician in person, because she's on a controlled substance and the state has laws. That scrip has no refills, is renewed by the month, and you must show up. So... I had to take her out. Mask and gloves, but her discipline with the former is horrible: lots of adjustments, frequent nose exposure, went for a drink... let's just say there was a lot of face touching involved. But we went into the office, we saw her doctor, and I managed to keep her grocery visits to one.
The doctor's office just called.
One of his staff members was just diagnosed with coronavirus.
(Said staff member is currently fine. Asymptomatic. I asked.)
So. We didn't exactly have close contact with her. But... some degree of shared space, and of course there's no way of telling what she handled or worked with before we got there. And did I mention my mother's mask discipline was horrible? Lots of face-touching? I think most of you remember the whole 'on an immunosuppressant, with underlying respiratory problem' thing...
We are being encouraged to, at the first sign of any symptoms, contact her primary physician. But as we all know, this thing can take up to two weeks to appear after exposure, so..
It's not that the timer just began running. It's been going ever since this started.
But now I can hear it ticking.
Jesus man that's stressful. Hopefully she didn't get exposed. I hope things go ok.
Oh no! I hope things are okay.
I wish you and your mother good fortune and a distinct lack of infection.
Hope nothing comes of this. SADLY this nasty virus shares symptoms with so many other things
It's possible to get testing for her in this scenario. Highly at risk person, some known contact with infected person. At that point it's worth asking around to see if she can be tested.
5258503
I just checked.
Short form: either she has to show symptoms or I need to get in contact with her primary for the testing scrip. And of course, I got this call on a Friday as regular office hours were shutting down -- so I have to wait for Monday. The only way to get things done any faster is if she manifests signs of the disease before then.
...yes, I know I've been focusing on her exposure. My odds are slightly better (if only because my mask discipline is an improvement on hers), but I could have this too. Of course, I don't have a primary physician. Or a secondary. Or any doctor at all, because America. But I'm sure a host of medical professionals stand ready to refuse a scrip and if all else fails, there's always the urgent care center.
If she gets this, I may be able to get her a hospital bed and then isolate myself. (I don't know about the former. There's a lot of cases around here: around 1.4% of the local population has caught this, and we only have so many hospitals.) But if I get it... I'm the lone caregiver. I can't look after her and isolate myself from her at the same time.
Problem.
Currently, the plan is to wait for Monday and then see if I can get through to her primary. I'd rather have this diagnosed before symptoms begin -- but test availability may not allow that.
5258514
Hope you are lucky and it's very minor
My wife and I just got over our two weeks of self-quarantine because by unfortunate coincidence she visited a local Costco on a day when one of their staff tested positive. My wife is in her early sixties, but in excellent health. Still I worried a lot, and even though neither she nor I developed symptoms it’s not an experience I would wish on anyone. Hang in there, Estee.
I hope it turns out that neither you or her were exposed enough to contract the virus. I know we can't do much more than wish you the best, but you've got all of that I can offer, Estee.
I dunno what to say, except that I wish the best for you two.
I’m so sorry to hear that you have this stress hanging over you now, beyond the everyday threat. I wish you and your mother the best.
Good luck.
My best wishes for you both.
OMG!
This is a rather cold thing to say, but.....
You have put your affairs in order, right?
Last Will & Testament, named an executor.
+ Who's going to take care of her if she lives & you don't?
Nobody EVER does these things,
because it means admitting that you might die
But, IMO, in your situation it's important
& remember how much fun this was, because
They ain't going to have a vaccine available
for AT LEAST 5-6 months
Longer if you believe the drug companies rather than DJT
So, you are going to have encore performances!
5258555
But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Once the vaccine is deployed, it's done for. It isn't mutating, and the "spike proteins" that make it particularly effective at infecting and harming humans aren't changing at all. If they do? It won't be infectious or as infectious anymore. If it doesn't? The vaccine will work 100%, no secondary strain.
Of course the light is the headlights of an oncoming train called "global economic crisis" with 20 million plus Americans out of work and every industry seeing huge losses...
You and her are probably going to be okay. The odds are with you anyway even with her poor technique. If you’re not there’s not much you can do anyway. A vaccination will be a LONG time in coming though, so this will not be the last time you face the situation. Look to the next time: what did you do wrong, what did you do right, what should you be doing now to make it easier then?
Annnnd: is she really safer with you than she might be in an institution? There’s risk either way.
5258572
Weeell.....IMO, it depends
Here in Az. it looks like they'll be lifting the shutdown May 15
(Depends on availability of testing, but IMO it's going to get U*G*L*Y
if they don't lift it)
The economy might bounce back when businesses reopen.
Of course, the meat packing industry looks to have problems....
For starters, even if you are exposed and do catch it, there is a 3-4 day window where all the testing in the world won't show you positive. Also if you catch and and are asymptotic, all testing does is be able to tell people you've been in contact with that they've been exposed. Third, the clinic staff in all odds was also masking, so the odds of catching it drop fairly dramatically with one mask, even more with two.
So really, you're in the same boat as most of the planet: wash your hands, wear a mask if you're in public with other people, minimize contact with other peeps, and keep an eye out for unexplained fever. It's a big boat.
5258590
Also the three top funders for the vaccine research includes Miss Dolly
But man do I want to live in the world where Obama or Romney were handling this.
Damn...I'll be praying for you, I hope you both managed to get by unscathed
Time will tell. I wish i could offer something more encouraging.
i wish you luck.
"hugs you all kinds of tightly"
I'm praying for both you ;-;
:hugs:
I’m so sorry. At least you have advance warning, her doctors are doing trace and contact?
I hope everything turns out fine, man. Good luck. We're rooting for you.
5258588
& give it to her 
Estee's luck
Her mother will catch the virus
Good luck, Estee.
I'll freely admit to not being a very religious person. I was, somewhat, when I was younger, but that was because my parents impressed upon me the importance of their belief. They never did impress the importance of choice; I had to discover that on my own. I've found that the choice of belief is harder to make when all the "beliefs" you've held were not borne of your own discoveries.
I'm not very religious... but if anyone should choose to pray, you can bet you're not alone.
Stay safe.
5258691
Yes & a Fat Lot Of Good that does.
Vibes and good luck.
5258637
The way the US government is set up, changing any one person doesn't do as much as you'd hope, not even the President... which is a good thing, because the Founding Fathers set it up that way knowing the system favored people like Trump over people who could actually govern effectively.
I hope that the person who tested positive had good mask discipline. So none of those germs got out to infect you and/or your mother.
5258613
I'd call that an exceptionally poor choice of big boats.
5258875
Fun fact, a good chunk of the Founders didn't want a party system
5258930
And given that the presidency is already entirely separate from the other elected officials, those founders had a point. To say nothing of what partisanship does to discourse...
5258875
Weird flex but ok
They're both sure as fuck a hell of a lot more intelligent than cheeto man
5258975
Not denying that, just pointing out that government is a group effort and Trump can only really be held accountable for his own personal actions... most of which involve completely ignoring the proper safety measures while making a presentation of them, so he's still an idiot.
5258978
Ok boomer
5258941
Yup, rather than a person who knows what the fuck he's doing, we have a case where "Hey, I have more money, make me president!" or the like. Like, I know Republicans and even fairly right-wing folks who hate Trump
5258985
Pointing out that it took dozens of stupid people to cause this disaster, not just the one you know the name of.
Oooh boy. I'm so sorry this landed on your plate too… Were the nurses and doctors at least wearing masks?
5258555
Much longer. 12-18mos.
Damn. Been out of the loop for a while. I'm so sorry this has happened. Take good care of yourself and your mom. I hope it all turns out for the best. You're doing all you can, so save a little empathy for your own self too. Sorry I didn't catch this for days.