COVID survivors

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Sam
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COVID survivors

Post by Sam »

I am sorry I have not checked in for a while. On December 28 I tested positive for the coronavirus after I had a fever. For a while I thought that all I was doing was having a fever and feeling a little bit tired, but we got an oxygen reader and one time it went down to 89. I contacted my primary care physician, and he told me if it stayed in the 80s I needed to get to the emergency room. Well on January 4 it did just that, and stayed around 87 with a temperature of 102.7. I was admitted to the emergency room and stayed for four days. I am still not symptom-free but my oxygen levels are back up and my fever appears to be gone. They sent me home with oxygen although I’ve tried not to use it and I’ve got a little plastic breathing tube apparatus to use to help strengthen my lungs. I’ve got laryngitis through coughing too much and Talking takes the wind out of me. At least I did not have pneumonia.
ShadowsDad
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by ShadowsDad »

It has a survival rate of 99.87 or some such. Good that you were one of the survivors. I had it in early - mid February '20. I didn't know what it was and neither did my Dr. . Similar symptoms to yours. I was going to make the call on O2 levels if I saw 90% which is low for me. No problems breathing but I just couldn't get the O2 into my blood. The thing I remember most though was the shivering and being cold despite being bundled up. Shivering doesn't hardly cover it. It was violent shaking. That was for an hour or so, then I'd get a few hours break from it. I didn't know what I had, I just knew that I'd never had anything like it before. Then in late April the CDC released new symptoms and my wife called me to the TV and asked me to watch. When I heard the symptoms I knew what I had. My normal O2 % is 98-99 and I'm just getting back to that in the past month, so symptoms linger, or they did for me.
Brian

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Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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drmoss_ca
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by drmoss_ca »

Sorry to hear that, both of you. O2 saturations are very confusing to many, as 90% sounds pretty damn good, but is actually awful. If it's below 94%, and is an accurate reading, you're in the shit. Sam, your little plastic tube is proven to open airways and may well make a big difference. Use it as often as prescribed. Four people in my extended family have had it, and one died (all in the UK, not here).

Please, everyone, wear your masks. We now know that over half of transmission is by asymptomatic people.
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
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fallingwickets
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by fallingwickets »

good to hear that you gents are on the mend. what a nightmare

clive
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Sam
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by Sam »

Brian. That shivering was the first sign along with the fever. Never could warm up. I’ve never really had difficulty breathing and my cough has been dry and without phlegm. Headaches a lot. Nausea gone but no big appetite.

Chris I always though 94 was a good level. I have oxygen they sent me home with but I’m gonna do that machine every hour
ShadowsDad
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by ShadowsDad »

Sam, I lost my appetite too. I was in ketosis so it was no big deal for me. My wife was upset that I wouldn't eat for 4 days. I just looked at it as a great weight loss program (seriously). Got huge lower GI distress too, but that also could have been from my med's that I take. I have no idea if I lost my sense of taste since I wasn't eating, plus it was the last thing on my mind.

edit: I'm pretty certain I know where I got it from. I go to Phase3 Cardiac Rehab and a woman there was the nurse for a local college (Unity college). After I went back to CR I mentioned the symptoms of what I had and her comment was, "Oh, you had the Unity Flu.". It had gone right through the college and she was around it. I figure it came in on her clothing. maybe her jacket. Later I was in for day surgery (a test) and since the hospital was mostly closed I was the only person in the huge room. I overheard the nurse at the desk and a Dr. talking and later carried on a conversation with the nurse. Her parents had it and survived months before I had it. My point is that it was here long before anyone admitted to it.

Doing research on it afterward I found it interesting that in order to be statistically less likely to contract it be 1) Female and 2) have an O blood type.

That same research turned up a CDC paper on the efficacy of masks in blocking a virus. If anyone wants a copy of it ask me in a PM or email and I'll send it. The short story is that it's like stopping smoke with a hurricane fence. Another study that I didn't save showed that mask wearing was actually more harmful than not wearing a mask. I have a copy of the first study but never saved the 2nd. Both studies have since been removed from the CDC website. I wonder why?
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
CMur12
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by CMur12 »

Sam and Brian, I'm glad to hear that you have both made it through the worst part. May all lingering effects be resolved soon, as well.

- Murray
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by brothers »

I'm thankful that you both have overcome this tragic virus.

We suddenly lost a close friend in November. He had ongoing health issues to begin with. From the very beginning a year ago he and his immediate family were adamantly practicing every known precaution. He felt terrible, taken by ambulance to the hospital, never saw his family again and died in less than a week from pneumonia and heart failure. Had no funeral. His wife tested positive but escaped the symptoms and still adamantly avoiding. When he first felt bad he told her how he must have contracted it but I've not heard details. 57 years old with 2 very young grandbabies. May God help us all.

My wife and I received our first vaccine on Thursday. Still wearing masks and keeping our distance in public since March.
Gary

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drmoss_ca
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by drmoss_ca »

ShadowsDad wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:47 pm That same research turned up a CDC paper on the efficacy of masks in blocking a virus. If anyone wants a copy of it ask me in a PM or email and I'll send it. The short story is that it's like stopping smoke with a hurricane fence. Another study that I didn't save showed that mask wearing was actually more harmful than not wearing a mask. I have a copy of the first study but never saved the 2nd. Both studies have since been removed from the CDC website. I wonder why?
Because they are misleading, even if technically true. Unless you are wearing an N95 mask, you will not have a mesh fine enough to stop a tiny virus particle passing through. Unfortunately electron micrographs don't represent the real world, or perhaps fortunately depending on point of view. An infected person sheds the virus with each breath (we'll ignore touch and surface transmission as that's all to do with not touching your face and washing hands, not masks). Macroscopic droplets (the spray that lands on your computer screen when you sneeze) certainly carry viruses, and can be stopped by a mask, both on the way out, and on their way into the next pair of lungs. They only stay airborne for a few feet and fall to the ground in seconds. More alarming is the microscopic aerosol that has been shown to carry this virus. Breath on your hand - you can feel the moisture on your skin after after a couple of breaths. Those tiny particles of vapour carry the virus. Many will lodge in the material of a mask, but some will go around the edges, unless it is a face-hugging N95. Hence keeping distance and holding meetings outdoors when possible. Until you get your vaccine, this is all we have. And whatever one might theorise in the lab, the fact is that mask-wearing has been shown in ultra-large scale real-life experiments to reduce transmission. Compare say, South Korea or Taiwan to the USA or the UK. Maybe other factors are involved, but for sure one difference in the comparison is the degree to which people are willing to wear masks. Unless we can prove it was some other difference between those nations that made the huge disparity in infection rates, it will be wise to wear the masks.
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
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Kyle76
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by Kyle76 »

Hear! Hear! Wear a mask! On one side or the other — and maybe both — masks are helping prevent the spread of Covid. It’s really THE VERY LEAST you can do to protect your fellow man, and maybe yourself, too. Thanks, Chris, for helping prevent the spread of misinformation.
Jim
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by Rufus »

Thanks for weighing in Chris.
Bryan
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by maskaggs »

Checking back in after a long while.

I tested negative back in the summer but my doctor didn't believe it, and neither did I. I started with complete exhaustion and mild body aches to a decent fever and a little more serious body aches. The temperature bounced up and down for a few days. Between onset of symptoms and the end of the fever + 3 days was maybe 10 days total. I don't see any reason to think it was anything other than COVID, and in that case I got lucky.
Regards,
Mike
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by CMur12 »

Mike, it's good to have you back! I'm sorry to hear that you were afflicted with the Virus, but I'm glad that you weathered it so well.

- Murray
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by maskaggs »

CMur12 wrote: Thu Jan 14, 2021 11:41 pm Mike, it's good to have you back! I'm sorry to hear that you were afflicted with the Virus, but I'm glad that you weathered it so well.

- Murray
Fortunately for me I have longed worked from home, well before the pandemic, and I wasn't too sick to work. In some ways since I couldn't even leave the room, I was more productive than ever (which worked out really well, because my team secured a fantastic grant that we were working on at that time). But then in the off hours, with no kids to take care of or chores to do, I got REALLY good at my chosen video games for that week or so :lol:

Oddly enough, the first round of lockdown, before I was sick -- with 3 kids at home (then 6, 5, and 1) -- went fairly well. That probably had something to do with my wife immediately saying "We're buying a trampoline," so through the spring and summer there was one extra way to get kid energy out. BUT when one of the kids was exposed to a positive case, and our family had to go on lockdown again at Thanksgiving...well, THAT round felt like a lot of people in the house, not least because we had added one to our number by then!
Regards,
Mike
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Sam
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by Sam »

What surprises me is how you can feel healthy and then you get this coronavirus and you just realize how lucky or blessed you are. I’ve been home from the hospital one week now and I am sleeping 18 hours a day. I get very lightheaded and I can get winded walking up and down the steps. I have an inversion table at home and because my Hip and leg were hurting, I thought it might be a good idea to get my wife to help me lay upside down for three minutes. I got on went, upside down and within 30 seconds I felt like I was gonna pass out. I screamed at her to get me off and it took me five minutes to get my wits about me.

My wife works for a dentist and he got pneumonia and a blood clot. He seems to be weaker than I am. His doctor said it could be over a month before he fully recovers. I feel good walking down the cove by my street and I feel like I could go walk for 15 minutes and feel good afterwards. However I know people that are younger than me, 61 in two weeks, and they have had it worse and passed away
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by ShadowsDad »

Sam, do you have a blood 02 meter? You might find what you see to be interesting. Lightheadedness is what clued me in that my O2 was headed south. It's been 11 months for me and just last month I saw my old O2 levels back in my body. Give it time and if you can't do something put it on the shelf. Take it down and try it again in a bit. Keep trying until you can do it.

If you need sleep you need sleep. Your body takes what it needs.
Brian

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Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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Sam
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by Sam »

I do have a oxygen reader. Around 93 to 94 most readings But if I use my little plastic oxygen machine and get it up to 95
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Kyle76
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by Kyle76 »

It’s a very strange disease. Two people in seemingly good health can have very different reactions, one barely notice and the other get deathly ill. I can’t help but think the secret to an effective treatment lies in understanding why it affects people so differently.
Jim
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Re: COVID survivors

Post by ShadowsDad »

And if one is female and has an O blood type statistically you're less likely to contract it. The worst possible combo? Be male and have anything other than O blood type. It's not a guarantee, just a statistical trend.
Brian

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Re: COVID survivors

Post by Rufus »

Kyle76 wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:27 pm It’s a very strange disease. Two people in seemingly good health can have very different reactions, one barely notice and the other get deathly ill. I can’t help but think the secret to an effective treatment lies in understanding why it affects people so differently.
It sure seems to be. The only friend of mine who was diagnosed with the disease is a 69 year old woman who had open heart surgery 3 months ago. She contracted the virus about 2 weeks ago, had fairly mild symptoms for 3 days and has fully recovered. Given her age and underlying medical condition you’d think she’d be in ICU now.
Bryan
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