Think things are okay and you've got over it?

Morich · 05-07-2021, 08:38 PM

Word of warning, the results of covid infection are not a quick and easy as they might seem.

I've tried to back way off the subject and ignore the urge but this story may help some other folks out there understand if people they know begin to show weird signs.

My son was fairly sure he got Covid in January of 2020 but at that time testing was not possible for him as by the time he got enough knowledge about the disease, the testing was only being done on folks who showed signs and he had none which were obvious as he had "recovered". His wife was also a bit sick for a week or so but just the "flu", so no big concern, even though she was a teacher surrounded by thirty or so students every day!

My son does technical repair for the county court system and is around numerous people everyday and has been feeling really bad and dragging until he finally got tested for covid antibodies in mid summer but there were none found.

Both he and his wife are 54 and had been in better than average health, running, not overweight and certainly active but over the last three months they have been actively trying to determine what is wrong with them and why they are always so sleepy but can't sleep. Just about too tired to stand up!

We were getting kind of weird and strange messages from them until this week when it all came clear.

My son suddenly has two bad heart valves and his wife is showing early signs of some form of dementia, partial stroke, or some result of Covid! Both are 54!

If you have friends/relatives/loved ones who show sudden signs of mental or physical disability that can't be explained, be aware that it may be the long term results of Covid, even if they never knew they had it.

If they have to be taken home by the police because they can't find their car, it may be easier to explain than pre-covid. This one is going to hurt for a long time and in many new and different ways!

Try to be aware and protect the ones you love as much as possible.
Even if better late than never.

RocknRoll · 05-08-2021, 04:53 AM

Richard, so sorry to hear about what you're family is enduring. I can't imagine what a difficult time everyone must be having.

Did your daughter in-law get tested also? I haven't yet heard about a correlation between CV-19 and dementia (doesn't mean there isn't), but that is indeed frightening.

Prior to their symptoms, have there been any kind of environmental changes or hazards, even in the year prior (i.e. mold)? Traveling in/out of the country (water) or even hiking (lyme disease)? I'm sure you've gone thru every possible avenue, but here is a list of diseases transmitted by ticks from the CDC. I was shocked about how many different ailments can be attributed to them.

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/diseases/index.html

Thank you for sharing and reminding us how precious life is. Godspeed sir.

Morich · 05-08-2021, 09:30 AM

Many things that can't be answered at this point due to lack of testing at the correct time.
At the time when they were sick, there was no testing available to confirm what they had and now after so long, the tests are not reliable in so many cases, they are not able to find any antibodies but only finding the long term signs which fit prior covid infection.

They are not firmly saying dementia in my DIL but at her age and prior history, there is little reason to think she would go downhill so suddenly when the alternate reason is that Covid does effect many parts of the blood system.

When you go from teaching advanced math in high school to having the school resource
officer take you home because you can't find your car in the lot and need to get home because you think your husband wants you to go to Home Depot at three in the afternoon, and the decline happens in less than a year, Covid seems very logical!

My point is not to make a big deal of my problems but to try to make folks more aware /watchful for signs of things going wrong with their friends or family if they have not got their vaccine or may have had the disease in the past.

This is not one which just knocks you down and you recover and go back to normal, in some cases. Apparently most any portion of the body is prone to begin to show problems as it is blood related, so things like breathing, thinking, etc. may occur months after you think you have recovered.

Changes in mood, thought patterns, etc can easily be blamed on stress, which we have all seen plenty of, or it can also be a sign that they are still fighting a disease which we do not fully understand.

Just be aware that this one may not technically kill you----but it might turn out to be the better option in the long run!

Yes, there are a lot of things which can lead to many different diseases to confuse us but looking back and knowing that others in his office have had confirmed cases of Covid, it makes putting the pieces together seem more logical.

Part of the puzzle also involves them living/working in Columbia, Mo which is home to the University of Missouri and just down the road from the semi-famous parties at Lake of the Ozarks, where folks were told it was a big lie and it was party time!

I suspect that 25% or more of the area has had covid but it is generally thought to be a disease for somebody else to worry about! Brain fog is the new term often used for some of the aftereffects.
This is one of many articles on the subject:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5

Famof3 · 05-08-2021, 09:56 AM

Yes, thanks for sharing. There is still so much unknown about the long term effects of COVID. I am seeing patients that have had COVID here in the Central Valley of California, with many symptoms even 6 months post positive test. Prayers for your loved ones.

Elkman · 05-10-2021, 10:39 AM

The virus goes into the brain and the level of damage is difficult to diagnose. Medical staff that were exposed have in some cases had their careers ended as they can not longer function mentally or physically (chronic fatigue) after contracting Covid-19. This includes people in their twenties and thirties and even high school athletes. Surprisingly 40% of healthcare workers have declined the vaccinations that are now readily available (if you have access to a car).

People talk about getting back to normal but this is the new normal and best to accept it and move on. Some who bought RVs last year may elect to sell them but I expect that the majority will hold onto them and continue to avoid hotels and restaurants and cruise ships and air travel.

Morich · 05-10-2021, 12:27 PM

Some of the excuses are so lame that it really gets over into simply "faith" rather than logic. We have neighbors who came within inches of their son dying but then they insist it is not right to "put that stuff" in their bodies.
All the while being two who will almost certainly die if they get the disease.
She had open heart surgery and certainly took lots of medicines, he only had a toe removed but still takes medicine for the pain!

Someway they have worked out that it is okay to take all the stuff we get before, during and after surgery but not okay to take a simple shot to ward off the disease???

Their definition of what they should "put in their body" seems a bit weird to me!
So when we have our annual neighborhood gathering later in the year, there will be one couple missing! No vaccine, no gathering at my house!

Meanwhile, further testing has revealed that my son has "pulmonary concretions" which is still a bit of mystery but seem to be something they have spotted in his lungs.

My best advise to those who may still be on the fence of getting a shot? GET IT!
But if you have had the disease and "recovered", keep an eye out for anything strange as this one seems to be able to hang out and come back big time months later and as a wide assortment of seemingly unrelated items.

Kayak73 · 05-11-2021, 08:54 AM

Richard,

Sorry to hear this report and best wishes. It is worth reminding us all that this disease in not easy, it is constantly changing and it can be devastating.

This past Friday my eldest son lost his step-father to covid. We are like a big extended family, meeting together with gkids etc., cookouts and just friendly regardless. He did not get vaccinated nor did his wife (my ex) and his younger son. After two weeks he got up to go to bath, came out talking nonsense and fell over dead. The ex is still in hospital on oxygen, the younger boy is improving at home.

It is not anything to play with or take lightly. Even if you recover you may have these extended issues.

My advice to everyone is make plans to get vaccinated. It is the best way out of this.

Kayak73 · 05-11-2021, 09:03 AM

I forgot to mention there is now some preliminary findings that indicate the vaccine may help alleviate some long term symptoms. Obviously not extensive damage to organs but some symptoms seem to get better for the long-haulers after the vaccination series. It is worth a thought to...
Schedule Your Vaccination Now.

Morich · 05-11-2021, 09:31 AM

The vaccine is such a simple looking thing to my folks. We have grandkids and we have seen them at a distance for some times due to lots of health questions that made most of us in dangerous territory but also just as a way to get past the whole thing quicker.
We are really, really ready to get back to normal and being able to speak to people we meet without having to wonder if they are going to be the one who gives or gets that ten percent chance of getting the disease.
For round numbers, if the vaccine is ninety percent totally good, that is kind of like playing Russian roulette only with a ten shot gun instead of a six shot! I'm not sticking a gun to my head and pulling the trigger even if they tell me the gun is totally empty, so why leave a disease aimed at my head if I can put the gun away?
The sooner we are all safe, the sooner we are all safe to go back to normal? DUH!
My 14 year old grandson will be getting his first shot on the 23 and I sure am wanting to take him fishing again, the sooner the better!

Marine359 · 05-11-2021, 10:56 AM

We can’t go political here, but we are in the midst of the worst health crisis in over 100 years, and there is still politicization of science and facts. Slays me. Now CDC believes over 900,000 have died from Covid, twice the number previously reported. And that doesn’t even include the people who died because the hospitals and operating rooms were full. My brother-in-law died four months ago because he couldn’t get into intensive care or surgery in Kansas City. Last year a close call, I was fading fast after waiting more than 6 months to get desperately needed colon surgery. They finally got me Into surgery just as I was beginning to experience septicemia and organ failure.

Yet there are those who have little or no concern or love for neighbor because they continue to buy into big lies and spread the virus knowingly or unknowingly thereby condemning others to death or a life of illness. How callous can some people be, when all it takes is to get a couple of shots. Many of the same people had no problem Accepting polio, smallpox, or the variety of other vaccines like pneumonia and flu shots. Why the resistance now?

I’m glad we have our Winnebago, because even though we’re fully vaccinated, it will be a long time before we will travel any other way.

akeagle · 05-11-2021, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marine359

We can’t go political here, but we are in the midst of the worst health crisis in over 100 years, and there is still politicization of science and facts. Slays me. Now CDC believes over 900,000 have died from Covid, twice the number previously reported. And that doesn’t even include the people who died because the hospitals and operating rooms were full. My brother-in-law died four months ago because he couldn’t get into intensive care or surgery in Kansas City. Last year a close call, I was fading fast after waiting more than 6 months to get desperately needed colon surgery. They finally got me Into surgery just as I was beginning to experience septicemia and organ failure.

Yet there are those who have little or no concern or love for neighbor because they continue to buy into big lies and spread the virus knowingly or unknowingly thereby condemning others to death or a life of illness. How callous can some people be, when all it takes is to get a couple of shots. Many of the same people had no problem Accepting polio, smallpox, or the variety of other vaccines like pneumonia and flu shots. Why the resistance now?

I’m glad we have our Winnebago, because even though we’re fully vaccinated, it will be a long time before we will travel any other way.

You're absolutely right! Because I've been on "double secret probation for political comments, I've been biting my tongue while reading these posts because I firmly believe that we're all in this situation because some have chosen to make COVID-19 a political issue instead of a medical one. Its as simple as that.

Can anyone imagine what our world would look like now if all the world's governments, the medical professions, and the general population had not pulled together in the 1940s and 1950s to eradicate Polio and Small Pox?

I'm absolutely dumbfounded by the hesitation and resistance to the urgent need to follow the COVID protocols so we can get ahead of this scourge. So many would rather believe misinformation and lies instead of truth and logic.

Morich · 05-11-2021, 11:31 AM

I'll bet no marine, ever, said he was fighting for the freedom to let American people kill each other because they did not want to wear a mask or get a shot!

Marine359 · 05-11-2021, 12:02 PM

Unfortunately, there are far too many people who confuse freedom with the right to exercise idiocy and total disregard for the good of the nation. They never earned the freedoms they claim. This is a great nation and we will conquer this as we have all other challenges “not because it is easy, but because it is hard”. Marines don’t fight political battles. I was against the war in Vietnam, but I went there anyway. Every Marine believes “My country, right or wrong, my country”.

fsj1978 · 05-16-2021, 04:27 PM

Not even forums. This lurker is history.

CharlesMoore · 05-16-2021, 05:14 PM

Thanks and condolences and pray for hope. Morich - thanks for all you have contributed and I have followed you for ages and ages. I never understood the lack of concern about Covid-19. Hopefully, by now things are better, but I will say sooner is better than later. We were fully vaccinated in mid-March thanks to the Alabama government who took us "travellers" as economic contributors and gave both of us shots in February of this year. I will be forever grateful to Alabama and "remember" Florida who refused us shots.

MadMaxWinny · 05-16-2021, 05:40 PM

It could take an entire generation to get this mess sorted (in terms of long range effects). We were attending a family reunion out of the country in late February 2020. Out of our group of 23, 19 contracted the virus (myself included). We know this, because my best mate's wife is responsible for disease prevention control at 14 area hospitals (she also got it there).

At her insistence, we immediately flew home (drugging out the worse cases with Tylenol and getting funny looks from people in our facemasks), and beat the lockdown by a week. It's interesting to track the effects over a year later. Of the 19, the broad range includes me, who was only sick for 10 hours (although sicker than I've even been in my life), to 3 people who are still suffering some effects. My wife was flat on her back for 5 weeks.

Our epidemiologist told us not to bother with an antibody test. They have a horrible range of unreliability, and they are virtually worthless unless they test you positive first (she took the very first test when they were available, with negative antibodies).

I find it fascinating that she reports that regular flu hospitalizations are down 85-95%, just due to the precautions that SOME people are taking. Had we ALL agreed to self isolate a year ago, this would have been over in a month. It's going to be a very long road out of this one.

MNGolfer · 05-16-2021, 06:48 PM

Vent someplace else.

wyocamper · 05-16-2021, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNGolfer

Vent someplace else.

This is an RV site, but the title of this particular sub-forum is "COVID-19 Topics". Yet people read threads in the "COVID-19 Topics" forum and are upset that they are about *gasp* Covid-19 issues!!

wyocamper · 05-16-2021, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMaxWinny

It's going to be a very long road out of this one.

This road may not even have an end. Unchecked spread in places like India and Brazil will result in ever more transmissible and vaccine resistant/evasive variants. By this fall we'll probably be getting a "booster" shot that hopefully will work on the more aggressive variants. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.

MadMaxWinny · 05-16-2021, 07:31 PM

The good news is that the way this vaccine was developed implies that it might be effective against the entire COVID family (but it's too soon to tell). This is also how we got it fast-tracked (it was on the shelf, knowing that another Corona was inevitable). I think an annual booster is a good bet. This is a clever virus.