Coronavirus Thread

Understand but his sleep doctor appointment and our eye appointments can’t be rescheduled into May or June. They are 4-5 weeks away as of now.

“Cannot?” Unless he has a non-functioning CPAP or BiPAP unit...or is dealing with an ocular issue that could cause blindness if not treated immediately, your appointments may be cancelled for you!

My GI doctor, with whom I had a Monday appointment, called Sunday evening to ask if I was dealing with anything that needed his immediate attention. I was not, so he put me on the list of patients his staff needs to call to reschedule. And they did call.

MrSue just received a (typically weird) appointment reminder from the VA, confirming his April 1 appointment and then, few lines down, cancelling that same appointment. (I got my confirmation email a few days ago, so my cancellation notice is probably coming later.)

I think that many providers have decided to make the “should-I-keep-the-appointment-or-cancel” decision for us.
 
And, just got off the phone with the VA...MrSue’s appt was cancelled in a “bulk” cancellation move. The dermatology dept handles his Stelara Rx. Stelara is one of the relatively new “biologic” drugs that cost a fortune and work by, more or less, shutting down the immune system. The VA has decided that it will not be prescribing those drugs in any but life threatening situations. So his treatment has been postponed to early May.
 
“Cannot?” Unless he has a non-functioning CPAP or BiPAP unit...or is dealing with an ocular issue that could cause blindness if not treated immediately, your appointments may be cancelled for you!
When I made that statement, he had just received a new cpap which required an IN person visit by Medicare rules no sooner than 30 days and no later than 90 days out from March 9th (day he picked up his new machine). However, according to the press conference on TV now, Medicare will be relaxing rules to allow far more Telemedicine. If that works, he can get with his sleep doctor over the phone and send in the usage via email. So that appt may be accomplished via telemedicine.

As far as the eye appts, if they are cancelled, we will reschedule once we get to Vermont (staying there for 4 months).
 
Stay safe, Harriet. Where in Belgium, may I ask?

I am in Brussels for March (or that was the plan!) for a month-long contract. A week after I got here, we moved to work from home. The woman I was housesitting for had to return from Spain as they locked the country down, and so I had to rent an apartment immediately. I got an AirBnB (lovely owners, but only one window - the bathroom) where I will stay until mid April and then reassess the state of the world. I'd hoped to be in PNW hiking in April, but we'll see where things stand. I had visited before and seen Bruges, and this time I'd hoped to see more of the country, but...apparently not going to happen! I am interviewing for a job here, so one never knows.
 
Maybe someone old(er) like me already mentioned Chicken Pox Parties parents would have decades ago. A cousin would get them, and all the relatives who had not had them would cart their little children over for exposure. Planned herd immunity. Today, we see the danger in this. And, its not an option with this covid stuff.

I understand flattening the curve. Its a good plan. My concern is the younger, immortal generation who remains aloof and noncompliant. You know, the ones who went down for spring break and are right now sweating on the beach. They will be entering flying petri dish canisters to return snd expose everyone they know.

Also, why the hoarding TP? Do people not recall the Sears Roebuck catalog nailed inside the outhouse? My parents still had one at their homestead in Grand Marais, Michigan until the septic was in. You sprinkled lime down to get rid of the stink. Somewhere down there are a pair of Superman boy underwear, too, from a potty training mishap while daddy was in charge. Dad used his pocket knife to snip the sides, and wiped him with the rest. Done and dusted.

My point is we all have rags. And laundry. I even have a huge stash of cloth diapers. Saved for who the hell even knows. They just make me happy to look at. Paid $1 each when the diaper service went tits up in the early 90s. I nursed, too, so never feared a formula shortage or water problem.

If everything goes tits up, me and mine are all good. Not so certain about the loons I see out panic purchasing, however.
 
Sheanie sadly not everyone comprehends that deliberately exposing children to a communicable disease is a bad idea. Rather than having their children vaccinated for measles, some people have had measles parties, so that their children will test as already done with measles and vaccinations won't be required for school attendance. The reason I heard about this was that one of those idiots was, until a recent election, the governor of Kentucky.
 
Sheanie sadly not everyone comprehends that deliberately exposing children to a communicable disease is a bad idea. Rather than having their children vaccinated for measles, some people have had measles parties, so that their children will test as already done with measles and vaccinations won't be required for school attendance. The reason I heard about this was that one of those idiots was, until a recent election, the governor of Kentucky.
Yup! I remember measles and chicken pox parties too. Used to be pretty common.
 
I remember them.
Back when I got the measles and my sister the mumps, one of us stayed with the grandparents until my Mother had to take both of us to the doctor at the same time. She got the measles shot. She still got the measles, just not as bad as I did. I ended up with the mumps. So we had an unintended mumps/measles party.
 
There apparently is no pasta, hand sanitizer, eggs, disinfectant wipes, or frozen pearl onions (to say nothing of TP, which I didn’t need) in my neck of the woods. It took visits to 5 stores (two visits to Safeway) to obtain what I consider enough for the next couple of weeks. I finally visited the new butcher store that recently opened in a strip mall near me - expensive, but beautiful meat. I spent a ridiculous amount of money on a chuck roast and 1.5 lbs of hamburger meat


My father’s neurosurgeon consult appointment tomorrow was canceled. It was at Banner Hospital downtown, and it’s understandable they didn’t want an almost 89 year old man down there. He had an ENT appointment yesterday, and a cystoscopy today at a building which is just medical offices. I had an N95 mask from when we visited NorCal during the fires, and in an excess of caution has him wear it. I used my shirt to open doors and punch elevator buttons.

The urologist wants to biopsy the inflammation in his bladder. He’s been peeing blood and passing clots. I’m interested to see if that will be considered elective in view of the coming disaster.
 
But did you hear about Kinsa? Wow!

They make “smart” thermometers. You get one (free) through your school. Your personal info is not shared, but the data from your school group is. Kinsa is able to predict where a flu outbreak will occur in 2-3 weeks, based on the
rising temperatures recorded today.

It seems to be working for that...BUT WAIT!

Kinsa now has “historical” info on those temperatures...and can see what is typical and what is not. So they mapped the current temperature increases, removed the ”usual” flu pattern, and voila! There are groups of unusual temperature increases in certain area and that data appears to be a COVID-19 prediction! If they are correct, Florida is next.

Here’s The NY Times article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/health/coronavirus-fever-thermometers.html
 
Also, I have to keep apologizing to MiniSue because she is trying to protect her high risk parents and we keep forgetting that we’re in a high-risk demographic.

I routinely offer to assist with the little one...as in, ‘Oh! She can stay here Thursday.” And the offer is met with, “ABSOLUTELY NOT, MOM!”

Or on the kitchen remodel. I say, “I’m having the flooring installed next week.” I get a snotty rejoinder, “Thanks for the heads-up, Mom. What days and times?” Because she’s decided that she can do her “telecommuting from home*” from our home and interact with the workers whilst sequestering her parents.”


*She is with the same employer, in a new position, has NO IDEA what her job is, and will likely be sent home to read training manuals and memos. And get paid. So there’s that. The world is weird right now.
 
Charles has started sewing face masks that he plans to donate to medical professionals. I'm going to wear one for my iron infusion tomorrow. My kids have started sleeping in late every day, which is good for me in terms of bandwidth and quiet while I'm working at home. Let's just say this is an interesting time to be in international banking [from our basements, living rooms and bedrooms]...

My parents routinely ignore my instructions, but I am trying my best to keep my mom (81 with asthma) safe and to figure out a way to connect her with my dad, as there appear to be user challenges on her end with Skype, even though her personal IT helpdesk (Charles) has conducted special in-home training sessions an inordinate number of times (from 6ft away, with sanitation of phone and keyboard afterward).

Our grocery store has a seniors-only hour from 7am-8am, which is great. But, Charles is doing the shopping and food delivery for all of us. Our favorite store was well-stocked yesterday, other than clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, and bagels.

My sister lives in Cambridge, UK - schools there will close on Friday.

Sláinte mhaith!
 

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