Looks Like COVID Will Mess With My Christmas

[fla4fun]

I have been masking whenever I leave the house, specifically to try and stay healthy for the holidays. We can’t celebrate on Christmas because my sister has to work that day (she works in a hotel), so we will get together on another day.

I am so sorry people are unable to celebrate the holidays together due to illness and I hope everyone feels better soon.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My husband had it for fourth time last week. I don’t quarantine from him and I’ve never gotten it so at this point we figure I have some kind of natural immunity. It’s very frustrating to him since we are both vaccinated and he gets pretty sick from the vaccine as well and I just don’t seem to get it.

It's quite possible that you can have COVID and not display any symptoms, or even feel bad. Did you test when he had it? Or are you just assuming, since you had no obvious symptoms, that you didn't have it?

 

[Christine]

COVID made a visit to me as well. First time. Everyone said three days and you’ll feel better. NOPE! Started with the sore throat on Sunday evening. Headache in the middle of the night. Stuffy/runny nose, body aches and eye pain Monday morning. Tested and it was immediately positive. Today is day 4 and while the body aches are mostly gone my throat is on fire and the coughing isn’t helping. This is miserable. I’d hate to know what it would be like it vaccination makes it more mild.

For those that get the throat symptom (which I had in 2022) it is *the* worst and I've had strep, tonsillitis, and an abscess before.

 

[Christine]

I got Covid on a trip to FL earlier this month. Tested positive right away as I was feeling sick (headache, sore throat, cough, fatigue). Still not over it 100% yet. I’ve got the tinnitus in my left ear (I think you had that, didn’t you, Christine?), am really run down and a bit winded at times. Little doubt I caught it on the plane going down.

My DD’s been sick since an October trip (her master’s graduation). Little doubt she caught it on the plane as well - someone sneezed in front of us the whole way home with no attempts to cover mouth. She tested negative for Covid (multiple times, including a PCR) but she did wind up getting treated for strep. Fast forward to FL (wedding), and my illness, and when we got home she started feeling sick again. Again tested negative for Covid except once when she thought she saw a tiny little “line” in the positive window, which I couldn’t really see, myself. Had the same symptoms as me, with the prouction of that thick “cement-guck” (as I call it). Wound up at Urgent Care earlier this week with a horrendous cough. Diagnosed with post-viral bronchitis and doc thought, for sure, she had had Covid. For several nights she was in bronchospasm and it took all we know (both of us RNs) to get it to calm down in the middle of the night. Now she has an awful sore throat again, with white spots, so we’re thinking the strep is probably back. Ugh.

I’ve only been able to do the bare minimum for Christmas. Just exhausted. Hopefully DD can get tested for strep today and treated if necessary. I hope your DD feels better soon and all of you stay healthy. We are supposed to go to FL again this winter for son’s baseball tournament, and we’re seriously thinking of taking a pass. People aren’t testing anymore and everyone is out and about hacking and sneezing. I can mostly avoid it, except on a plane.

Ugh, sorry to hear you're still feeling it. My post-COVID ear is very complicated. I ended up with permanant eustachian tube dysfuction from my COVID infection (2022). The left ear, which got blocked on Day 2 ended up staying that way. After about 8 months, I had a tube placed in that ear, but I did have tinnitus start but it didn't happen right away so who knows. The ear tube did not relieve it and it's likely permanent.

I know most people seem lucky with "just a cold" but it seems to hit some people pretty hard. Genetics maybe since me and my daughter both seem to have the same trajectory with each illness. I was really hoping if I got it again it might be more routine.

 

[Dan Murphy]

For everybody here, do hope everyone is well soon, and stays well. 's to all.

 

[DisneyHardin]

This was my wife and I last Christmas. I was living in Europe and she was visiting me. Three days after she gets back to the states, she tests positive. I assume that I'm positive since well, you know...but I test negative. So I head to Vienna. No issues, no symptoms, still testing negative. Fast forward to February of this year and I'm talking to one of my students and the next day he tests positive. I test and test and nothing. No symptoms, no pos. My wife is convinced I'm naturally immune.

It's so weird how people can be in close quarters and some get it and others don't. A couple months ago, my sister, her husband, their twin toddlers and my Mom drove together to a wedding and back 9 hours away. My sister and Mom both came down with Covid, but BIL and nieces did not. They were all together for 18 hours in the van - there was so much chance of exposure.

 

[HeatherC]

So very sorry to hear all you guys that are sick! Sending lots of prayers and positive wishes for a very speedy recovery!

 

[Christine]

It's so weird how people can be in close quarters and some get it and others don't. A couple months ago, my sister, her husband, their twin toddlers and my Mom drove together to a wedding and back 9 hours away. My sister and Mom both came down with Covid, but BIL and nieces did not. They were all together for 18 hours in the van - there was so much chance of exposure.

The whole time I had COVID, my husband never it got it from me. A few months later he went to visit his father and a bunch of them stayed in one house and one person got it and then the following 6 others got it including my husband. It's been awhile but need to remember that some people are just "superspreaders" and some activities cause it to spread more, such as clustering, loud talking, laughing etc...all things that "expel." Which is exactly what was going on when my husband was at his mini family reunion versus being at home with me where I'm pretty darn quiet.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Sick calls, btw, are still frowned upon, without a positive test.

That's one quarantine policy change that I had hoped wouldn't bounce back to "normal". We need to stop glorifying the whole tough-it-out thing when people are sick.

 

[easyas123]

My husband & I both recently had Dr appointments- him multiple-and he had outpatient knee surgery on Monday. None of the Dr’s or Nurses at any of the offices asked any of the “usual “ Covid questions we’ve gotten used to over the past few years. Just “have you had any flu-like symptoms?”. All offices were within the U of MD medical system so maybe that is how they are approaching it now.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Not that I tested every week or anything, but to our knowledge, my DH and I never had covid. DD family never had it, nor DS. His wife and kids had it but not him. Seems like a big bunch of people not to have it. Wonder if we had it and never knew it.

About year or so ago, I had a heavy cough. Did not feel sick, just coughed like crazy, tested every other day for about a week. Nothing. In hindsight, Doc thinks it may have been RSV.

Same here. As far as I know my husband and I have never had it either. We have two grown sons who live on their own and neither of them have ever had it either. They both live with their girlfriends, one girlfriend got it for the first time in September, but my son never got it, which was surprising.

We've all kept up on our Covid boosters.

 

[Chili327]

My husband had it for fourth time last week. I don’t quarantine from him and I’ve never gotten it so at this point we figure I have some kind of natural immunity. It’s very frustrating to him since we are both vaccinated and he gets pretty sick from the vaccine as well and I just don’t seem to get it.

Wow. I'm amazed someone got it 4x, you'd think they are over it at some point, & crazy you never got it from him any of those times... you're right you must have some high level of immunity & his level is really low for whatever reason.

I wonder if something like blood type has something to do with it. I always think one day we're going to figure out that blood type is a big deal and makes us all either prone to certain things, like illness & even dieting results.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This was my wife and I last Christmas. I was living in Europe and she was visiting me. Three days after she gets back to the states, she tests positive. I assume that I'm positive since well, you know...but I test negative. So I head to Vienna. No issues, no symptoms, still testing negative. Fast forward to February of this year and I'm talking to one of my students and the next day he tests positive. I test and test and nothing. No symptoms, no pos. My wife is convinced I'm naturally immune.

It sounds like your wife got it on the plane coming home. And that there wasn’t enough viral load between you and your student for you to get an infection.

That's one quarantine policy change that I had hoped wouldn't bounce back to "normal". We need to stop glorifying the whole tough-it-out thing when people are sick.

Unfortunately, most hospitals are short staffed, so people have to go in, even when not feeling great themselves. If truly sick, that’s different.

My husband & I both recently had Dr appointments- him multiple-and he had outpatient knee surgery on Monday. None of the Dr’s or Nurses at any of the offices asked any of the “usual “ Covid questions we’ve gotten used to over the past few years. Just “have you had any flu-like symptoms?”. All offices were within the U of MD medical system so maybe that is how they are approaching it now.

Those were mostly part of pandemic protocols that went away earlier this year. They are starting to come back a little (masks, some questionnaires) but it’s individual at this point. We may see more given what we’re seeing now with so much illness going around.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Just to add, in the “old days” at hospitals, people weren’t as sick as they are today. If staff called out, there was usually someone to replace them. Now, there’s not. But patients still need care. So what happens is that staff get more patients as part of their workload, often in unsafe numbers, and that’s disastrous for all concerned, so patients don’t get the care they want and need, and staff get burnt out and move on to either other jobs or other careers. That’s why sick calls are frowned upon. Someone’s got to take care of patients!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Just to add, in the “old days” at hospitals, people weren’t as sick as they are today. If staff called out, there was usually someone to replace them. Now, there’s not. But patients still need care. So what happens is that staff get more patients as part of their workload, often in unsafe numbers, and that’s disastrous for all concerned, so patients don’t get the care they want and need, and staff get burnt out and move on to either other jobs or other careers. That’s why sick calls are frowned upon. Someone’s got to take care of patients!

I want to "like" this post because I get the logic and "sad face" it at the same time because you're all put in such an impossible position either way.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We missed Thanksgiving because of Covid. DH started getting a little cough the Saturday night before Thanksgiving. He slept on the couch just in case. It was a bit worse the next day and by that evening he had a fever. It was my turn to sleep on the couch to try to avoid it. He took a Covid test that night before I went to bed. I saw that it was negative, but apparently 15 minutes had not gone by. He came out later to tell me that it was, in fact, positive. I was devastated. Our younger son who lives in NYC has been performing in a show about 30 minutes from us (we're in California so we don't see him very often). I was looking forward to him staying with us for a few days and hosting Thanksgiving for my family. DS had to stay with my sister instead and only visit us through our front window. I started getting a sore throat on the Monday of that week. I kept testing negative until Thanksgiving morning when the evil pink line showed up. Older DS lives with us. He wasn't sick, but it wasn't safe to send him to my sister's for Thanksgiving in case he was harboring the virus. It was best not to expose him to my 87-year old mom, my brother who had a heart attack last year and my sister who was finishing up radiation for breast cancer, not to mention my younger son who was in contract for a show and didn't need Covid to take him out (he said his understudy isn't that great .

DH ended up taking Paxlovid and recovered fairly well. He had a lingering cough for a few weeks that finally seems to be mostly gone. I had a more mild case. It was just really annoying, but I never felt that bad. My temp never went over 100 and that was for less than a day. Luckily, older DS never got it. He stayed in his room and only came out when we were in ours. He had his own bathroom to use and was really good about washing his hands and even wore a mask around the house. Smart guy!

DS's show closes this Saturday. We're going to see the closing performance, then bring him home for Christmas! We're hosting Christmas dinner for everyone. Hopefully everyone else stays healthy!

 

[robinb]

I got Covid on a trip to FL earlier this month. Tested positive right away as I was feeling sick (headache, sore throat, cough, fatigue). Still not over it 100% yet. I’ve got the tinnitus in my left ear (I think you had that, didn’t you, Christine?), am really run down and a bit winded at times.

I have tinnitus in my right ear from my first Covid infection in November 2021. It's never going away for me. I hope that yours does! It's very annoying sometimes.

 

[robinb]

I wanted to recommend Paxlovid for people with Covid. I had Covid in April of this year (after flying home from a cruise) and I took my first dose of Paxlovid hours after I tested positive. I was 95% better and tested negative 4 days later with no Paxlovid bounce back. One thing, Paxlovid Mouth is totally true. My pharmacist recommended cinnamon gum which really helped with the nasty metallic taste.

 

[Christine]

We missed Thanksgiving because of Covid. DH started getting a little cough the Saturday night before Thanksgiving. He slept on the couch just in case. It was a bit worse the next day and by that evening he had a fever. It was my turn to sleep on the couch to try to avoid it. He took a Covid test that night before I went to bed. I saw that it was negative, but apparently 15 minutes had not gone by. He came out later to tell me that it was, in fact, positive. I was devastated. Our younger son who lives in NYC has been performing in a show about 30 minutes from us (we're in California so we don't see him very often). I was looking forward to him staying with us for a few days and hosting Thanksgiving for my family. DS had to stay with my sister instead and only visit us through our front window. I started getting a sore throat on the Monday of that week. I kept testing negative until Thanksgiving morning when the evil pink line showed up. Older DS lives with us. He wasn't sick, but it wasn't safe to send him to my sister's for Thanksgiving in case he was harboring the virus. It was best not to expose him to my 87-year old mom, my brother who had a heart attack last year and my sister who was finishing up radiation for breast cancer, not to mention my younger son who was in contract for a show and didn't need Covid to take him out (he said his understudy isn't that great .

DH ended up taking Paxlovid and recovered fairly well. He had a lingering cough for a few weeks that finally seems to be mostly gone. I had a more mild case. It was just really annoying, but I never felt that bad. My temp never went over 100 and that was for less than a day. Luckily, older DS never got it. He stayed in his room and only came out when we were in ours. He had his own bathroom to use and was really good about washing his hands and even wore a mask around the house. Smart guy!

DS's show closes this Saturday. We're going to see the closing performance, then bring him home for Christmas! We're hosting Christmas dinner for everyone. Hopefully everyone else stays healthy!

Oh what a bummer but glad to hear that Christmas is going to be better for you! My DD was given Paxlovid but is afraid to take it. Going to check in with her in a bit to see what she decided to do.

 

[robinb]

Oh what a bummer but glad to hear that Christmas is going to be better for you! My DD was given Paxlovid but is afraid to take it. Going to check in with her in a bit to see what she decided to do.

Hmmm. Paxlovid worked really well for me. I would not hesitate to take it again because I felt much better the very next day. Is she afraid to take Tamiflu? It's the same kind of thing, except for Covid instead of Influenza.