How has the Pandemic affected you as a cancer patient/survivor
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54 hours for results ("the lab here usually gets them out under 24 hours" was the line last Thursday) and it looks like I'm good to go. "Not detected". I do think 3 shots, having had covid a year ago, a kn95 and avoiding people helped. Onward.
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Dancemom, great! hope surgery goes well!
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thanks chowdog. I'm so stressed. Nyc had 50k positives yesterday, EMTs are being told not to take stable covid patients to ER unless they are old or have underlying conditions. National guard are being speed trained to be EMTs as 30% are out sick here. so who knows what will happen between now and Monday.
Like chopping off a boob and taking out nodes from the unaffected area (mine is possible internal mammary involvement where they can't go, so they are still doing auxiliary) isn't stressful enough....Got my pillows and button front pjs ready for after surgery!
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Dancemom - Good luck on surgery. Hope recovery is swift.
Curfew started with the usual protests. This time it even applies to dogs. We don’t have data that the first curfew prevented spread, but here we are again.
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This is the type of messaging problem I think Biden administration should fix and can improve upon.
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The surge capacity in QC is probably all full after today.
Next stage is critical care only.
We have 76% of the population with 2 doses, and our hospitals are overwhelmed.
I don't want to hear omicron is mild.
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I can’t say that I haven’t been a little glad to not be teaching anymore given the current uptick in COVID cases here in Northern California. Also as unbelievable as it sounds I have had no friends or family contract COVID. I’d like to believe that’s it’s because we’ve been hyper vigilant but I think Omicron has changed the equation. A good friend who teaches at my former school needs to be out all of this week because her husband, also a friend and a principal in a neighboring school district, just tested positive. I can’t sub for her Monday or Tuesday but we’re trying to work it out for me to sub for her Weds-Fri. On Tuesday, I will actually be subbing in my old classroom, which should be fun. Our school and district have fairly stringent COVID protocols in place so I feel safe although the high transmissibility of Omicron makes me a tad nervous. Should be an interesting week!
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Gubner Evil Goober of Missouri is screwing up testing like he did with vaccines. I hate living here, but I'm stuck because Hubby is a state employee seeing retirement at the end of the tunnel, and also because my insurance is great here but not in other places. Oh, and I've come down with something tonight that damn well better be a cold, but I caught it from adult son, and I'd like to know how masks can keep out Covid but not cold germs. I guess it's touch contact since he works with the public. Oh, it better be a cold. I had a steroid shot a week ago and I've read that lowers immunity for awhile.
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Alice - Hope it's just a cold.
My older daughter got roped into going to the office yesterday. Then one of her coworkers was notified of a recent COVID+ exposure. Everyone went home. I think everyone has at least 2 doses. It's just everywhere.
I have a relative who got COVID. She's an 18yo ballet dancer who had her booster within 2 weeks of exposure. She had a sore throat, fatigue, and fainting. She was at the hospital briefly. Recovering now.
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Urghhh. This is hitting so close to home. My 20 year old grandson, my ex daughter in law, my 16 year old nephew and a number of daughters' friends and students (they're both teachers) have all tested positive in past two weeks. All were vaccinated.
Grandson had it the worst with high fever, horrible insomnia and excruciating headaches. I think he probably had delta.
The reported cases in California went from 10 to 12 thousand a day a couple of weeks ago to 154,000 plus yesterday. A tenfold increase in a matter of weeks.
I'm hunkered back down. Nothing in person, only online food orders with contactless pickup.
I echo everyone else, Alice, in hoping it's just a cold. Have you been tested?
Hope everyone is safe and well.
Trish
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I feel for you trishyla. My former school district is beyond desperate for subs. I worked (in my former classroom) yesterday and will be working at two other schools in the district on Thursday and Friday. Yes, I have some reservations about exposure but it was a great (and very small) district to work for and I am happy to help them out. I don’t need to work so I can always start saying no if things worsen.
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Thanks, all. I haven't been tested because it just came on last night. It started like any cold has, so I'm hoping. I've asked Hubby to see if he can find home testing kits. Since two of us already have whatever it is, he'll probably get it, too.i don't think I've had a cold since I quit smoking over three years ago, so I hope it's milder than previous ones.
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What's up with the media criticizing remote schooling while they work remotely?
Our provincial government dunces are still saying N95s are not better than surgical.
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Here is another example what biden can do better; Don’t tweet dumb shit like this!
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Wow, I think the message from POTUS is a positive in an imperfect situation where everyone wants a perfect solution to their individual covid needs with sometimes minimal effort on their part. He is doing the best he can with what he has but doesn't seem to get much credit for what he has done with the horrible nightmare situation he inherited from the last incompetent leader. Why not at least offer one positive achievement in the 11+ months he has been POTUS? Thanks to him I have had two Pfizer doses and a booster even if he did not contribute to the development, he did manage to get the vaccine distributed even if slower than we all wished. I used the county sites initially to gain access to the vaccine and from personal experience found that they were ill-prepared to handle vaccine distribution of this magnitude. So would I turn to them now for testing sites? Probably not. Many without computer skills would find locating a county or state site a challenge whereas Dr. Google seems to be the source many turn to (including those dx with BC even though we are cautioned that this is not a good source) when in need of a "quick answer".
How did this person get the vaccine and did they? If the test is performed incorrectly it will provide a false sense of security. This person is in an untenable condition: a state with no mask mandate so don't count on the local or state government for testing since they are not following CDC or any federal government recommendations which I think is the bigger issue here. Hope they remember this lack of concern about their well-being when it comes time to vote and that they do not reside in a state that is suppressing voting by not permitting mail-in ballots.
Could this person not reach out to a family member, friend, church or local support for assistance in finding a testing center? Obviously they must have a means for obtaining food, medications if needed, etc and access to other medical care? I do feel their frustration though and hope they can enlist the help of someone to help them get access to the test they think they need.
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Betrayal,
I think you might be missing the point. This person's problem is just an example what's wrong with our healthcare system and the shifting of pandemic response to individuals. Even during the early vaccine rollout, someone in my FB vaccine finder group had a senior mother with mobility issue who had to wait a long time to finally get vaccinated due to lack of appointments at drive thru sites.
It's also the tone deaf attitude I'm having problem with. Most people know how to google and know how to find testing sites. It's useless to find sites if you can't get an appointment for the foreseeable future. so it's kind of telling people the obvious without offering any solutions and empathy. If you google "covid testing line", you will see a long list of news articles about the problem. it's everywhere, not just this one individual. something is clearly wrong when we still have problems to meet test demand 2 years into the pandemic.
https://www.google.com/search?q=covid+testing+lines&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjIh5HImpz1AhVCIjQIHQX5BEgQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=873&dpr=1
Yes, I give credit to Biden to get vaccine rolled out. I think we would have much less people vaccinated should the previous administration were still in charge.
the problem is vaccine only strategy isn't going to get us out of the pandemic.
Below is a good article that exams Biden's pandemic response. It's a long article, but totally worth it.
https://jmfeldman.medium.com/a-year-in-how-has-biden-done-on-pandemic-response-88452c696f2
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Chowdog, please do not use my name in reponses. I respect your stance but do not always agree with it. I do not think anyone has the playbook on pandemic response since the last one of this magnitude was in 1917 and not too many survivors are available to offer advice. We are still on the learning curve as to how this virus creates its havoc.
Some of the issues have been healthcare/state and federal response to vaccine administration, testing availability, etc. It takes careful and massive amounts of planning to execute something of this magnitude on the global effort required just in the states. It requires people to plan, then develop and then execute this as well as money and the sites. None of this can be done quickly nor easily without the cooperation of local public health officials, many whom have quit over rancor and threats from the public; professional staffing for these sites for administration and testing since they have to number one be available in the first place while hospitals have been steadily eliminating nursing and technician positions for years in hopes of increasing profits and lowering the bottom line; the personnel to then process any testing performed and this requires again those people who may not only be processing these results but also those required within their normal scope of work on a daily basis; there are only so many hours in a day so thereby only so many appointments for vaccine administration and testing per day and then personnel required for recordkeeping as well. So if nothing else can be learned from this, perhaps patience is something we all need to develop. Yes, everyone wants instant gratification and response to their needs but that is not going to happen. Look at BC care pre-covid. Were you able to get instant care and answers when dx? I wasn't and this hasn't gotten better with the pandemic. Inability to getting an appointment pre-covid for an acute illness with one's PCP is the reason for walk-in clinics in pharmacies, the emergence of urgent care centers, etc. because people were made to wait and either didn't want to or couldn't. This is a situation where demand has far exceeded supply and with HCW's becoming disillusioned with how they are treated and perceived, thus causing them to leave the field, it will only get worse.
So I glanced at the article and my comment is that it is easy to criticize what has happened and what needs to be done to make this a "perfect" response but let's face it, we do not live in a "perfect" world. Criticism of what is available in many ways is a cheap shot because instead of becoming part of the solution, it is far easier to criticize and thus become part of the problem. I suggest this author take action by offering to implement his suggestions by volunteering at a testing site, etc instead of using rhetoric to topple what is being done, albeit not perfectly. If you identify a problem, then you must supply a solution and be an active participant in affecting it.
I think we can agree to disaggee and leave it at that. I am thankful for what has been done to date, thankful that I was able to get the vaccine (even if not as quickly as I would have liked) and that I play an active role in trying to control transmission by wearing a mask (and being attacked for doing so), avoiding indoor dining and large crowds or gatherings, and caring about my fellow man. I support those dining venues I choose not to visit by ordering takeout and liberally tipping for those who work at them.
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This just in from NYT, behind the paywall, so I copied & pasted. I also included the link to the actual oped .
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2787944I am not using these articles to argue with people. It's perfectly fine to disagree or not to comment on my post. I am posting as I believe we should all be educated on what's going on right now. It's okayfor the current administration to make mistakes, but it's important to recognize mistakes and make changes when necessary rather than double down on it. After all, it's taxpayers $$ funding these efforts, and we all deserve better. I don't want to be stuck in the loop until 2024, and nor do we have any control over other state/local level election outcomes. Like I said, a surge in one area will spill over to other regions unless we can nip it before it gets out of hand.
“Covid Live Updates: Advisers to Biden's Transition Team Call for Altered U.S. Strategy
On the day President Biden was inaugurated, the advisory board of health experts who counseled him during the presidential transition officially ceased to exist. But its members have quietly continued to meet regularly over Zoom, their conversations often turning to frustration with Mr. Biden's coronavirus response.
Now, six of these former advisers have gone public with an extraordinary, albeit polite, critique — and a plea to be heard. In three opinion articles published on Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, they are calling for Mr. Biden to adopt an entirely new pandemic strategy — one that is geared to the "new normal" of living with the virus indefinitely, not to wiping it out.
The authors are all big names in American medicine; several, including Dr. Luciana Borio, a former acting chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration, have held high-ranking positions in government. The driving force behind the articles is Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist, medical ethicist and University of Pennsylvania professor who advised former President Barack Obama.
They say the first thing the administration needs to do is to step back and take a broader vision, by recognizing that Covid-19 is here to stay. In one article, Dr. Emanuel and two co-authors — Michael T. Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, and Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease expert at New York University — pointedly note that in July, Mr. Biden proclaimed that "we've gained the upper hand against this virus," which in retrospect was clearly not the case.
Now, they say, with the Omicron variant fueling a dramatic new surge, concerns have risen about the United States becoming stuck in "a perpetual state of emergency." To be better prepared for inevitable outbreaks, they suggest that the administration lay out goals and specific benchmarks, including what number of hospitalizations and deaths from respiratory viruses, including the coronavirus, that should trigger emergency measures.
"From a macro perspective, it feels like we are always fighting yesterday's crisis and not necessarily thinking what needs to be done today to prepare us for what comes next," Dr. Borio said in an interview.
Mr. Biden published a pandemic strategy when he came into office, and recently released a new winter strategy to battle the coronavirus, just as the Omicron variant began spreading in the United States. But the authors say the administration needs a new and broader vision for the future, though they concede that it is impossible to know whether the coronavirus will become a seasonal infection, "or whether even more transmissible, immune-evading or virulent variants will arise after Omicron."
In the three articles — one proposing a new national plan, the others suggesting improvements to testing, surveillance, vaccines and therapeutics — the authors also call for every person in the United States to have access to low-cost testing, saying the Biden administration's purchase of 500 million rapid tests is not enough; for "comprehensive, digital, real-time" data collection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; for next-generation Covid-19 vaccines that would target new variants or perhaps take new forms, like nasal sprays or skin patches; and major upgrades to the nation's public health infrastructure.
The authors also said that vaccine mandates should be imposed more broadly, including for schoolchildren, and that N95 masks should be made free and readily available to all Americans, as should oral treatments for Covid.
In interviews, the authors said they had made their views known to Biden officials, but had sometimes felt unheard. The articles reflect both their frustrations and their desire to help, they said. They also recognize that they have the luxury of taking a 30,000-foot view while administration experts are slogging it out in the trenches.
"We understand that they have their hands full and are working to try to do everything right to get through this surge," said Dr. Rick Bright, the chief executive of the Rockefeller Foundation's Pandemic Prevention Institute, who led a federal biomedical agency during the Trump administration and co-wrote two of the pieces. "But at the same time, we think a lot of work still needs to be done to see through that smoke to see how this is going to end, and start laying down steps for how we will be able to live a normal life with" the virus.
Dr. Borio said she has been "very frustrated" that there is no federal system linking testing to treatments, so that people who test positive, and are at high risk for complications from Covid-19, can get prescriptions on the spot for new antiviral medicines that might help them.
Dr. Emanuel echoed that frustration, saying that if distribution of new Covid-19 therapies is left to "the usual health care system, we know who's going to get the treatments — those rich, well-connected people," which will "just recapitulate the disparities in care in this country."
Dr. Emanuel, Dr. Bright and Dr. Borio write that the first step toward the "new normal" requires recognizing that the coronavirus is one of several respiratory viruses circulating, including influenza.
The authors write that policymakers should "retire previous public health categorizations" and "focus on a new category: the aggregate risk of all respiratory infections." The nation, they said, needs to figure out how much hospitalization and death will overload health care systems, and then use that metric to trigger emergency measures.
"The administration had a strategic plan a year ago and executed very well on it through June, with a lot of people getting vaccinated, and drove down case counts very successfully," Dr. Emanuel said in an interview. "As we transition to endemic Covid, we need to change our understanding of what a success is, what target we're aiming at."
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Chowdog,
Disagreeing with how the administration is handling Covid is one thing. Constantly posting anti-Biden rhetoric sounds like you have an axe to grind that has little to do with Covid and more to do with a personal agenda.
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I live in one of the most progressive cities in the us and have never voted r since I could vote. In college, I even tried to turn a hardcore red state to blue. With the exception of my opinion in Biden tweet yesterday, most of articles I have posted were written by people in public health or epidemiology. So please don't accuse me of anything when you don't know me. Clearly this is not a place for people to vent or post about any criticism over the current administration's handling of the pandemic. So, I won't be posting here anymore. It was great to have a space to vent about covid, but I really don't appreciate the pile on.
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I give credit and critique to both administrations, not personal or political but based on leadership and implementation, each have had success and failure.
I definitely agree with the doctor who want to see and automatic prescription order with a positive result. And with a check of heath records and current prescriptions of course.
DH and I are hunkered down at our cabin with nearly zero interaction with others as Houston feels a bit risky, even with around a 20% positivity rate, lower than many cities but still high to me.
Of 4 friends sick in the last couple of weeks, 3 tested positive, 1 negative (although possibly false). One still feels a bit bad still and another was baking bread on day two of covid (he’s the healthiest one). Fortunately, in this case all we’re mild or moderate and required no medication or hospitalization. DH and I (with medical issues) are not counting on a similar outcome but are somewhat hopeful that we are nearing the end of living with constant tension, thanks mostly to media.
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I agree with what Alice said, Chowdog. Your sometimes virulent anti administration postings have made me wonder what you've got against Biden. My first thought was a bitter Bernie supporter who wants to see Biden fail. You may not intend it, but that's how it's coming across. It doesn't read as constructive anger at a less than perfect response, it reads as intensely anti-Biden.
I'll reiterate what I posted above, and what Betrayal said. This is the worst global health crisis in over a century. No one has a playbook for how to handle this, especially in a world that is so interconnected. Hindsight is 20/20. Governments by their nature are reactive and humans are fallible. Not a recipe for a perfect response.
Trish
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again, I got the message that my posts are not welcomed here, so no need to keep pilling on. I am aBiden supporter who desperately want biden and dems to succeed and the damn pandemic to end.
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I am hoping that Australia will stick to its guns and not admit Djokovic to play in Australian open. The chutzpah of that guy to think that he has the right to skip the mandatory vaccine status because he is a "big name" in tennis. Doesn't seem to care that his lack of vaccine status places other players, the workers, and the Australian public at risk when they have so carefully tried to control their numbers. Last I checked he is an adult so his father playing the martyr card is despicable as well. The only martyrs would be those that he unwittingly might expose.
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Chowdog, I'm sorry you think you should leave. Nobody said that or wants it! But when I open this thread and see you (or anyone) posting more or less the same thing over and over and over again, it makes it difficult for me (and some others) to want to participate.
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State college just sent out a statement that dorm students who live within 50 miles of campus must quarentine at home! Told them not to take public transportation! My daughters say who ever made this rule does not understand city living. Huge percentage of DD's classmates are also from city.
#1 of all, transport the covid back INTO the city via college kids? 2nd, we travel by train, #3 most kids share rooms. "If you have compromised family members at home, we will send you information on safe isolation", ummm...space for that?
So kid comes home, then siblings can't go to school and parents can't go to work?? Wow, SUNY really just wants to spread this pandemic out, force families to lose more income, force children to miss more school. This policy was not well thought out.
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Question for all---
I had the Moderna vaccine. Dose #1 Jan 2021, dose #2 Feb 2021. Then the CDC advised that immunocompromised folks get another full-dose vaccine to complete their PRIMARY series. So I got #3 in August (full dose of 100mcg of Moderna). Now I am going on 6 months (Feb) and was thinking I needed a "booster" due to waning immunity over time. But 1/2 dose (50 mcg) this time. I messaged my MO and nurse says not advising on 4 doses, just the 3. I asked about a blood test to test immunity--- she said there are none.
I reviewed CDC.gov site, and the way I read it, immunocompromised folks have 3 vaccines for Primary series, then a booster in 6 months. I told the nurse this and she is sticking with all we need is the 3 vaccines.
What do you all think? What is your MO's saying?
I am concerned about waning immunity over time--- 6 months from my last dose.
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My MO doesn't consider me immunocompromised. The provincial guidelines differ between immunocompromised like blood cancer/chemo patients and high risk advanced cancer patients. Right now immunocompromised are eligible for a 4th dose 92 days after dose 3.
What are the guidelines in your state? Can you get the vaccine at a pharmacy?
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Serenity- I got my other Covid vaccines at a local pharmacy. I have not called them yet to ask if I can have the #4 vaccine. I thought I would ask my MO for her advice first. Then when the nurse said that they stop at 3 vaccines it stumped me. I also messaged my PCP to ask his advice (have not heard back yet). I will call the pharmacy next week and ask them if I need a doctor's order, or if I can just go in and get the shot.
Also, Serenity, on your profile it says you are on Ibrance. If that is correct currently, then are your white counts low? My white count on Lynparza is 2.0 (normal range is 5-10). I think that with a low white count that is "immunocompromised". Also, the CDC website says "current treatment for blood or solid tumor cancers".
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candy - Yes, my white counts are low on Ibrance, but it doesn't have the same effect as chemo did. My counts recover much faster than they did from chemo. My MO has told me I'm not immunocompromised. QC public health comes up with its own guidelines. That's not always good, but the immunocompromised group is very limited here. I don't think I have the same risk as transplant recipients or dialysis patients. If I get sick, I can stop Ibrance temporarily, but they can't stop their treatments.
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