Risk Group

TheFunCartel

I am curious, how many of you are in the defined high risk groups for Covid-19? How much anxiety are you feeling? Please share your stories and feelings.

I myself am in the risk group. I was born with bad kidneys and juvenile diabetes. After kidney surgery at the age of 7 which required a month and a half stay in the hospital, I emerged with one working kidney, a few drugs to take, several episodes of kidney stones and infections, and annual IVPs that would take several hours because my kidney works that slow.

Unfortunately, a couple of the drugs I took for 40 years causes plaque and I wound up a few years ago getting open heart surgery though I never smoked a cigarette a day in my life. So yeah, I am pushing 60, have coronary disease, and kidney issues which consistently puts stress on the juvenile diabetes that I have managed to keep in check through daily work outs and diet.

With that being said, I am calmly serene about the Covid -19. I am self-isolating and I have a boss who loves me to death and if I needed to self-isolate the rest of the year, he would pay me and not think twice. But the main reason, and this is where I would really be interested in hearing from others in the risk group, is that when you go through major surgeries and life threatening situations, it seems to bring on an unintended fatalistic outlook on life. I know I will die eventually, and I really do not have a say so. If it comes, it comes. I just do not even fret about death anymore, so why should I fret about the virus? I am shocked that I lived this long.

asperger

❤️

UKGuy

I am in the high-risk group being older and with underlying medical conditions. But I'm not freaking out. I live alone, am now working from home exclusively and rarely venture outside the house except to do food shopping. I'm more concerned about my daughters. One works as an emergency room technician and the other is a supermarket cashier. So they are both in the front lines and come into contact with hundreds of people on every shift.

geoff1000

I'm reasonably safe.
57 ; but fit, non-smoker, no diagnosed health issues.
I have friends and family that are right in the cosvid-crosshairs ( I claim that term 😀 ) ; so I'm torn between keeping away, and being physically and logistically supportive. If I get it wrong either way, it could be bad, but there may not be a choice that works.

sillysassy

@FunCartel thank you for posting this and for sharing your experiences and perspective. It’s not always easy to understand things from someone else’s point of view. I appreciate the insight.

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@FunCartel Kudos to you on your successes with meeting your health challenges and with life in general. I envy that you are at a plateau of satisfaction that enables you to be serene and calm in the face of panic. I feel that my life has been a long time in a basement of my own creation, and only recently did I open the double doors to poke my head into the light. Life is short. It's shorter than we imagine, especially when young. I'm not going down easily. It won't be a pleasant sight. I'm also in several risk groups, and about your age. Hopefully, a year from now, we'll both be reading each other's posts.

TheFunCartel

@IvanTokodol I believe we will both get through it if we follow protocols and common sense. Make sure to get an extra supply of scripts if needed. My doctor helped me out on that. Good luck.

Great posts everybody. I too am in the high risk group due to age and lung issues. I am very active and stay in good physical condition. I am following the recommended self care practices as best I can.
Spending so much time at home has allowed me to finish uncompleted projects, read, call friends and family more often, read CC posts etc.
It has also given me time to reflect on all the things I am grateful for in my life.
I also pause to give thought to those who have lost their lives along with their families.

adorable48

I don’t know if I’m in the high risk group necessarily , but I do have a physical disability and things that go along with it, so maybe I am. Anyway, just doing my best

pmvines

My concern is not for me but for my dialysis patients . I cover two clinics and they have very weak immune systems

TheFunCartel

@pmvines Been there and done that too.

geoff1000

@pmvines
And dialysis patients can't self-isolate at home.

TheFunCartel

@geoff1000 You can do hemodialysis from home.

pmvines

You can do home hemo but not everyone is a candidate for it and many people don't want to do it

geoff1000

If we are being pedantic, a dialysis "patient" is specifically one who is not doing it at home.

I can't imagine someone easily being able to change method.

I don't suppose the dialysis process can clean viruses out of the blood, or that a few CC of blood from a recovered patient would have enough antibodies to give useful immunity. I doubt it is that easy.

What if the blood was flowed past a microscope, which could identify the viruses and zap them one at a time with a UV laser ? That would at least stop it affecting other organs.

pmvines

@geoff1000 An at home as opposed to in center is simply a different treatment modality but is still a patient under the care and supervision of a nephrologist via telehealth and they have typically bi weekly home patient center appointments. It is an at home modality as opposed to in center but they are still dialysis patients.

geoff1000

OK. I was referring to those who don't have dialysis at home, being unable to do so. I'm sure some doctors could work from home while self-isolating, but probably not as effectively.

pmvines

Oh ok I misunderstood you. My mistake.

It sounds like the risk groups are changing. Younger people were not in the risk group before, but now more younger people are showing symptoms and even dying.

That's a little scary. But I am not freaking out (yet) I do wish I were on stay shelter with a cuddler though. I think it would help the anxiety. Social distancing too much is not fun.

deefine

I'm high-risk and am self-quarantining and terrified of the stories I've heard from the hospitals and people themselves... all I know is I have to follow the recommendations, not panic, and boost my immune system and health as much as I can. I miss touch, but I think virtual chat-cuddle would be very comforting in these stressful times.

TheFunCartel

@pmvines Yeah, I have been in and out of dialysis for my whole life as my problems with began right out of the womb. But last time I needed it and the insurance company saw I was a candidate, they picked that option for me. Had a nurse/tech come in and do it. When I was kicked out of the hospital after three days for MRSA even though it was in my sinus cavities and had swollen my eyes shut, the three week quarantine and IV drip was done by an at-home nurse. My insurance company loves at-home services.

pmvines

@FunCartel unless you have Medicaid of course . For some reason Medicaid will happily pay for you to be in the hospital but will not cover home health and hospice services are very limited

pmvines

And wow that's a lot ! I didn't realize you had been dealing with so much

TheFunCartel

@pmvines It just came with being born so I don’t really think about it much. My dad was career military, so when I was 7 and had my first major surgery it was in a military hospital in a children’s ward with 9 others of varying ailments. My biggest nightmare happened in that hospital and it did not happen to me. A kid that I became friends with was in an oxygen tent and I watched him slowly suffocate to death with his mom tentside during the night. She was not allowed to touch him, and to this day it was the saddest, most heartbreaking thing I ever witnessed and I still ponder how strong and tough that kid had to be because he was only 6 or 7 years old. That was 1969 and it still seems like it happened last night. To me, he was dealing with a lot more than I ever have.