Who else is in eternal lockdown mode, seemingly?

MarkD

MarkD

Keeper of the Hounds & Garden
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
My wife has a number of conditions including Pure Autonomic Failure which is on the Parkinson’s spectrum along with a kidney condition for which she begins plasma replacement next week. She also got and was lucky to survive a MRSA infection while getting a surgery. She has regular monthly Zoom meeting with our regional infectious disease doctor who always reminds her that she just can’t afford to catch Covid or the like since if she wouldn’t likely survive it as she also cannot tolerate the best drug they have to help seniors get through a Covid infection.

For all those reasons and to avoid transmitting an infection to her, I just can’t catch anything either. So I always mask indoors when shopping and avoid peak hours. About the only outing we have left is to walk the dogs or walk together in botanical gardens. Rarely we’ve gone to art exhibits at off.hours. We feel like we can have a small number of guests over to visit in the garden to include food and drink so long as we also adher to good spacing while eating. When someone sidles closer on a walk to talk I just bring my mask.

I’m just curious if anyone else is in a similar situation?

I sure don’t like it but I also don’t at all begrudge doing what is necessary to keep my main squeeze around as long as possible. I miss going to the YMCA to work out, eating out, movie houses and hosting our annual garden get together.

I find most people are considerate but we have one neighbor who I avoid as he is too eager to come up to argue about masks even after being told the situation.
 

So hard on you both but I admire your dedication to your wife's safety.

I have a grandson whose partner is severely immunocompromised with a post viral condition. He is able to work at home and, like you, is very cautious when he goes out.

It reminds me of the saying, "Love is not a noun, it is a verb." By behaving as you do, despite the difficulties and the sacrifices required to protect your lady, you are loving her in the best way possible.

It is for the sake of my husband, and also people like yourself and your wife, that I adhere to Covid Safe protocols.

May all of us be safe from this pandemic until the threat passes.
 
I'm even stricter now than before, because now I actually know people who've had Covid.

Still wearing a mask everywhere, and I've stopped going to group dinners. If attending a live meeting, I try to maintain a distance of 6 feet/2 meters (no mask). I don't go to performances or festivals, and I'm postponing travel.

I'm not too careful when talking one-to-one, but that usually happens just once a week, with the same person.

I'm poor and alone, and I need to stay healthy enough to take care of things. Not interested in getting sick, especially long-term.
 
My husband and I haven’t changed a thing since the beginning lockdown. We don’t go anywhere except for walks outdoors in the woods. We haven’t seen any friends or extended family. We have our groceries delivered and wipe everything down before putting it away.
We haven’t been to a hair salon. My husband cuts our hair. We quarantine our mail and packages in a shed for 3 days before opening.
We delayed our doctor visits until just recently and we wear n95 masks to all doctor appointments and try snd get the first appointment of the morning before other patients are in the waiting room.
My ophthalmologist of 15 years no longer requires masking so I ditched them and found a new one who does.
It’s been a nightmare and has caused me mental health problems. I take medication now for anxiety.
 
I am so sorry you two are in this situation. I would be totally depressed. What do your doctors propose long term? It seems like covid is not going to disappear anytime soon….at what point to you get to live more freely?
 
Thanks. I have no idea when or even if. Probably not until my wife dies if then. But I’d rather have her company than the increased freedom. Everyone dies but I’m in no hurry and neither is she.

It is a little depressing but I’m not depressed. At my last check up my doctor asked if I would be willing to talk to a therapist. I figured why not? Now I look forward to our weekly Zooms. I figure it doesn’t hurt to get another opinion.
 
MarkD said:
My wife has a number of conditions including Pure Autonomic Failure which is on the Parkinson’s spectrum along with a kidney condition for which she begins plasma replacement next week. She also got and was lucky to survive a MRSA infection while getting a surgery. She has regular monthly Zoom meeting with our regional infectious disease doctor who always reminds her that she just can’t afford to catch Covid or the like since if she wouldn’t likely survive it as she also cannot tolerate the best drug they have to help seniors get through a Covid infection.

For all those reasons and to avoid transmitting an infection to her, I just can’t catch anything either. So I always mask indoors when shopping and avoid peak hours. About the only outing we have left is to walk the dogs or walk together in botanical gardens. Rarely we’ve gone to art exhibits at off.hours. We feel like we can have a small number of guests over to visit in the garden to include food and drink so long as we also adher to good spacing while eating. When someone sidles closer on a walk to talk I just bring my mask.

I’m just curious if anyone else is in a similar situation?

I sure don’t like it but I also don’t at all begrudge doing what is necessary to keep my main squeeze around as long as possible. I miss going to the YMCA to work out, eating out, movie houses and hosting our annual garden get together.

I find most people are considerate but we have one neighbor who I avoid as he is too eager to come up to argue about masks even after being told the situation.
Click to expand...
I am so sorry you live like this. The impact of covid is most definitely terrible for so many people. Yours is such a hard situation.

I am not in anything like your situation but mentally I am terribly depressed and very frightened of having any real social life. I used to thrive on company and had lots of friends. Now I stay in mainly and have lost touch with most people. I am just too scared of infections. My immune system feels weakened. I still catch cold too easily even from minimally going shopping or anything.

I also worry because the fourth covid shot made me really unwell. I couldn't even eat properly for nausea and stomachache for a week and my arm was so sore I could barely dress myself. I just cannot face that again and I just saw the news that it is being offered in spring. I obeyed everything we were all told all through but I am left constantly weak, unwell and depressed. With all the events of the past three years I am just very frightened.
 
Marian said:
My husband and I haven’t changed a thing since the beginning lockdown. We don’t go anywhere except for walks outdoors in the woods. We haven’t seen any friends or extended family. We have our groceries delivered and wipe everything down before putting it away.
We haven’t been to a hair salon. My husband cuts our hair. We quarantine our mail and packages in a shed for 3 days before opening.
We delayed our doctor visits until just recently and we wear n95 masks to all doctor appointments and try snd get the first appointment of the morning before other patients are in the waiting room.
My ophthalmologist of 15 years no longer requires masking so I ditched them and found a new one who does.
It’s been a nightmare and has caused me mental health problems. I take medication now for anxiety.
Click to expand...
Your situation shows just how impacted so many of us are. Life has changed so much and it is hard to remember how freely we once lived.
 
Rose65 said:
I am so sorry you live like this. The impact of covid is most definitely terrible for so many people. Yours is such a hard situation.

I am not in anything like your situation but mentally I am terribly depressed and very frightened of having any real social life. I used to thrive on company and had lots of friends. Now I stay in mainly and have lost touch with most people. I am just too scared of infections. My immune system feels weakened. I still catch cold too easily even from minimally going shopping or anything.

I also worry because the fourth covid shot made me really unwell. I couldn't even eat properly for nausea and stomachache for a week and my arm was so sore I could barely dress myself. I just cannot face that again and I just saw the news that it is being offered in spring. I obeyed everything we were all told all through but I am left constantly weak, unwell and depressed. With all the events of the past three years I am just very frightened.
Click to expand...
I‘m so sorry, Rose. I think that I feel much the same as you. I was very active up until Covid. I was out and about every single day. I took yoga class 3 x weekly and Zumba twice with women my age for the last 10 years. I developed some wonderful friendships with many women and we went out after class, shopped together, got together for lunch or dinner, went to concerts and plays etc. I couldn’t imagine why people complained about their senior years. I was having the time of my life! …and then everything crashed down on us😟
Little by little, friends stopped calling or zooming. People went back to their normal lives, it seemed, and here I am still locked down. People refer to the pandemic in the past tense… “ When we were in the pandemic. “……. the government stopped talking about it. They dropped mask mandates.
But I look at the statistics… every day! I write them down so that I can compare this week to last and this month to last and we are still in it! …just as far as we were in it 5 months ago! The same amount of people are dying! …and those people are 65 and up! And 1 out of every 4 people in that age group that gets Covid winds up with “long Covid” with debilitating symptoms that last months, years, maybe forever!
… and all of my friends are out there…going to restaurants, concerts, stores….and they keep telling me to get with it…that the pandemic is over…life is back to normal. Some act like I am crazy.
I no longer talk about it to anyone. I stopped calling them too. I have nothing more to say.
 
You have every reason to be diligent.

I don't know why, but I'm still wearing a mask out shopping. Exposed directly to covid at work again last week. At least we had the face shields available unlike in November when I was exposed and got covid for the first time after previous multiple exposures.

I don't know when I'll stop with the mask. Don't wear it if I go for a walk which I haven't recently.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top