Covid times

How’s everyone been holding up during these sad and crazy times?

I wasn’t going to post again until it looked like life might be returning to “normal”, but that obviously is not going to happen anytime soon and I didn’t want people to think I disappeared or died in the pandemic. Also, I have a lot friends/heros working on the front lines and want to let them to know that I think about them often and about the huge sacrifice they’re making, in order to give victims of this virus a fighting chance.

As of this writing, we’re 6 weeks into the stay at home orders here in Northern California and knock on wood, so far Ive been spared from infection. Of course with the rapid community spread of this virus, it’s impossible to say for sure if one’s been exposed, but I can say with some level of certainty, that at least on March 19th, of this year, I wasn’t infected.

Back in mid March I had developed some mild flu like symptoms in the way of a sore throat, body aches and chills. Because Im in that so called “vulnerable” category and at high risk for complications from the virus, my primary care physician advised that I get tested for both the Corona virus and Influenza. I got swabbed on March 19th at one of the first drive through testing sites in the area, and after 5 days of literally sweating it out, the results thankfully came back negative. The symptoms I was having at that time were probably related to a urinary tract infection, which I get now and then. After 7 days on antibiotics, those symptoms went away completely. If nothing else, that situation goes to show you just how much anxiety people living with chronic health conditions are going through, not knowing if their symptoms are related to a garden variety condition or something more sinister. I think that same anxiety is amplified with you live with chronic breathing problems like severe asthma, COPD, Emphysema, etc

Like everyone else in the world, I’ve been spending most of the time hunkering down inside my house and keeping a safe distance from other humans. Being that my partner is home all the time after being laid off from his job of 20 years, we’ve had to establish some new rules and routines around the house to prevent murdering each other. But other than getting on each others nerves now and then, we’ve been adapting pretty well to this new way of life. We get in the car about every 10 days to pick pre-ordered food and supplies. Most of my medical appts are now done via Zoom. While I love the convenience of telemedicine, it’s taken me a while to get used to seeing my doctors conducting business from their living rooms dressed in leisure attire. Because I can’t get outside much or travel anywhere exciting, Ive been spending more time doing indoor hobbies, like music, language learning, spending more time with our cats ( all 8 of them), that sort of stuff.

Fitness wise, I still try to get outside for at least an hour or so for my walks and some fresh air. Im fortunate in that I live in a rather isolated smaller town that has very little vehicle traffic. This allows me to walk in the middle of the street, most of the time without wearing a mask(which I can’t tolerate when Im exerting myself), while at the same providing sufficient distancing from others who might be walking or running on the sidewalks. And on these walks Im continually discovering really cool things about this little community.

On the asthma front, I’ve been doing really well until just a few days go. I haven’t been seriously ill since my last hospitalization back in the Dec and Jan. In the month and a half that we’ve been under a lock down in the bay area, I’ve had 2 notable exacerbations. One was on the mild side, but the other, for which Im currently dealing with, is more severe. So far Ive been able to manage it at home, though I’ll admit things have been a little dicey this time around. It took 2 full days for the increased prednisone to kick in, and since then I keep thinking, is this really asthma Im experiencing or could it be Covid pneumonia? I don’t have a fever, but not everyone with the virus does. I know I tested negative a month only a month ago, but maybe the test was a false negative. Maybe I inadvertently touched something that was contaminated then touched my face? I did have dental work done a few days after testing negative, could I have picked up something in the dentist office? My mind is reeling from all the possibilities, because you just never know. Im now 3 days into this current flare, I contacted my pulmonologist to let him know of my status and that I would self treat at home. Turns out they have a new protocol in place for high risk patient that experience increase shortness of breathless, regardless of the cause. As a result of that phone call, I now have to go the Respiratory Screening unit at UCSF and be re-tested for COVID this afternoon. The turn around time for results is much faster than the last time I did this, so I should know by tomorrow.

Still, if Im honest, the thought of what I’ll do if my asthma gets really bad during this pandemic, has caused me some definite anxiety. There’s really no good way to plan or prepare for this. Sure, I can do a lot at home to treat my asthma, Ive been doing it most of my life. Heck, Im a Respiratory Therapist and I know my lungs well, but there are limits to what even skilled medical people can do at home when these loose control during a bad flare. There’s also the comfort levels of others , including my doctors to consider. The cold hard fact is, I have really bad and unpredictable asthma and at some point in time it WILL go crazy again and try to kill me. To alleviate some of those concerns, Ive been reassured by my pulmonologists, that I can be safely treated in the hospital and that I should not delay coming in if I need to. Covid or not, people still die of asthma. Covid care is a priority right now in the hospitals, but people still need treatment for chronic or acute life threatening conditions as well.

Ive talked about my asthma, but this pandemic has had a huge impact on many other facets of healthcare. As I eluded to above, in early March I began to have some extensive dental work done, including the preparation for a bridge and a couple crowns. 2 weeks later, the state wide lockdown happened and as a result, the dental lab (s) that was making the crowns and bridge shut their door and seized all operations. On top of that, Dentists are only treating Emergency cases now. So my teeth and I are stuck in limbo, as is my ability to eat normally. I have temporary crowns and implants in place, but there’s no word yet on when this work can be finished.
Crazy times indeed.

On a positive note, Ive noticed that since the lock down, that in between flare ups, Im breathing better than usual, ie less breathlessness. I still require neb treatments several times a day for episodic tightness, but my symptoms dont seems as intense or last as long. I think this may be due to the fact that there is less air pollution right now. Excluding the rising pollen counts in the region, the air quality in general is much better. Fewer people are on the roads nowadays, so less carbon emissions are spewing. Now if we can just keep the seasonal wildfires at bay, we’ll be breathing good.

Ill report on the results of this most recent COVID test in my next blog. In the meantime, Please stay safe out there folks!