Coronavirus does not scare me!

Alex54

Registered User
Oct 15, 2018
356
0
Newtown, Wales
I might be the only one here who thinks this way, but I just can't get worried about the risks of catching this dreadful virus. After all that dementia and Alzheimer's has dumped on my wife (PWD) and I, anything extra is just too much to take in. I would rather live our lives as normal as possible rather than make our existence even more miserable.
 

MaNaAk

Registered User
Jun 19, 2016
11,754
0
Essex
I completely agree with you. After all we've had to deal with as carers we can deal with this.

MaNaAk
 

Andrew_McP

Registered User
Mar 2, 2016
390
0
60
South Northwest
It scares me.

I'm not scared of my mother getting it and dying... her brain is half dead already and the rest's not far off; she would not be at all happy to be living like this. But I don't want her drowning slowly in her own mucus without decent palliative care because the hospitals are clogged and home visits are out of the question at peak infection. Nobody with dementia is going to be at the front of the queue for perfectly rational and perhaps even semi-merciful reasons. These kind of choices are being made right now in Italy.

The scary thing will be if, as an asthmatic, I get it badly and struggle to care for Mum when she needs it most. There won't be respite places available, especially from covid-19 households, and the only assistance I have is from someone immunocompromised and about to start treatment requiring a long period of isolation, so she can't be popping in to help even if she was happy with the idea of exposing herself to the common cold here, let alone covid-19.

I've got things set up in the house as best I can -- supplies of everything including medication easily accessible to me -- in preparation for getting ill (hopefully not at exactly the same time), but those who get this thing badly seem to have a real struggle for a week or two... or three. I'm using their first hand accounts as a guide to how I might feel and have a few ideas for getting us through a bad stretch which I'm not going to put down in writing... Apart from the bit about surviving on peanut butter sandwiches and cheesy baked beans bunged in the microwave for a minute or two. Calorie dense and nutritious for both of us, if we feel able to eat.

It seems to me that most of us will get this thing eventually, it's just the luck of the draw how badly we're affected and how well the NHS is coping at that particular time as to how much assistance we get. And while I might sound a bit alarmist, I think this is the time to be pragmatic and plan ahead as much as possible, rather than cheerfully whistling in the wind.

Be positive by all means... there's a blackbird singing outside our window at the moment. It's absolutely glorious to hear and is helping take the edge off another tough day at the dementia coalface. But just because we're used to tough times does not necessarily mean we're well placed to cope with what's brewing. The truth is, nobody is. So channel the positivity into a plan for what you'll do if things start to go pear-shaped for you and help is thin on the ground for a while.

And keep listening to the blackbirds. They've been singing like that since before we were wandering around the Serengeti chasing wildebeest. They'll be doing it long after we're all pushing up daisies and feeding the worms the blackbirds feed on. In the grand scheme of things, our fleeting troubles mean nothing. But at the time they can be rather irksome!

Here's hoping it all blows over soon the only hard part will be me looking back at this post and wondering why I was so daft. I may also be looking for new recipes involving beans, cheese and peanut butter. :)

Good luck all.
 

Alex54

Registered User
Oct 15, 2018
356
0
Newtown, Wales
@Andrew_McP you have every right to be scared as an asthmatic I can fully understand why. My wife and I have had bad coughs since last Christmas, so I think we might well be at greater risk than the general public.

My view is similar to when the lottery first started in the UK, as a business we were worried about losing key staff if they won the jackpot. It never happened, and despite buying many lotto tickets over the years my total winnings to date is only £10. Life is a lottery and you have to make the most of it.
 

nae sporran

Registered User
Oct 29, 2014
9,213
0
Bristol
I am not particularly scared by it, but as my partner has diabetes and a leaky heart valve I sympathise with @Andrew_McP. The hardest part is the prospect of not getting out walking with my friends on a Thursday, but if that protects C and means we can both be out enjoying the birdsong soon enough then it is a price worth paying. Her daughter in law has a chronic lung problem, so she and C's son are self isolating to avoid any chance of infection.
Look after yourselves everyone.
 

margherita

Registered User
May 30, 2017
3,280
0
Italy, Milan and Acqui Terme
I am Italian and live in northern Italy.
At first I was not scared of corona virus, even though I have been avoiding crowded places since the first cases in Italy were reported .
I am scared now.
17,000 cases, 2,000 deaths over the past three weeks.
Non only do those figures scare me, but also the awareness that should I catch covid-19 and need ICU or a respirator, I would be left to die, because there are not any available.
 

Grannie G

Volunteer Moderator
Apr 3, 2006
81,450
0
Kent
I think one of the problems is that the news agencies are overreacting to the virus and causing a sense of panic.

I`m not so sure.

If we are not told what is happening we complain important information is being kept from us. If we are told, we think it could be scaremongering.

Declaring a pandemic for the first time in memory is not done lightly. I just feel within our limits the best rule of thumb is to be as careful as possible.

I`m in the cohort considered vulnerable and there are people considerably more vulnerable than I am. I doubt my life`s at risk but if I can, I hope to prevent myself from becoming really ill and having to rely on the overstretched NHS.
 

dogdayafternoon

Registered User
Dec 30, 2017
185
0
My wife is in hospital at present and I visit evey day by bus, she does not have any breathing problems nor do I but both of us are over 70. On the news today they are talking about over 70's staying at home to protect themselves, my other fear is the hospital will stop visits. I am going to use the car today as the car park is lessfull on Sundays.
 

Palerider

Registered User
Aug 9, 2015
4,160
0
56
North West
I`m not so sure.

If we are not told what is happening we complain important information is being kept from us. If we are told, we think it could be scaremongering.

Declaring a pandemic for the first time in memory is not done lightly. I just feel within our limits the best rule of thumb is to be as careful as possible.

I`m in the cohort considered vulnerable and there are people considerably more vulnerable than I am. I doubt my life`s at risk but if I can, I hope to prevent myself from becoming really ill and having to rely on the overstretched NHS.

I think your absolutely right @Grannie G and as you say this being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation is never taken lightly.
 

jenniferjean

Registered User
Apr 2, 2016
925
0
Basingstoke, Hampshire
I doubt my life`s at risk but if I can, I hope to prevent myself from becoming really ill and having to rely on the overstretched NHS.
This is the problem, the NHS will become so overstretched that it will not be able to cope. Which is why the safest thing to do is for those mostly at risk to self isolate allowing the NHS to cope as best it can, spreading the demands and needs over a longer period of time. It makes sense. The truth is neither we nor the government really know how things will go over the long term.
 

Alex54

Registered User
Oct 15, 2018
356
0
Newtown, Wales
Declaring a pandemic for the first time in memory is not done lightly. I just feel within our limits the best rule of thumb is to be as careful as possible.
You are most likely right, but just read Peter Hitchens in the Dailymail:

"But I am quite sure that many of the current panic measures do far more harm than good. They create the idea that we are in the midst of a terrifying plague that will kill us all, when the truth – though disturbing – is far less frightening.

Their worst effect is to savage the economy by scaring people away from normal activities."
 

margherita

Registered User
May 30, 2017
3,280
0
Italy, Milan and Acqui Terme
@margherita What it is like in Italy?
I think one of the problems is that the news agencies are overreacting to the virus and causing a sense of panic.
Hi @Alex54 ,
It is true that covid-19 is deadly " only" for old people and those who have other serious health issues. Most of the people who get infected and are reasonably healthy can be cured.
That is the problem : being cured. There are far fewer ICU beds and respirators in our hospitals ( above all in the south) than the people who need or may need them.
What will happen over the next too weeks is a further reason for concern.
The epidemic , which seemed to be confined to the north, has been spreading in southern Italy for few days and we expect the deaths will increase dramatically.
It is true, as you say, the news agencies have over-reacted and spread panic, above all about a possible lack of food supplies in supermarkets, but it is also true that those who should have protected public health have been late in making the right decisions.
The first mild suggestions from the government were widely disregarded as the pictures of people in bars, restaurants , malls, or at the seaside ,or on the ski slopes , show.
When the suspension of most working activities and lockdown in wide areas of northern Italy were decreed , many people from the south who lived and worked in the north , mobbed trains to go back to their homes , thus contributing to spread the desease to other regions.
One of the problems of this extremely contagious virus is it can be transmitted also by people who have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.

Sorry...such a long post . I apologize for the language mistakes and suggest ( may I ?) you are all cautious
 

northumbrian_k

Volunteer Host
Mar 2, 2017
4,415
0
Newcastle
Hi @margherita good to hear from you especially in such difficult times. Your post is extremely helpful. I hope that we all get through this and get back to the normal business of supporting each other in our daily battles with dementia.
 

marionq

Registered User
Apr 24, 2013
6,449
0
Scotland
Margarita we are all in sympathy with Italy and of course you and yours in particular as you have become a friend. This is a really difficult time for all as we are not sure what we are dealing with. My daughter and grandson are supposed to be coming up to Scotland from London this week for my birthday. Is that a sensible thing to do? Probably not. How do I tell her that? It is so hard to know the right thing to do or say.

Meanwhile we will hope for your good health and an improvement of health in Italy.
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,694
0
It is true, as you say, the news agencies have over-reacted and spread panic, above all about a possible lack of food supplies in supermarkets, but it is also true that those who should have protected public health have been late in making the right decisions.

I read this interesting article about the virus spread in Italy which supports what you say about late decision making causing problems Margherita. I didn't know that a quarter of the Italian population are over 65. It seems from the article that social isolation at an early stage is recommended so it would be interesting to see the actual 'science' with regards to the current UK thinking that a 'lock down' of those who are vulnerable and at high risk should take place at some point in the future rather than now. Hopefully things will become clearer in the next few days: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/coronavirus-italy
 

canary

Registered User
Feb 25, 2014
25,018
0
South coast
I think that there are two mistakes you can make over this virus.
One is to assume that its a storm in a teacup, that it wont cause any problems and it will all be over in a couple of weeks.
The other is that it is going to be horrendous, we will run out of food and we will all die.

Both of these mistakes are running riot among social media and one or two of the newspapers. The truth is that it is serious and must not be ignored. Sensible precausations need to be taken to stop the spread and protect the vulnerable, but we are unlikely to run out of food and we wont all die, although probably quite a lot will. Unfortunately, it is ourselves and the people we care for who are the most "at risk", so it is really important for us to lower the risk as far as possible.
 

notsogooddtr

Registered User
Jul 2, 2011
1,283
0
My husband has a compromised immune system.Contrary to what Peter Hitchen thinks this was not'self inficted' through lifestyle choices.My worry is that if he gets this virus he is likely to be very ill as his lungs are already damaged from previous bouts of pneumonia.And the big worry is that antibiotics which have been successfully used in the past are useless against a virus.
 

Palerider

Registered User
Aug 9, 2015
4,160
0
56
North West
My husband has a compromised immune system.Contrary to what Peter Hitchen thinks this was not'self inficted' through lifestyle choices.My worry is that if he gets this virus he is likely to be very ill as his lungs are already damaged from previous bouts of pneumonia.And the big worry is that antibiotics which have been successfully used in the past are useless against a virus.

I quite agree and I am not clear as to what point Peter Hitchen is making in his article -its just pure rhetorical spew adding to an already confused picture for many.
 

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