Long story made short: I told my parents this evening that I probably wouldn’t make it tomorrow (sore throat, achy, no appetite) and my mother said, “Oh, you don’t feel THAT bad.”
Yes, I do, and I don’t really want to spread it. I thought at first that my symptoms were due to this wonky Midwestern weather, but they aren’t.
Just venting, I guess.
Stay home. And get tested. Both you and your parents will feel a whole lot worse if you give somebody covid and they have a bad case. Or even if you just give everybody something else.
And I hope you feel better soon!
But at least you’d be able to say “I told you I was sick!”
I don’t think it’s COVID; among other things, I’ve been vaxed, and I’m pretty sure I had a mild case before it hit the news.
Anyway, I’ll live, and they will too.
Stay home. It’s just not worth the risk. My family pooh-poohs my staying home frequently, but I often get sick during the holidays. One time I gave in and attended the festivities and managed to give my nasty cold to half of them. Because there are a couple of 90+ y.o.s attending now, we all stay home when feeling ill. It’s sad but there will likely be another holiday coming up.
That likely does reduce your chances of coming down with COVID, but not eliminate it entirely; “breakthrough” infections (among those who have been vaccinated) and “reinfection” (coming down with COVID twice, often due to exposure to different strains) are definitely a thing.
Regardless, I think you’re making the wise decision to stay home.
What makes you think she might have Covid? It could be the flu, or a common cold.
It could be all sorts of things; covid being one of them.
Note that I also said
That’d be my reason for staying home. I wouldn’t want to give anything to the rest of the family.
(I mean, in addition to feeling like crap. Love how your mom told you how you feel…)
Covid is extremely common these days, (in fact, it’s considered to be a worldwide pandemic at the present time, unlike colds and flus) and is always high on the differential diagnosis list when someone develops fevers, respiratory symptoms, etc. If a patient complains of these symptoms, they will get a recommendation to get tested for covid. Especially since covid is not only more prevalent but more deadly than other viruses going around.
It’s been talked about in the news a lot recently.
So if a patient presented with “sore throat, achy, no appetite” , you would immediately jump to Covid? Is that a consensus viewpoint within the medical community?
It’s an extremely likely diagnosis these days, with the most serious consequences. With rapid testing available. Why on earth would it NOT be considered strongly for an acute illness, since covid often causes those symptoms?
Right now we’re seeing 10 x as many positive covid tests as influenza tests in my state, WI
But the holidays are a time for giving!
I will defer to your expertise.
My parents are both 88, and Dad just got over pneumonia. They didn’t even drive there; they had a friend who has other friends in town give them a ride to and from.
IANAD and an anecdote isn’t data, but it so happens that those were the initial symptoms of my own breakthrough COVID infection a couple weeks ago. (Mild case and feeling much better now, thanks.)
Stay home, do a FaceTime/Zoom, see the folks later when you’re feeling better.
Hell, the ER insisted that I get tested both times I was there over Thanksgiving weekend.
Yesterday, I finally started feeling better. I hope I don’t have a relapse like I did 2 years ago when I think I had COVID.
I’m still not 100% recovered, and I’m starting to wonder if I got the Omicron variant.
I probably don’t want to know.
Hope you’re still improving, at least!