Long story short, my family and I went to Disneyland last week and I picked up the worst something and have been miserable all week long. Doctors got the tests today and I’m going in to hopefully hear I’ve got the flu. Never thought I’d want the flu so bad in my life!
••••• UPDATE •••••
So the test they did was two nostril swabs from quest and I tell you what, that was not a pleasant experience! Here’s what it looked like (the bottom one), they had to shove that thing in my nose to the red line both nostrils for two swabs. Here’s kind of what the process looks like
They said it’ll take up to 3 days to know, so I should have results by Monday. But on a positive note, I think I’ll be okay because my lungs were pretty clear she said!
I’ll make another comment on Monday With the results, or should I make a new post? Thanks fam!
You left out your shit post flair.
Not only elderly are affected. Those with respiratory problems to begin with are likely to not fare well. Permanent lung damage is a higher likelihood than from your run of the mill infection. How to use a ventilator has reduced deaths from 41 out of 100 to 16 out of 100, since about 2010. No guarantee that those operating your ventilator have this new improved training.
Very unlikely there's a 3% mortality rate. We have no way of knowing, yet.
I'm not arguing - asking in good faith: aren't those with respiratory problems more likely to not fare well with any flu? What makes this strain so monumentally different that it (somewhat uniquely) warrants panic buying and fist fights in the street?
I'm not all that worried about catching this thing. What does worry me, though, is my mother catching it, especially from me as a carrier. Most of the panicked information being disseminated doesn't point out the elderly/weakened (for lack of a better word) angle. That's more to my point: if I believe what I hear, just from "respected" outlets, not to mention keyboard warriors, all of the above is true - young people aren't really affected, but even young people are dropping like flies; there's a 3% mortality rate but 30% of those infected will die, etc. There's no way of knowing wherein lies the truth. That feeds the panic, and that seems, to me at least, to be the point of all this: panic as many people as possible, crash the system, and have that much more control.
Absolutely nothing warrants panic buying (or selling, in the case of stocks) or fights breaking out in the street, which I have not heard of. Also, protip: if you ever have to defend yourself, do NOT use fists! If you run into somebody like me all you'll do is hurt your hands. OTOH I could gut you like a fish with my bare hands. That approach will put an end to the threat pretty quickly. It takes practice and conditioning.
This virus affects human lungs VERY differently than others. It thickens our alveoli so that 02 can't pass from lung to bloodstream, neither can C02 be eliminated from our bloodstream to the lungs to be exhaled. Further, blood can pass through the alveoli so that our lungs fill with blood. Not a fun way to die. How this might differ from pulmonary edema I'm unsure.
You can be at that point on a ventilator in a hospital and they won't necessarily know wtf to do. And if your lungs are damaged anywhere near that extent, you sustain lots of permanent damage. Improved techniques have increased survival of this condition from 59 out of 100 to 84 out of 100 since roughly 2010. There are also lots of simple therapies you can do yourself if you're heading in that direction to mitigate all this. I'm watching videos designed to train pulmonary therapists as it seems to me it may well come in handy.
There's a trail a mile long that this is a bioweapon. We should expect it to differ from flu and colds we have experience with. The odd thing is how ineffective it is at killing or even slowing down so many.