Two Years In

Two years ago we went to a new restaurant in a nearby town. It was a really enjoyable event and I remember telling my friends all about this place. I know some of them have been there since, but I never have. Shortly after that dinner out the pandemic changed all our lives.

Not only did I not go back to that restaurant, or any other for that matter, but I didn't go into any stores either. In the beginning, friends picked up what I needed in grocery stores, and if we really needed something else it was ordered online.  That first Christmas came and went and was totally ignored by us as we were not comfortable shopping in crowded stores and the lineup outside the post office grew ridiculously long and the weather too cold to stand in it so we were no longer ordering online.

The grocery stores installed safety measures and I went back to shopping for food myself. We only ventured into a city mall a couple of times this past year to pick up something needed at a specific store so those were just quick in and out experiences. It was not crowded so that made me feel relatively safe. We did not go there during the Christmas season but we did manage to get some gifts bought this year.  Most of them have not been delivered yet but we hope to remedy that soon. 

The latest variant is highly contagious so once again I am not shopping in the grocery stores. I now order online and we park in the lot and have the order brought out to us.  I tried this in the beginning but there were too many bugs in the system and I gave up. Now it's quick and easy at my chosen store. After only one month I find I have already saved over a hundred dollars on my food budget shopping this way, despite the rapidly rising cost of food and the added convenience charges.  It probably saves time too, but I am losing out on the added exercise of walking around the store.

Yes, I have had both vaccinations and my booster shot and know a lot of you are feeling safe now. But the case numbers were rising again because of that and the extra contagion. Right now, though things are improving, the number of people with Covid-19 is still higher than it was at the beginning of some previous shutdowns.  I am a senior who gets bronchitis to the point where I can't catch my breath when I catch the regular flu so I do not want to take chances with this virus. They say this Omicron variant is milder than the previous versions but that is just doctor-speak for "it's not as likely to kill you," but it still could, and has taken many.

I am part of the Stop-Cov Study and routinely send in dried blood samples to check for antibodies. They check my antibody levels against those of other people in my age group and how my group is doing compared with other age groups.  My latest report shows that I have had no antibodies and have been basically unprotected from September until my booster shot in January. That's not everyone, but that is the results my tests show. We are all different and I am certainly glad I have remained careful.

I had to travel to a city an hour and a half away for a medical test. Since it was Valentine's Day we decided we would venture into a restaurant partway through the afternoon and enjoy a meal out. It wasn't busy at that time and it was great to finally have something other than fast food or takeout in the car.  The restrictions are being lifted soon but that does not mean I will jump back into normal life right away.  If the trucker convoys and other related demonstrations don't cause a superspreader I will feel more confident that it's time to get back to pre-Covid life.  

Flu Shots ... My Theory

It's that time of  year again, when people contemplate whether to get their flu shots or not. 

One of the reasons people give as to why they don't want to get the shot is that they had it once and then got the flu. They are convinced that the shot made them sick. We know that's not technically possible since there is no live virus in the vaccine, but I now think I have a theory on what happened to make them believe that.

Last year I had the Shingles shot, and later the shingles themselves. I didn't get the Shingles from the shot, and I know I had a much milder case than I would have if I had not been inoculated against it.  I also had a flu shot and a pneumonia shot last year. I not only ended up with the Shingles but when the flues came though here, I caught each and every one of them, one after another.  Three different kinds of influenza, even though I had the shot. 

This year they are saying that the inoculation is not for the flu we are expecting to pass this way. People wonder why they should bother to get it.  A nurse once told me that if you have the shot for five years in a row, you are pretty well safe from just about all of them.  And yet, I had three flues all in the same year. What gives?

I'm not a spring chicken anymore and I believe that my body was busy building antibodies for all the things I had shots for, and that's what lowered my resistance. When I caught the first flu, my resistance was down even further, so I quickly caught the second one, and then the third. I have never in my life spent so much time indoors.  With all that illness I had no time to get outside in the fresh air and flush the bugs out of my system. I just kept catching everything that got transported home from the very public places where all of my family work. 

So, am I going to take a chance on the shot this year?  You bet I am.  All I have to do is think how quickly we all turn our heads to see who happens to be coughing when we're in a public place these days.  We never used to pay any attention to that. People coughed and sneezed around us all the time.  The flu shots have eliminated so much sickness in our society, we are quick to notice any sign of it now. That's proof enough for me that the shots are working.  I'll be getting mine later this month. I've got the date posted on my refrigerator already.  I just don't think I'll try for multiple immunizations all within a short period ever again. I'm convinced that's what the problem was.

So, if you are healthy, stay that way and go get your shot. You aren't just protecting yourself, you are protecting those of us whose immune system may not be up to snuff. Stop the spread.  Just do it.