COVID negative...but for how long?

[Poopycat]

The clinic called me back, wanting to reschedule the colonoscopy that I canceled in April due to the pandemic. In spite of the concern about being in a medical facility, I was more concerned about the fear of cancer so I said what the heck and scheduled the exam for last Friday. The clinic required me to come by the Tuesday before to do a COVID test. Fine with me. Test was no big deal, painless, made me want to sneeze but that was about it.

I was COVID negative, and as everyone says, the colonoscopy prep was a thousand times worse than the actual exam. That was a piece of cake. Doc discovered a 4 mm and 6 mm polyp, which he removed, and told me to come back in five years. What a relief!

But my concern now is just how long I’ll manage to stay COVID negative when it seems like the rest of the city has forgotten that there is still a virus going around. I used to see lots of people wearing masks. Now mask wearers are a significant minority. Patios at bars and restaurants seem to be plenty full. The grocery store was packed tonight. I thought employees were required to wear masks in this state but I’ve seen plenty not wearing them.

Maybe I’m being overly concerned, but I do fear that it’s like we just ripped a bandage off and are going right back to where we were in February. I intend to do my best to stay indoors and socially distance when outside, but as more people venture out, the odds of running into an infected person increase.

 

[badatmath]

Hospitalizations are up dramatically in my area and few masks to be seen.

 

[Aerides]

afaic it's relatively easy to avoid, for anyone who doesn't have to go to work, or have kids at home, or visit older family members in group living.

We still mostly stay home. We visit grocery and a shopping a little more than during shutdown. Pretty sure no one's going to make me sick by passing within a foot of me for 2 seconds by accident at publix. If a stranger were to sneeze in my face (which I don't think has happened ever so why now...) I'd rush home and do full-silkwood but that's an unlikely extreme!

We eat out weekly and sit outside. Yes it's hot in S. Fla, but it's shaded. If we're still doing this in August I'll dress much lighter. I go to the beach but sit alone. I go to parks for a run.

My sister and I meet up for happy hours on our patios - we've never been huggers anyway, and when I see her kids we just keep a few feet apart to catch up for a few mins. We actually started these weekly as stress relievers during the shutdown and will probably keep this up weekly. It's a lot of fun and far cheaper than meeting at a restaurant.

So let the "less concerned" do their thing, I can't worry about them. I probably won't catch it if I'm not interacting with other people which was never my thing anyway. Concerts and air travel can wait a few months or a year, nbd.

I see it as reasonable to expect I won't get it. I also see it as reasonable to expect those that are taking no precautions, eventually, will.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

For anyone else overdue for a colonoscopy, remember that every five years is the *shortened* schedule. While they want to catch it early, the reason the standard is every *ten* years is because bowel cancers are extremely slow-growing, but also very hard to detect otherwise until they are far enough along to be life-threatening. So, IMO you can probably wait another year or two if you are on a 10 or 5 year schedule and your last colonoscopy didn't find anything more than questionable/precancerous.

Of course, if you feel the facility is taking adequate precautions, there's no reason to put it off; it may vary by how seriously your state/region is taking the pandemic.

 

[audreyh1]

The Medical facility wants to protect their health, so I would not be uncomfortable going there. Sounds like people here have had good experiences with recent visits to health care providers taking max measures to protect against transmission.

I’m not concerned with shopping masked, and picking up deliveries, or occasionally talking briefly to someone from a distance.

 

[pacergal]

OP--
I agree, it does seem as if many think that "re-opening" = "the virus is gone".
The best I can do to mitigate my risk is wear a mask myself, continue good hand washing, maintain social distance when out and insist others stay 6 ft out of my circle, and continue grocery pickup as much as possible, along with restaurant take out.
Try to stay as healthy as possible until, or if, there is a vaccine.

 

[GravitySucks]

Glad the test didnt bother you. While it didn't hurt, my sinuses felt odd for a week after the test.
Test came back negative and for how long - very long. Restaurants are open but no one is forcing me to go. I'm paying a bit extra for food shopping at Wegmans instead of Aldis because they are being strict on masks and social distancing. Gym opened but I can't imagine going into that environment.
Summertime here is outdoors time. Lots of hiking and cycling so staying safe and not going nuts for the next 4 months should be easy. After that who knows.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

A colonoscopy for poopycat......

 

[badatmath]

I am concerned only about being forced to go back the office too soon and the large open plan spaces packed with people, the elevators, the rules or changes that will be put in place. I simply do not know yet what will happen for now I am safely WFH and waiting. Also, are run on sentences a sign of covid? I'm tired.

 

[Midpack]

OP--
I agree, it does seem as if many think that "re-opening" = "the virus is gone".
The best I can do to mitigate my risk is wear a mask myself, continue good hand washing, maintain social distance when out and insist others stay 6 ft out of my circle, and continue grocery pickup as much as possible, along with restaurant take out.
Try to stay as healthy as possible until, or if, there is a vaccine.

+1. Fewer and fewer seem to be taking precautions where we live. All we can do is protect ourselves and go on with life. DW and I are the only ones wearing masks some places we go, but that’s fine with us.

Group of 16 pals ALL catch coronavirus after ‘end-of-lockdown’ bash at FL bar – but Gov DeSantis won’t reverse reopening. Or course they’re all young and stupid so only two of them had full blown flu like symptoms, the others were mild cases. I’m sure most people aren’t concerned anymore because they think it won’t kill them if they do get it. Worrying about others has passed.

https://www.thesun.ie/news/5551715/coronavirus-cases-friends-lockdown-desantis-reopening-florida/

 

[audreyh1]

Their mentality seems pretty typical. There are lots of folks who simply won’t understand or modify their behavior until either they or someone close to them catches the virus due to careless behavior. And then it’s - oops - I guess we should have known better/taken it more seriously. Because the virus is invisible and seems unreal until you encounter it personally. A lot of folks simply can’t get their head around the threat.

BTW - that young lady mentioned shortness of breath!

 

[REWahoo]

I am concerned only about being forced to go back the office too soon and the large open plan spaces packed with people, the elevators, the rules or changes that will be put in place. I simply do not know yet what will happen for now I am safely WFH and waiting. Also, are run on sentences a sign of covid? I'm tired.

DD#1 has been working from home since April and her company announced the first of June they were going to begin to return employees to the office then realized they couldn't allow them to meet face-to-face and abandoned the plan entirely and decided to continue to have everyone work remotely. Maybe, but I feel fine.

 

[ElizabethT]

OP--
I agree, it does seem as if many think that "re-opening" = "the virus is gone".
The best I can do to mitigate my risk is wear a mask myself, continue good hand washing, maintain social distance when out and insist others stay 6 ft out of my circle, and continue grocery pickup as much as possible, along with restaurant take out.
Try to stay as healthy as possible until, or if, there is a vaccine.

Yep, those are our general guidelines as well.

Re: masks. Frequenting businesses that require them, and avoiding those that do not. While wearing them may not protect us fully, evidence is increasingly pointing to their giving us additional time before becoming infected - approximately 20 minutes with, 10 minutes without. Personally, I'll take those improved odds.

Someone mentioned concern about what happens once shorter days arrive, and I'm concerned about that also from a mental health standpoint. It's a lot easier to deal with our changed lives when we can be outside for long periods of time.

 

[sengsational]

I got the dreaded letter from the GI doc. I wrote back that due to the pandemic as well as evidence that the mail-in PCR test was nearing the gold standard and has been proven to pick up cancer when colonoscopy doesn't, I was opting for that this time. Crickets. Of course, because my GI doctor is basically a scope operator; if he's not doing that, he's not making money. Pay for service in medicine isn't working for me, but I haven't found one of those doctors that stepped off the standard medical reimbursement treadmill. Maybe one of these days I'll go looking again.