Two WEEKS, Warriors.
Is it starting to feel ‘normal’ for you?
I think it might be for me?
Maybe?
But first, the news:
- RIVM Tempers Intensive Care Expectations as Corona Cases Continue to Rise
- Netherlands Ordered Ventilators From Philips Just Two Weeks Ago
- Military Support for Ede Hospital, EasyJet Ceases All Flights [Dutch]
I had a nightmare last night.
Which is nice.
Cause the pattern for the past TWO WEEKS has been having dreams and waking up to a nightmare.
#LOLsobs
This nightmare was the kind where the bad guy says, “You think this is JUST a dream? You think you can get away from me by WAKING UP?”
Which, of course, makes it a million times worse.
And then it was kind of sticky as I was waking up.
That kind where you’re not sure if you’re awake or asleep.
If the nightmare is still happening.
And while, yes, #COVID19 is still happening, I’m not actually being attacked by a vampire and his army of bats the size of elephants.
Whew!
I started adding news headlines to these posts cause I think it’s interesting to see what the media is reporting. And while initially I was only posting from DutchNews.nl, now I’m posting my top three links from DutchNews.nl, NLtimes.nl, and NOS.nl.
Even though the latter is in Dutch, it’s the main source of news for the Netherlands #IMHO and if you add a translation plugin to your browser, you can play along at home.
It just occurred to me that GDPR might be straight up blocking people from IPs outside the Netherlands or the EU and if that’s the case, then, my bad.
I see a lot of posts on Facebook from American friends that I can’t actually access because my IP is Dutch.
I don’t really know where this line of thought is going, if I’m honest.
I’m gonna take a break. And by take a break I mean I’m going to listen to the Daily Social Distancing Show. And by listening to the Daily Social Distancing Show, I mean I’m going to get a cup of tea and go for a walk.
Again.
If you liked that, there’s a sequel, too. And more on the director’s website, https://www.mitchellrose.com/.
#FocusLeander
I totally did go on that walk. And drink that cup of tea.
And then I crashed.
It’s a process.
Another friend, Adelina Chalmers, has COVID19. She’s sharing advice garnered from her experience [with my edits to make it international]:
“1. Keep a track of your symptoms as accurately as possible: make a note of the day/time/duration (start time/end time) of especially body temperature. E.g.: 25 March, 8.30am-16.00 temperature (say “felt hot” if you don’t have a thermometer), 25 March 18.30-22.00 (until went to bed) temperature 38.2 [100.76], “felt warm not as hot as hot as in the morning”.
“2. It seems that 4-8 hours of continuous temperature in a day, for up to 5-6 days is ok (if you get a break from having temperature in the day). More worrying temperature patterns seem to be: temperature is 24 hours a day for 5+ days or comes and goes erratically and only goes on for short bursts (1 hour or less), longer than 5 days. If this happens to you, call 111 or 999 [or 911 or 112, depending on where you live] if you feel also breathless or you get any of the readings below on your pulse oximeter.
“3. Keeping track of your symptoms helps doctors to identify patterns and what exactly was the body’s “performance” in response to the virus in case after day 6-8 you get complications and need further assistance. They need this information to help them understand what they should do next. They will ask you these sorts of questions: symptoms you’ve had, for how long, any underlying conditions, medication you’ve been taking for Covid, how often, would be helpful for them to know your oxygen saturation levels and heart beats per second in the last 6 days. Below I will tell you how to keep a track of these.
“4. Buy a pulse oximeter – they’re about £15 and tell you your oxygen levels – anything at or below 93 on SaO2 (oxygen saturation in blood) you have to call an ambulance. They also tell you the number of heart beats per minutes. Anything between 60-80 is ok for adults. Anything lower than 50 you have to drink some coffee or take a caffeine tablet or eat a bit of chocolate. Keep a note of your SaO2 and heart beat readings your pulse oximeter tells you, 3 times a day. Have this information to hand for drs if you see them. It helps them tell the state you’ve been in before things went haywire. They won’t ask you for it, but it will make their job easier if you have this information.
“5. Days 5-8 of your symptoms starting are crucial – these are the days where you either will be ok and slowly you start to get better, or you get complications and can get worse pretty quickly. This is where points above come in useful to help the doctor decide a clinical path for you (what treatment/medication would be helpful and if you should get help at home or if they should take you to hospital).
“6. Pure paracetamol [acetaminophen] is the medication to take for headaches and temperature. Don’t take Cocodamol (paracetamol with codeine) or cold medication that contains Phenylalanine (it’s in various cold pills sold in shops). Apparently both Phenylalanine and Codeine impact your breathing patterns, which, in the case of Covid-19 it can create complications. Codeine in particular apparently inhibits breathing centres in the brain. I took cocodamol in the first 2 days as I had no paracetamol. My breathing got worse very quickly. Since friends brought me Paracetamol it’s been slightly better.
“7. You might feel better and then suddenly worse again. Try not to be disheartened. It’s the body’s fight with the virus, this is not normal flu. Because of the RNA of the virus, it’s harder to figure out how to kill it. It’s not necessarily linear recovery. Yesterday between 4-8.45pm I was fine (apart from breathing heavily up the stairs). After 9pm I was slightly struggling to breathe and talk at the same time. This morning was even worse.
“8. Your lungs might feel like they’ve shrunk – I couldn’t stand up, walk and talk. If I did some light cooking in the kitchen, after 15 min I start slurring my words. Try and keep calm and watch boring tv. Don’t talk whilst walking around the house. Anxious thoughts, laughing or crying – all make breathing worse.
“I’m still going through it, but understanding these details calmed me down. Feeling like my lungs are smaller was initially scary. I’m fine with it now, although it’s gotten worse to the point I now can’t talk and breathe easily at the same time more than 10 -15 min.
“I’m not a medical doctor so don’t take this as gospel – but it’s a summary of the advice I was given by several drs + my experience with the virus so far.
“Feel free to share it if you think it will help others. That’s why I made it public.
“Keep safe!”
Stay strong, Warriors.