“I am aware of how much the last two and a half years of pandemic life have changed me. Some of the changes are positive. Some of the changes are probably negative or at best iffy. Some changes are nothing more than doing things differently. For sure “Covid Caution” has given me a great excuse to avoid things I don’t want to do.” Interestingly I don’t think that it has affected my diabetes a lot. I’m interested in your thoughts. https://testguessandgo.com/2022/09/18/remnants-of-the-pandemic/
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I love it, Laddie!
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Mine are mostly travel-related. I am nominally based out of the Shanghai area in China and Cochin, Kerala, India. As those 2 countries have been such a mess with their Covid control, instead of my going to those offices every 3 weeks, managers come to visit here in the US. That has allowed me to strengthen US operations, however, my Asia operations are suffering with the lack of my regular boots on the ground in our factories there to resolve small picky issues.
My diabetic control has improved because extensive international travel and frequent change of local diets are hard to negotiate when some of the foods are quite strange and nutrition labels are few and far between. Eating to my meter, or rather my CGM is the only way to stay in control.
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The pandemic ruined our lives. My father was murdered by this country and the hospital which infected him. I have longterm covid damage and ptsd. There has been nothing but stress for many months. It affected my job as well.
The staying home part was much better for me due to all the health issues I have including d, until my father became an invalid after they infected him with covid and then he needed constant care, but that made it possible for me to care for him 24/7 while still doing my job at home. Just barely, and it is amazing I kept my sanity through it all. There were no real positives.
It is impossible to find a job which is totally wfh which is what I prefer now because everyone is pretending this is over here while 500 per day or so are still dying. The negligent handling of everything from the start as well as the extreme lack of caring about people’s welfare has hammered home for me what this country is really all about and it is certainly not about caring for the elderly and high risk.
I have had now 5 vaccines for this in the space of 2 years maybe. And I fear it will never end because people here are too stupid to do the right thing. I always have bad reactions to vaccines, all of them, it’s not easy for me to keep doing this over and over.
If all people had to do was to stay home and wear a mask etc., maybe you had a mild case etc., you were extremely lucky and have no clue how much suffering there has been.
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No one we know, even those in our peripheral network, has suffered severely from COVID, and certainly not in our inner circle, although there were a few weeks in the beginning when my 80-year-old mother-in-law struggled at home. As for ourselves, we took every precaution, and I was able to work remotely almost immediately. Even though we live in Manhattan, and as far as we know, we have not been infected.
While the pandemic was horrific, it has been positive in many ways for me as an individual. My role already had a hybrid work schedule before the pandemic, and we quickly switched to fully remote. Since I had no attachment with my office colleagues, I was less stressed but happier. I slept better. My blood sugar control improved, and I have read that it is a common effect for Type 1s. We already had regular food deliveries and extended those services to cover things that I would pick up ad hoc. Not necessarily a positive or negative, the size of our tips for service people increased, and for the most part has stayed elevated.
The initial downsides were to socialization, travel, and physical activity.
We would normally entertain a bit at home, rotating with friends for snacks and wine get-togethers. That stopped and has not returned to its pre-pandemic level, although our dinners out are more frequent, but less varied, sticking to family and our regular places.
My spouse, an avid traveler, was hurt most, as we had to cancel multiple vacations. For her, that was painful, particularly some that were planned for Europe. Now, we rent houses in New England and visit friends and family. We’ll be staying with friends this weekend in upstate New York and going to Boston in October. Eventually, next year, we plan to head to London or Italy.
Activity was my biggest loss, and that has returned for the most part. Initially, I missed my intense walking commute - 15 minutes each way in Manhattan - and my time around the city, but even more so, losing my regular workouts at my gyms. I bought a rowing machine to compensate, but I didn’t have the same intensity, type, or variety of workouts, and during that time wound up with a shoulder injury that I just plowed through and made worse. Now, I have gone back to my gyms but have changed my routine and work out a bit more than before, as well as get in more walking.
Scorecard:
- Type 1 Control: improved
- Diet: Improved
- Weight: Increased
- Fitness: Changed
- Stress: Decreased
- Sleep: Improved
- Socialization: Decreased/changed
- Travel: Decreased/changed
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Loved the scorecard - Thank you for sharing
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We had been planning to go to Europe for our 50th wedding anniversary 2+ years ago, but fear of covid cancelled our plans.
Our son was going to be married, but covid fear cancelled his big wedding plans 2 yrs in a row. They finally got married last Halloween at their house after the few people who were there covid tested.
We only travelled to the Oregon Coast to our beach house a few times, because the small coastal hospitals were full, and we didn’t want to take a chance of needing care.
Certainly not huge problems, just disappointing. My husband and I are both introverts, so spending a lot of time at home did not bother us at all. We enjoyed ourselves reading, gardening etc.
We recently received our 5th covid vaccination and feel fairly secure about not getting covid. If we do get it we can take
Paxlovid and recover quickly. I am concerned about getting long covid though if covid germs do find us. I spent several years dealing with chronic fatigue, and I don’t want to feel that bad again.
We still wear masks but will start being more selective about when we find it necessary. We just had a young man under 30 die from covid in our county. We live in Idaho where many people refused to vaccinate.
We are now talking about travel, but I get tired fairly easily at 71 after having had type 1 for 63 yrs. I am rather worn out. Eating a low fat vegan diet would be rather difficult to do while traveling.
My diabetes control remained excellent and my weight didn’t change. We both miss going to the gym, but we bought some equipment so we could exercise at home.
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For me, as for many others, there have been positives and negatives.
Pre-pandemic I was in-office 5 days a week - remote work was not part of the culture of my office. With the commute, that meant that I was gone from home 11-12 hours a day. When the pandemic hit, we abruptly switched to full time remote work. The change was a bit difficult at first, but we all adjusted. Now I have a hybrid schedule, which I think is the best of both worlds. I appreciate the flexibility that this schedule provides, while also allowing for in-person time with my colleagues.
My diabetes control has improved a bit and my weight hasn’t changed. I’m exercising more too - I have never been a “gym person” but the dog is now getting longer walks and I’m working out at home more. I had neither the time nor inclination to do these things when I worked in-office everyday.
The negatives have been mostly social for me. I miss going to concerts, plays, movie theaters, out to dinner in the city that I work in, etc… large family gatherings have been stressful unless they are completely outdoors. I still wear a mask indoors but I am still nervous about doing these things. I’m primarily afraid of "long covid’ and the uncertainty that comes with that. I am introverted so it’s easy to become somewhat isolated during times like this. I experience a lot of anxiety when contemplating doing anything that could potentially expose me to covid. It’s hard to say if this anxiety is warranted or not, but the stress is palpable for me. I just got my second booster today (bivalent) so I’m hoping that I will be able to get over this anxiety to some degree.
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I started out I’d get Covid eventually, so did what I could to delay that inevitability.
I just got my fourth dose of the vaccine — Omicron version this time — and I’m not sure whether or not I actually got Covid at all. Certainly no symptoms ever. Even considering the number of people I encountered who afterwards told me they got it. Maybe I’M the asymptomatic super spreader!
I mostly worked from home until this spring, now it’s a mix. And I resumed travel, concerts, and social gatherings, which I’m grateful for.
Diabetes control: about the same. Weight: absolutely no change.
Socialization: way down initially, now pretty much back to normal.
Travel: very little for two years, now getting back to it.
I’ll take a booster shot every year or even every six months. I have no doubt the pandemic isn’t “over” in spite of what Biden said, probably as a political statement to help the Democratic Party seem more freedom-focussed.
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I imagine Biden’s comments reflect the trend over the past months of not pushing for increased precautions, reflecting the mood of the nation. Certainly, it could be a political stance, but freedom is a relative term, and for some that means guns, god, SUVs, and freedom from government, while for others that means health care, education, a decent life, and the freedom to enjoy life free from family dependencies, as well as free from corporate control, the latter more of a European concept of individual freedom.
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Oh, I agree . . . And apologize for bringing politics into this, recognizing that “everything is politics” of course.
When is the pandemic truly “over”?
It’s a political AND scientific answer and politicians disagree by default, as of course do scientists. Thousands of people still in acute care hospitals and hundreds dying of a disease daily would not suggest to me that the pandemic is over. But the other party’s largest expressed position was that the pandemic never even started, so pick your poison.
I think this definition from the WHO indicates Covid-19 is no longer pandemic -
The World Health Organization declares a pandemic when a disease’s growth is exponential. This means the growth rate skyrockets, and each day cases grow more than the day prior.
However the definitions for epidemic and endemic don’t seem to fit the current situation as Covid-19 is still world wide, crossing over international boarders.
A disease outbreak is endemic when it is consistently present but limited to a particular region.
The CDC describes an epidemic as an unexpected increase in the number of disease cases in a specific geographical area.
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It was tough on my kids. I took another job actually because i was so bored sitting at home. Then after 5 months or so, people started coming in with covid and not being tested. I said thats it, I dont feel comfortable here like this. I’m leaving. They said sure go home call us in 2 weeks. They wasnt having it after 2 weeks. Typical. Lol. Also, my daughters whole middle school experience, was basically her sleeping in bed. Which i really felt bad for her. It was really strange for the children I’m sure. My brothers got it, my nephews my nieces, but not me and not my kids. I studied some science in school, thought about nursing for a time, I listened to what was going on, I knew what was going on, but i was lucky i could keep my distance from people, i could keep people away from me. The stories that upset me the most were people like the bus drivers, just doing their job because they’re told to, and people riding the bus didnt care and got them sick and they died. My heart goes out for them. It wasnt right. At all. And now, it seems like there’s money issues going on everywhere, they say things are back to normal, masks are not required, depends who you’re talking about I guess. People are still struggling. We had a whole bunch of new billionaires during the pandemic. Paper money is only worth something if it’s changing hands.They never should’ve shut down everything. It will take years to get back to normal. But who’s to say what normal is these days. Apparantly it’s just walking into a store taking what you want and not paying for it. I had to listen to the looting all night. It wasnt pretty. But some people just dont care. Arguing about who wears a mask who doesnt wear a mask. Like little children people are. My heart goes out to real people, the whole thing was just an unprepared mess. And it’s from one to the other. Bush tried to warn people about this, but nobody listened. Put on the shelf. Nobody prepared for this. We’re lucky to still be here.
Also, sorry for my little speech, but, it just came out of me. Thanks. But also, there are natural ways to fight the virus. Preparing your body’s immune system. Healthy fats, coconut water, hot peppers, high potassium, low sodium, grated ginger, pumpkin, string beans, sweet potato, watercress. Eating foods that help you eliminate waste regularly and your immune system will kill for you even though you might get sick. Low junk food. I got that advice from an herbalist. I had some friends who refused the vaccine. I got 3 shots of the pfizer. Will i be getting it for the rest of my life? I’m not sure. I’m not sure i want to either.
It’s amazing how little changes when you’re already reclusive and live in the middle of nowhere. Though, I never could get the cows and chickens to wear masks, so I guess I was still taking risks.
I think there was definitely some stress and paranoia, because we’re both high risk, but our actual lifestyle didn’t change at all. Our county got off easy, I think. We’ve only had 8 deaths and most of them were tourists, and while sad, they were unknown to the community. I think the Colorado way of life really helped slow the spread here. It’s just not normal to socialize indoors. Even in the winter, activities and get togethers are done outdoors. This is the kind of life where someone is tailgating if you can see them in your mirror and 3 cars equals a traffic jam. (Though cattle drives actually do stop traffic.) So we’re just not the type of people to encroach on that 6 feet of personal space anyway.
The general acceptance of telehealth is a change I was very grateful for, though. I hope that remnant stays!
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@Laddie, I am 83 and my wife is 78. We have been spending aboutb 95% of our time at home for three years. No trips more than 10 miles. We have completed all five of the Covid shots.
We have avoided gatherings with people for those three years. I see gatherings of people not wearing masks. We do not go to restaurants.
Life is boring, but safe. Perhaps we are overprotective?
I am experiencing stress, but my wife seems to be ok with our routine.
My diabetes has not been affected.
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Since we all are unique individuals with different physiologies, what may seem paranoid and overprotective to some will seem reasonable and admirable to others. For me, the threat of Covid is far from over.
I am immunosuppressed due to a medication I take for dermatomyositis, and with T1D for over 50 years in addition to that, I continue to take no chances. Both my husband (who has had 6 heart by-passes) and I have NOT contracted Covid, due both to the vaccines and to precautions. We got the first Covid vaccines as soon as they came out, so we were able recently to get our 6th Covid vaccine – this one to protect us from the recent variants.
We both are retired, so we have had no workplace worries. In the past 2 1/2 years, I have edited two non-fiction books, both of which are now out on the market, and I have not once had to meet face-to-face with the author. He lives in California and I live in either Wisconsin or Florida, so meeting would be costly if we had to do so. Everything has been done online, and we have had no problems working together.
Our social life has ceased with the exception of visits to and from our two daughters and our grandson. Any other meetings with friends or families all have been limited to outdoor settings and social distance. I recently had to pass on a visit with my sister and her children who flew in from California and Florida, or drove over from Minnesota. Am I glad that I did! Out of the 13 people gathered, one brought in Covid and she infected at least four others.
I have never given up wearing masks whenever I go out to grocery stores, drugstores, or medical offices. Church services are now online only, library books are now downloaded onto my Kindle, and Christmas shopping this year still will be delivered by Santa Amazon.
I just switched to an OmniPod 5 insulin pump, and so far things are going well. Visits to doctors have remained positive, so if anything, my T1D control has gotten better. I have lost a couple of pounds in the last year, and I have been able to maintain my weight through this all. Exercise consists of two 1.5 - 2.0 mile walks seven days a week, and I have a treadmill, a stationary bike, and a rowing machine in my exercise room at home if the weather is bad.
I have editing, reading, sewing, weaving, cooking, and Facetime visits with family and friends to keep me busy. We never really DID eat out much, so I continue to cook 99% of our meals at home.
We are safe, relatively healthy, happy, and content. Who could want more?
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@SherryAnn, that is the right attitude! I hope you continue to accept your way of coping with your problems.
Best wishes to you and your husband!
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Laddie, these crisis situations affect us all differently. I think if anyone came out of the pandemic without some strong feelings and exactly the same person, they must have been sleeping or maybe drunk or high the whole time. I had friends who lost family members. It was a very difficult time for our country and world. Since we have diabetes, we had to be more cautious. There were people we avoided because we knew they didn’t wear masks and weren’t safe to be around. Sometimes, it was a good excuse to avoid things you didn’t want to go to. LOL…
If you were lucky, you didn’t lose a loved one. I just hope and pray that this thing will go away one day at least to the point where we can go out to eat and stop wearing masks in crowds.
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No chance of me unmasking here anytime soon.
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Almost exclusively negative effects.
Individual people have degraded into increasingly uncivilized animals. Society has eroded. Physical infrastructure has suffered. Supply of valuable resources is sharply limited.
I have suspicions that my neurological and cardiac health are worse after COVID (although this may be temporary).
On the upside, the labor market is fantastic. I am economically, more optimistic than I have been in 20 years. Dog seemed to enjoy having me around during covid.
Net effect is somewhat unknown. The great powers seem to be acting up, but so are citizens seemingly inclined to take larger risks. It’s too soon to guess what may happen geopolitically.
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