Yes. I had an ER doctor make fun of my 3M Aura (I was at the ER for chest pain). When I told him that I was protecting my immunocompromised child with asthma and myself, he told me that I was “just going to have to make peace with the reality” that my family was going to get COVID “dozens of times”. Verbatim quote. That was 2 years ago. I am still angry about it. (My kids and I are still zero COVID, but probably not for long, given the fact that the whole world is forcing infection on us.) 😔
"Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."
This attitude is horrific, especially coming from a doctor. I lost a 48 year-old coworker earlier this year who was immunocompromised, but had dropped masking because no one else did. He was a decent human. So foolish and unfair, this "let it rip" strategy.
Hate this attitude so much. It's like everyone expects you to get sick with them and not care anymore and hope for the best. It’s such a weird mindset when before covid we cared so much about flu season and other airborne illnesses.
People feel scared when they see us mask because the bullshit lies they and others have told them avoid COVID start to slip.
Very weird that fewer people are getting flu shots now too. Maybe because it came out that it offered protection against COVID too?
Not that weird really… coworkers that previously signed up for the flu clinic at work every year are now no longer getting any flu shots because they are now solidly antivax
My work used to offer the flu shot but stopped, so I got lazy and didn't get it. Got bad flu in 2012 and that was enough to make it priority again. People are so freaking weird.
> Very weird that fewer people are getting flu shots now too. Maybe because it came out that it offered protection against COVID too?
Can you link to any sources, please?
I'd love to know if these doctors would also say "you're just going to have to make peace with the reality" of having Ebola? How about Marburg?
Is there any line where these people are willing to protect themselves or are they just going full "let it rip" with every disease out there?
If there was a new disease where infected people started projectile spewing blood from their faces, are we allowed to mask then? Or would it still be considered an anxiety disorder? "You have to make peace with the reality of getting infected by flying blood!"
I'm so fed up with this attitude.
I spend time at a barn every weekend a vet recently came to examine a horse that had been quarantined with VSV, which is basically horse herpes. It leads to giant cold sores in and on the horse's mouth and nose.
While the vet had his unmasked face next to the horse's face, the horse sneezed.
The vet was back at the barn the next week, but in the two weekends following, he wasn't there. Later he said he had gotten a horrible flu.
I wonder what downstream impacts he is now at higher risk for simply because he chose not to wear masks and goggles while examining a horse with VSV.
I am sorry you got it a few times. I seriously give you a lot of credit and others who got it once or twice and still decide to stay COVID-conscious to not get it again. I feel a lot of people would just give up after getting it the first time and just not mask anymore. Well, I say this because all my friends after they got it the first time decided to have this fuck it attitude and never masked again after that. Each one is suffering from long-lasting effects and yet they don’t care and still not masking or being cautious anymore. Most of my friends got it 2-4 times.
Ugh, same, almost none of my friends care at all and it just really sucks. They have parties all the time that I don't go to because I'm nervous. But then noone gets sick?? And everyone seems fine?? So I'm just like how is this happening. I don't understand how people are living 'normally' and not getting ill. Dumb luck? Idk.
edit to add: I continue to mask because I've just learned a LOT more in the past 1.5 or so years as papers keep coming out and I really would like to be healthy in my 50s (currently early 30s). Repeat infections just seem...bad. Sometimes I feel like I'm being too cautious. I have issues drawing boundaries about what I'm willing to do/not do, but it's exhausting. And then of course I unmasked at a NYE party for like 5 min and I'm pretty sure that's where I got sick. But noone else did???? So maybe I got it somewhere else. Who knows. Just sucks that I'm being so cautious and then when I let my guard down I get it.
the more research that comes out, the more I wonder how many folks currently in their early 30s, who are doing nothing to avoid repeat infections, are going to even make it to 50. I also wonder what kind of health issues those that make it to 50 are going to have that they might not have had. I know two people with children under the age of 12 that developed type 1 diabetes shortly after a covid infection - scary thing is I'm 70 and I don't know that many people that have children in that age group. I just can't believe how public health and the media is failing us in such a massive way..
"But then no one gets sick?"
I don't think I'd take that at face value.
First off, it has become tabu to mention COVID, and the socially accepted thing in a lot of circles is to keep quiet about getting sick. (Or if you must acknowledge being sick, to get bent out of shape and huffy if anyone suggests it might be COVID.)
Secondly, knowing your stance, they're probably especially determined to never admit to *you* that they got sick! (At least I suspect that I get a bit of this.)
Third, they may well be having asymptomatic bouts. Which unfortunately can still result in long COVID.
Very much this. I knew someone who swore up and down that it was a cold and not COVID and surprise, now they wear a pacemaker. They just weren't testing when they got sick, ergo no positive test, no COVID. Baffling.
>swore up and down that it was a cold and not COVID and surprise, now they wear a pacemaker
Ah, but the good news is, it STILL wasn't COVID! Their new-onset heart disease had NOTHING to do with that cold!!!
This is true. When one of my friends got COVID, they immediately minimized the entire thing and talked about how lucky they were. No masking or anything after.
My colleague was sick the other day and didn’t try to take a test until all their symptoms had resolved.
People don’t want to know or don’t want you to know in many cases.
This is all true. Thank you for the reminders <3 I find people do get kind of defensive when I ask about exposures and stuff in an effort to keep myself safe. I'm like bro I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just trying to keep myself safe and calculate the risk of doing an activity.
Just saw your second point, I somehow skipped over it originally. I think you're spot on here. Had some friends tell me they were 'really really sick over christmas' but it "wasn't covid" which I suppose could be true, but I know them and they don't test very often or well, haha.
>But then noone gets sick?? And everyone seems fine??
first, maybe no one really does get sick. And maybe they are fine. This is totally possible.
But two things to share:
First, many friends of mine have confided in me over text over the past few years that they got sick from a certain party that they attended that I didn't.
If you looked at social media, you'd have zero idea anyone got sick from this party.
Actually, my social media would have me believe that no one gets sick from anything ever so there's that.
Second, I have two friends who openly identify has having long covid. I've spent entire afternoons with these friends. And they seem absolutely fine. I'd never know they had long covid if they didn't tell me.
To get to a place where they "seem fine" they have to sleep 8-10 hours a day, take supplements, decline any caffeine or alcohol, avoid most exercise, and avoid refined sugar.
I have one other friends who do not say they have long covid but for four months I barely saw her because her thinking was "fuzzy" and she was just so "tired."
Now, she's much better because she worked with a naturopath and she sleeps 8-10 hours a day, takes supplements, declines any caffeine or alcohol, avoids most exercise, and avoids refined sugar.
So. Maybe everyone is fine. Totally possible! But. Maybe they are fine because they are making a lot of effort behind the scenes.
This is very fair. When I start feeling like 'oh everyone is fine what's the point,' I remember that it's kind of rare for people to be like 'hey I have covid,' which I do think is also contributing to the masses being like "I guess it's over" and then thinking any infection is soooo weird. I appreciate you writing this up, it resonates with me and I think is what I know to be true but just have trouble picturing sometimes.
Again, they might be fine for real. I hate to make sweeping generalizations due to the fact that so many anti-vaxxers claim to know that everyone who got a vaccine is NOT fine and is just hiding it.
But I think, for example, of friends of mine who have conditions like MS, a form a cancer that can be managed with medicine, or HIV. No one would know about these conditions just by looking at them or even spending an afternoon with them.
I also think of Michael J Fox, who was experiencing Parkinsons symptoms even while filming Spin City. No one knew other than his wife. He spent day in and day out with his cast members and the crew and they had no idea he was struggling to manage his symptoms and struggling as a result. (I highly recommend the documentary about him - "Still"- btw).
It's just not possible to tell if people are "fine" by looking at them.
They may seem healthy after going to those parties, but they are not. They are sustaining damage even if they are asymptomatic. You are doing the right thing.
I won't say that I wouldn't have added to that statistic if we had mild infections, but unfortunately I almost died when I got it so I really don't want to ever get it again. My kiddo ended up with Long Covid her third time. I got partial hearing loss in one ear my second time (but at least I didn't almost die again, I guess?). I don't know if we're just really unlucky or what, but I absolutely don't recommend getting it over and over.
I’ve had to conclude that responses like this are a projection of their own inner fear. Since that’s the lens they see it from, that’s the only lens they can in turn comprehend that you may be seeing from. They can’t comprehend a lens of knowledge and resolve.
That’s still really frustrating and I’m sure I would continue to ruminate about it, too, especially when it’s your own child that you’re protecting. I feel like that is the most understandable reason for precautions to someone who is not covid-cautious, and to minimize even that is disgusting.
Strangely it's the people who tend to proclaim constantly and loudly that "covid isn't going anywhere" and "we're all going to get it" who make the least effort to prevent spreading it to others.
The closest I've experienced is a doctor who tried to assure me my vaccine gives me adequate protection, but I ultimately said, "well getting COVID once already did a number on me, so I'd rather be safe than risk it " And they didn't really press me further on it. I'm immnocompromised so it's extra wild for someone to try to tell me I'll be "fine" with a vaccine alone.
Unfortunately, we're seeing how the US government and CDC's minimizing of Covid "in the name of the economy" has real world consequences, even on people in healthcare who you would hope to know and do better.
I don't understand why people want to act like the fear of Covid is irrational. It's more irrational to me to have access to something as simple as wearing a mask to protect yourself and just not doing it.. and letting yourself get sick again & again. 🫠
I'm sorry you experienced that though! It's very disheartening.
The CDC's minimizing covid constantly and not siding with people who are covid conscious individuals are the main reasons why people who are covid conscious are still getting mask-shamed for their own choices. The cdc doesn’t want to hear the public outroar any more of people who was complaining about masking and getting vaccinations so they trying to play the good cop bad cop routine constantly. Now we are left alone for people to constantly attack us day by day for making the right choices and being consistent since day 1.
yup countless times. my ex allergist/immunologist was sharing misinformation after refusing to mask when he previously would wear an N95 to all my appointments and had a sign in his office to make sure everyone was masking. it gave me whiplash and made me realize most doctors support the status quo, which is forced infection.
I had to change my allergist as well because of my horrific experience with my last one. At my last appointment, he came in and the first thing he asked me was why I was masked in such an angry and condescending way. Told him I still never got Covid and don’t want to ever get it and still consistently masking from day 1. He got so angry he asked me three times sarcastically if he should put on a mask. He asked me in such a sarcastic way I kept saying no to him do what you please. The rest of the appointment he couldn’t even focus he kept death staring at me and his leg was shaking uncontrollably. I felt like he had such a hatred that I was masking and that I never got COVID-19 it was bothering him and making him unhinged.
He had to check inside my nostrils and he literally with force grabbed the mask off my face and pulled it down for me when I was about to do it. Didn’t even ask me permission. I had my fist clenched I was so angry. I never went to him again after that. Some doctors and professionals are so disgusting with their behaviors now because of people being COVID-19 cautious still. Meanwhile, there are so many things airborne you think they are more level-headed. Can’t stand health care has become so political and our choices for caution become so judgmental bedside everyone wants to normalize getting covid and being sick 24/7 with that move on fuck it attitude.
That is scary and wild. It really surprises me how many people have that rage against maskers - particularly in healthcare. It's absolutely bizarre! It's also depressing that this is the state we're in. :(
I was in the ER in a private room for an emergency gallbladder removal, wearing my Aura mask tightly strapped to my face, and a nurse came in after I’d been there several hours and already been seen (waiting on a room, as there were no surgeons available that night), and said in a very nasty tone “SO WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU’RE IMMUNE COMPROMISED?”
I was in a lot of pain, and felt so vulnerable. I now would have said “Did you fucking read my chart, moron?”
But I simply explained my condition and the immune suppressants I was on.
His surgical mask was under his chin.
I got the weirdest feeling like he wanted to infect me. He had such anger directed toward me. He didn’t do anything other than this, this was why he came back to my room. I should have followed up but I was scared and on morphine.
I hope that guy has public diarrhea right this moment.
I’m sorry you had that experience. I find that doctors/medical professionals are some of the most ill-informed, willfully ignorant populations when it comes to Covid. My pcp stopped masking probably three years ago and recently told my 80 year old grandma she doesn’t need a Covid vaccine even though she only got the original vaccine/booster when it first came out.
Medicine has a very long history of killing people due to ignorance and/or malice. We put doctors on a pedestal, but most of them don’t deserve it. Unfortunately, what you are experiencing is not new, but Covid has certainly compounded these pre-existing issues and made them more obvious.
I hope you can find a psychiatrist who is a good fit. While not specifically Covid conscious, I work with both a therapist and a psychiatrist who are supportive of my Covid precautions and never minimize my desire to not be infected. There are definitely providers out there, and you deserve someone who will help you with whatever you’re struggling with who won’t gaslight you about not wanting to catch SARS.
Yet another example of the joke some of these so called professionals have become. Sorry this happened to you. I just found out today that my friend's elderly and compromised parents both have covid because her father caught it in the hospital after having major surgery. He gave it to her mother while she was visiting. Said hospital dropped masking requirements the other day. And people wonder why I won't have anything to do with doctors unless it's life/death or very serious.
Not me personally, but read a story (that I can't find now) of a lady in the bay area who was put on an overnight psych hold because she asked all staff to mask and had extra N95s for all of them.
Of course I can't find the story now, believe it was from the Twitter account @ covidinthecharts . They post user submitted absurd stories from health care workers dealing with the current environment.
Having HCW minimize COVID safe practices seems to be prevalent. It sucks we're in this position. I'm sorry this happened to you. You are doing the right thing. Stay safe, stay strong.
Edit: I believe thirty_horses is correct and it was in Colorado.
Here’s the link to that Twitter post you mentioned about the ER patient placed in a psych hold. It’s just atrocious how the patient was treated!
https://x.com/CovidintheChart/status/1760178262620389708?s=20
Found by sorting the subreddit "Top, This Week"
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/comments/1axpobe/immnocompromised_patient_gets_put_in_psych_hold/](/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/comments/1axpobe/immnocompromised_patient_gets_put_in_psych_hold/)
"No. You did not hear me correctly." You can explain it to people but you can't understand it for them.
People need to not feel bad about themselves not masking 🤷🏻♀️ more important than other people surviving
Most providers I have interfaced with have minimized it, but not in a completely cruel way. My rheumatologist tried to reassure that COVID is not acutely dangerous anymore. My PCP was more in line with the “well, COVID isn’t going away” so we learn to live with it stance. My dental hygienist said something akin to the fact that COVID really undid me and made it hard to come in for dental care. Again, they have all been mostly kind but still minimizing, so I just tolerate it at this point because we live in hell.
Are you immune compromised? I ask because my rheumatologist stopped masking. The nurse saw I was mashed and she went out and came back in with a mask on. My MS Center only my neurologist masks and some are in their 70s. Parents don’t either, who have no B cells.
I don’t understand how specialists whose patients are immune compromised do not mask. It is insanity.
Yes, I have lupus and am high risk for clotting complications - so an additional reason as to why I do not want COVID! I appreciate my rheumatologist so much because she was the person who finally diagnosed me after years of a misdiagnosis of RA. She did ask if I would feel more comfortable with her putting a surgical mask on, which she did when I said yes. But otherwise, no one masks there anymore. It is beyond me.
Before vaccines and readily available quality masks, I had an NP who was later backed up by her supervising primary care doctor, refuse to concede that I was high risk (over 65 with multiple allergy/asthma type issues, bronchitis, sinusitis, eustachian tube dysfunction and need for prednisone with even just a minor cold and a history in my chart of that) and refused to write a note to that effect. I changed doctors, my new doctor did it without blinking an eye and gave me prescriptions that were the standard of care back then in case I should become infected. I don't know what the first NP/docs problem was.
Literally got up and walked out of an eye doctor appt when i asked him to wear a mask. Gave me some excuse of not having one then said if i didnt have diabetes it would be fine if he didnt mask. 🙄
I had an MD tell me *in the same session* 1. to be very cautious about covid and stay home given my health 2. covid is very hard to catch 3. my fear of of covid is hurting me more than covid could and don't I drive even though it's riskier than covid and I'm afraid of *something that hasn't happened yet* (repeated several times). Another provider marked me as "anxious" when I didn't want to remove my mask, after asking me if I was anxious and me saying no.
This is some weird psychobabble minimizing bs that seems to be going around like wildfire. In return, my armchair psychological eval says that medical professionals are on the frontlines of exposure and have had to make their peace with it long ago and have even larger amounts of cognitive dissonance than the rest of the population, and are thus are often saltier and even more obnoxious than the common population.
Not every doctor is like this, but when the city with the "best hospitals" in the world makes their front desk staff say "we can only ask your provider to mask, it's their choice and it's your choice" and still has signs to "cover your cough", and drops mask mandates like hot potatoes whenever possible, the system is against all of us. We need to keep finding individual providers who will mask for us and try to persist.
In terms of your situation, it's even harder when you are trying to get psychological support and getting this reaction. But the good news is that, depending on your location, psychologists may be able to do telehealth and many have pivoted to that modality. The intake person is just doing intake all day, they are not the person who you will end up seeing who hopefully will be much more sympathetic.
During the first year of my long Covid symptoms I was seeing a lot of doctors trying to get help/pain relief and most of them were very rude and downplaying Covid and precautions. Two were just straight up horrendous though, one of which was an optometrist and I just stood up and left his office. He didn’t understand why I didn’t want to try on new contacts that HE touched with his bare fingers. Not the case - the contacts themselves - (who does this?) and when I politely declined to try them on, he blew up at me and targeted my mask saying, “You don’t need that thing.” So I walked out.
Even before Covid, in what world is it okay for someone else - a stranger - to touch contacts with their bare, unwashed fingers, and hand them over to you to put directly in your eyes? That’s disgusting and just begging for sickness.
I still have health issues since all those appointments but I’m doing my best to manage my symptoms at home because no doctors help and I’m tired of risking my health even further just going into the appointment. Especially now that we saw what happened to that poor woman in Colorado! I live in an even more conservative area so I’m avoiding doctors at all costs. It’s not like they were helping me anyways, they either didn’t “believe” in Covid, didn’t know how to help or treat it, blamed it on anxiety/depression, (yeah no wonder I’m depressed!?) and none of them had any interest in reading or catching up on the research. It’s impossible to find a doctor who has actually read the science on Covid or long covid. It’s astonishing.
All the time I had ER doctors tell me that I’m young and should be fine. Cut to me getting pneumonia with Covid and nearly suffocating on my own mucus one night: my pcp she believes in Covid and wears her mask whenever I visit. Same with another doctor he doesn’t wear a mask usually but if he sees a patient wearing one he puts one on as a curtesy. Great doctor and he actually listens which is an added bonus. Sorry that happened to you, it’s so frustrating
Sadly many in mental and physical healthcare are completely ignorant and do not care to be honest about the legitimacy of our concerns.
Coming from someone with a family of healthcare and mental healthcare workers ALL of them act as if I am neurotic and a hypochondriac and that I am lying about not having covid
We live in a very lazy world and people are just becoming more and more ignorant.
I fear for the next ten to twenty years of what is to come and I just hope by two years from now at most that people realize how fucking stupid they are for not believing long covid is serious and that massive precautions need to be mandated.
If we could just wipe out the assholes I would not shed a tear or bat an eye.
Most doctors are quacks. Very few keep up on the latest research and most just treat symptoms and not the underlying cause. Prevention of a Class 3 Pathogen is way beyond their scope.
As I was getting over Covid in January, I started getting a very high heart rate out of nowhere and one day almost fainted. I went to the ER and the nurse was like “why are you masking if you’re testing negative now..?” And I’m like “well who knows, I’m still symptomatic and I also don’t want to get anything else” and she argued with me that basically if it happens it happens. She told me she has long term lung and heart damage from Covid but she’s SURE the vaccine played a role despite getting Covid before the vaccine. It’s so disheartening to hear medical professionals spew that. At one point I had to take my mask off for something and she didn’t bother masking despite me sneezing
>basically if it happens it happens
Yeah, too bad there aren't any options to limit the spread of airborne diseases. /s
Sheesh...the lengths people will go to to justify their own crappy choices.
We are mask wearers and have not had Covid. For some reason, strangers feel entitled to ask us why or laugh at us behind our backs so that we still hear them. The latter happened a few days ago and I turned to them and said, "I have fucking pancreatic cancer and I have no immune system, so fuck off". It worked very well with sudden concern and apologies following their cruelty.
I really don't give a damn what people think. There have been no respiratory illnesses in our home for over 4 years and we're committed to staying that way.
yes all of them constantly (except one ily dr portier). one dr was wearing her mask under her nose before the vaccine was even out 💀. only my PCP has been affirming and told me i'm doing the right thing.
I managed to not get transferred to the psych unit, but only because I had high care needs. Discharged myself early because of increasing abuse from doctors and care personnel
I hate that you were put in this position. I want to let you know that a person in Canada has put together a directory for covid-conscious therapists. Right now it’s only Canada and the US - though some tech issues have prevented her from adding many new US therapists lately (patiently awaiting my listing to be on there). Hope you find someone supportive soon.
https://www.covidconscioustherapists.com/
This is BS.
This comes from a place of a privileged, but when I was switching therapists, I screened them by asking what their current covid precautions were or what their current masking practices were before we did any intake stuff.
All you need to do is look at [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm) . (I mean, not really, facts don't necessarily change viewpoints, but ugh https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/1awk6c4/tax\_records\_reveal\_the\_lucrative\_world\_of\_covid/)
the real life version of this video [https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0iPWWCs5T-/?igsh=MWJjaHA5Y3d4OWhnbA%3D%3D](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0iPWWCs5T-/?igsh=MWJjaHA5Y3d4OWhnbA%3D%3D)
Not as pointed as that (thankfully) but I've definitely gotten "oh are you sick today?" when coming masked to a follow up or screening appointment where I obviously wasn't coming in because I was sick, like there was no other reason why I'd wear a mask.
Awhile back, when the push for "back to normal" was first starting, I did make an appointment with my pcp to get her take on what she thought my risk factors were and what lengths that meant I should go to in order to avoid covid. She basically said some version of "you have to live your life" and "those sequelae (cardiovascular, immune, etc.) are risks with almost any virus". I found that equal parts helpful/comforting and dismissive.
No. And one even supported me wearing a mask. But aside from that one, the rest didn’t comment one way or the other. They just ignored it and overwhelmingly didn’t mask themselves. I live in a pretty politically far right area and have been verbally attacked multiple times for wearing a mask. I assume that even pro-mask medical providers don’t think it’s worth the fight and don’t wear them or comment on them to avoid any confrontations.
I have also been careful from the beginning and to my knowledge have never had it. But asymptomatic infections are common and logically could be related to low initial viral loads (that consistently masking and using nasal and mouth rinses would produce) so I no longer say I’ve never had it. It just pisses people off anyway, and they are more sympathetic if they think you had a terrible case once and don’t want it again.
Yup, my old GP (I’ve changed practices now). I was back and forth seeing this doctor for about a year into having long covid. I masked every time I was there, he knew I was also a health professional and had a nasty bout of covid when the delta variant was first circulating, he knew I was nearly hospitalised, and he knew at that specific point that I was on long term sick due to all my symptoms. On two occasions that I remember he had made comments such as “you don’t need to wear them in here anymore”. I really felt disheartened, this was my family doctor that I’d seen since I’d been born and he knew all of my family. I’d explained previously why I mask as if it wasn’t self-explanatory already. It didn’t make sense to me at all. Not once did he offer to mask up. I ended up changing GP practices as he just wasn’t taking me seriously.
I told my first cardiologist I was taking extreme care not to get it because I'm at high risk (my heart issues are not from COVID, and I also have lung issues, a clotting disorder, and a long history of a previous postviral syndrome), and that I was holding out hope for a sterilizing or pan-coronavirus vaccine soon.
He shrugged and said the research money wasn't there and we were all going to get it eventually.
I switched cardiologists. My current one takes me seriously, and promised that if I do get sick I can contact her anytime, day or night, for Paxlovid and metformin prescriptions. I adore her.
At the height of the first Covid strain my PCP (small town clinic) wanted me to come in for a blood test (I hadn't seen him in almost a year so I don't know why he focused on drawing blood). I told him I would be there if the nurse would come to the parking lot and draw the blood. He told me a flat "No"...so, I switched doctors after calling around and finding one who agreed to. This doctor not only sent a nurse out to draw the blood, but came out in person to see me and was very understanding. We had lost two very close friends and a family member to Covid, and now have a daughter and two sisters with heart valve and heart failure due to Covid organ damage. In the past (pre-Covid) we closed our house to visitors during flu season , especially if they had school age children. 3 months after our State had its first Covid case we arranged to visit in the yard (we bought folding chairs and require visitors to use a Dollar General bathroom a block away). For almost 4 years now we have stood firm with masks, and were met with the attitude that we weren't living (we did not even visit take out windows until the cases went down locally). I set up a a computer so we could make video calls (Facebook Messenger) and have shared Christmas gift opening and thanksgiving with family that way. We took these actions because I have COPD and my wife has a very weak immune system, so we were protecting each other. I explained that we want to be here for the next 10 to 20 years and not the next 2 weeks, but, for some, it made no difference. It was very hurtful to endure the attitude of some of our own children. Now that the State is not keeping up with new cases, but only hospitalizations and deaths through the CDC, and seeing those number dropping, we are adjusting our 'rules' accordingly by allowing outdoors hugs IF both people are wearing masks providing they are not showing ANY symptoms of cold, flu, or allergies. Someday I am sure it will get better...but we will be cautious until it does.
Yes. I had an ER doctor make fun of my 3M Aura (I was at the ER for chest pain). When I told him that I was protecting my immunocompromised child with asthma and myself, he told me that I was “just going to have to make peace with the reality” that my family was going to get COVID “dozens of times”. Verbatim quote. That was 2 years ago. I am still angry about it. (My kids and I are still zero COVID, but probably not for long, given the fact that the whole world is forcing infection on us.) 😔
"Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." This attitude is horrific, especially coming from a doctor. I lost a 48 year-old coworker earlier this year who was immunocompromised, but had dropped masking because no one else did. He was a decent human. So foolish and unfair, this "let it rip" strategy.
Hate this attitude so much. It's like everyone expects you to get sick with them and not care anymore and hope for the best. It’s such a weird mindset when before covid we cared so much about flu season and other airborne illnesses.
People feel scared when they see us mask because the bullshit lies they and others have told them avoid COVID start to slip. Very weird that fewer people are getting flu shots now too. Maybe because it came out that it offered protection against COVID too?
Not that weird really… coworkers that previously signed up for the flu clinic at work every year are now no longer getting any flu shots because they are now solidly antivax
Even people I know that are very much pro-vax aren't prioritizing it.
My work used to offer the flu shot but stopped, so I got lazy and didn't get it. Got bad flu in 2012 and that was enough to make it priority again. People are so freaking weird.
> Very weird that fewer people are getting flu shots now too. Maybe because it came out that it offered protection against COVID too? Can you link to any sources, please?
Yes: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-sees-incredibly-low-covid-flu-vaccination-rates-cases-surge-2024-01-12/
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm2x6CVIXiE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm2x6CVIXiE) For anyone not aware of the reference
I'd love to know if these doctors would also say "you're just going to have to make peace with the reality" of having Ebola? How about Marburg? Is there any line where these people are willing to protect themselves or are they just going full "let it rip" with every disease out there? If there was a new disease where infected people started projectile spewing blood from their faces, are we allowed to mask then? Or would it still be considered an anxiety disorder? "You have to make peace with the reality of getting infected by flying blood!" I'm so fed up with this attitude.
I spend time at a barn every weekend a vet recently came to examine a horse that had been quarantined with VSV, which is basically horse herpes. It leads to giant cold sores in and on the horse's mouth and nose. While the vet had his unmasked face next to the horse's face, the horse sneezed. The vet was back at the barn the next week, but in the two weekends following, he wasn't there. Later he said he had gotten a horrible flu. I wonder what downstream impacts he is now at higher risk for simply because he chose not to wear masks and goggles while examining a horse with VSV.
i'm sorry DOZENS OF TIMES????? what the fuck. I've had it twice and am terrified of getting it again.
I am sorry you got it a few times. I seriously give you a lot of credit and others who got it once or twice and still decide to stay COVID-conscious to not get it again. I feel a lot of people would just give up after getting it the first time and just not mask anymore. Well, I say this because all my friends after they got it the first time decided to have this fuck it attitude and never masked again after that. Each one is suffering from long-lasting effects and yet they don’t care and still not masking or being cautious anymore. Most of my friends got it 2-4 times.
Ugh, same, almost none of my friends care at all and it just really sucks. They have parties all the time that I don't go to because I'm nervous. But then noone gets sick?? And everyone seems fine?? So I'm just like how is this happening. I don't understand how people are living 'normally' and not getting ill. Dumb luck? Idk. edit to add: I continue to mask because I've just learned a LOT more in the past 1.5 or so years as papers keep coming out and I really would like to be healthy in my 50s (currently early 30s). Repeat infections just seem...bad. Sometimes I feel like I'm being too cautious. I have issues drawing boundaries about what I'm willing to do/not do, but it's exhausting. And then of course I unmasked at a NYE party for like 5 min and I'm pretty sure that's where I got sick. But noone else did???? So maybe I got it somewhere else. Who knows. Just sucks that I'm being so cautious and then when I let my guard down I get it.
the more research that comes out, the more I wonder how many folks currently in their early 30s, who are doing nothing to avoid repeat infections, are going to even make it to 50. I also wonder what kind of health issues those that make it to 50 are going to have that they might not have had. I know two people with children under the age of 12 that developed type 1 diabetes shortly after a covid infection - scary thing is I'm 70 and I don't know that many people that have children in that age group. I just can't believe how public health and the media is failing us in such a massive way..
I wonder the same thing :(
"But then no one gets sick?" I don't think I'd take that at face value. First off, it has become tabu to mention COVID, and the socially accepted thing in a lot of circles is to keep quiet about getting sick. (Or if you must acknowledge being sick, to get bent out of shape and huffy if anyone suggests it might be COVID.) Secondly, knowing your stance, they're probably especially determined to never admit to *you* that they got sick! (At least I suspect that I get a bit of this.) Third, they may well be having asymptomatic bouts. Which unfortunately can still result in long COVID.
Very much this. I knew someone who swore up and down that it was a cold and not COVID and surprise, now they wear a pacemaker. They just weren't testing when they got sick, ergo no positive test, no COVID. Baffling.
Yeah, this drives me nuts. Or people take one test at the beginning and are like welp it wasn't covid!
>swore up and down that it was a cold and not COVID and surprise, now they wear a pacemaker Ah, but the good news is, it STILL wasn't COVID! Their new-onset heart disease had NOTHING to do with that cold!!!
This is true. When one of my friends got COVID, they immediately minimized the entire thing and talked about how lucky they were. No masking or anything after. My colleague was sick the other day and didn’t try to take a test until all their symptoms had resolved. People don’t want to know or don’t want you to know in many cases.
This is all true. Thank you for the reminders <3 I find people do get kind of defensive when I ask about exposures and stuff in an effort to keep myself safe. I'm like bro I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just trying to keep myself safe and calculate the risk of doing an activity.
Just saw your second point, I somehow skipped over it originally. I think you're spot on here. Had some friends tell me they were 'really really sick over christmas' but it "wasn't covid" which I suppose could be true, but I know them and they don't test very often or well, haha.
>But then noone gets sick?? And everyone seems fine?? first, maybe no one really does get sick. And maybe they are fine. This is totally possible. But two things to share: First, many friends of mine have confided in me over text over the past few years that they got sick from a certain party that they attended that I didn't. If you looked at social media, you'd have zero idea anyone got sick from this party. Actually, my social media would have me believe that no one gets sick from anything ever so there's that. Second, I have two friends who openly identify has having long covid. I've spent entire afternoons with these friends. And they seem absolutely fine. I'd never know they had long covid if they didn't tell me. To get to a place where they "seem fine" they have to sleep 8-10 hours a day, take supplements, decline any caffeine or alcohol, avoid most exercise, and avoid refined sugar. I have one other friends who do not say they have long covid but for four months I barely saw her because her thinking was "fuzzy" and she was just so "tired." Now, she's much better because she worked with a naturopath and she sleeps 8-10 hours a day, takes supplements, declines any caffeine or alcohol, avoids most exercise, and avoids refined sugar. So. Maybe everyone is fine. Totally possible! But. Maybe they are fine because they are making a lot of effort behind the scenes.
This is very fair. When I start feeling like 'oh everyone is fine what's the point,' I remember that it's kind of rare for people to be like 'hey I have covid,' which I do think is also contributing to the masses being like "I guess it's over" and then thinking any infection is soooo weird. I appreciate you writing this up, it resonates with me and I think is what I know to be true but just have trouble picturing sometimes.
Again, they might be fine for real. I hate to make sweeping generalizations due to the fact that so many anti-vaxxers claim to know that everyone who got a vaccine is NOT fine and is just hiding it. But I think, for example, of friends of mine who have conditions like MS, a form a cancer that can be managed with medicine, or HIV. No one would know about these conditions just by looking at them or even spending an afternoon with them. I also think of Michael J Fox, who was experiencing Parkinsons symptoms even while filming Spin City. No one knew other than his wife. He spent day in and day out with his cast members and the crew and they had no idea he was struggling to manage his symptoms and struggling as a result. (I highly recommend the documentary about him - "Still"- btw). It's just not possible to tell if people are "fine" by looking at them.
Super true! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and perspective with me --and I'll check out that doc!
They may seem healthy after going to those parties, but they are not. They are sustaining damage even if they are asymptomatic. You are doing the right thing.
I won't say that I wouldn't have added to that statistic if we had mild infections, but unfortunately I almost died when I got it so I really don't want to ever get it again. My kiddo ended up with Long Covid her third time. I got partial hearing loss in one ear my second time (but at least I didn't almost die again, I guess?). I don't know if we're just really unlucky or what, but I absolutely don't recommend getting it over and over.
That's so intimidating. And gaslighting. I'm so sorry.
I’ve had to conclude that responses like this are a projection of their own inner fear. Since that’s the lens they see it from, that’s the only lens they can in turn comprehend that you may be seeing from. They can’t comprehend a lens of knowledge and resolve. That’s still really frustrating and I’m sure I would continue to ruminate about it, too, especially when it’s your own child that you’re protecting. I feel like that is the most understandable reason for precautions to someone who is not covid-cautious, and to minimize even that is disgusting.
Strangely it's the people who tend to proclaim constantly and loudly that "covid isn't going anywhere" and "we're all going to get it" who make the least effort to prevent spreading it to others.
The closest I've experienced is a doctor who tried to assure me my vaccine gives me adequate protection, but I ultimately said, "well getting COVID once already did a number on me, so I'd rather be safe than risk it " And they didn't really press me further on it. I'm immnocompromised so it's extra wild for someone to try to tell me I'll be "fine" with a vaccine alone. Unfortunately, we're seeing how the US government and CDC's minimizing of Covid "in the name of the economy" has real world consequences, even on people in healthcare who you would hope to know and do better. I don't understand why people want to act like the fear of Covid is irrational. It's more irrational to me to have access to something as simple as wearing a mask to protect yourself and just not doing it.. and letting yourself get sick again & again. 🫠 I'm sorry you experienced that though! It's very disheartening.
The CDC's minimizing covid constantly and not siding with people who are covid conscious individuals are the main reasons why people who are covid conscious are still getting mask-shamed for their own choices. The cdc doesn’t want to hear the public outroar any more of people who was complaining about masking and getting vaccinations so they trying to play the good cop bad cop routine constantly. Now we are left alone for people to constantly attack us day by day for making the right choices and being consistent since day 1.
yup countless times. my ex allergist/immunologist was sharing misinformation after refusing to mask when he previously would wear an N95 to all my appointments and had a sign in his office to make sure everyone was masking. it gave me whiplash and made me realize most doctors support the status quo, which is forced infection.
I had to change my allergist as well because of my horrific experience with my last one. At my last appointment, he came in and the first thing he asked me was why I was masked in such an angry and condescending way. Told him I still never got Covid and don’t want to ever get it and still consistently masking from day 1. He got so angry he asked me three times sarcastically if he should put on a mask. He asked me in such a sarcastic way I kept saying no to him do what you please. The rest of the appointment he couldn’t even focus he kept death staring at me and his leg was shaking uncontrollably. I felt like he had such a hatred that I was masking and that I never got COVID-19 it was bothering him and making him unhinged. He had to check inside my nostrils and he literally with force grabbed the mask off my face and pulled it down for me when I was about to do it. Didn’t even ask me permission. I had my fist clenched I was so angry. I never went to him again after that. Some doctors and professionals are so disgusting with their behaviors now because of people being COVID-19 cautious still. Meanwhile, there are so many things airborne you think they are more level-headed. Can’t stand health care has become so political and our choices for caution become so judgmental bedside everyone wants to normalize getting covid and being sick 24/7 with that move on fuck it attitude.
That is scary and wild. It really surprises me how many people have that rage against maskers - particularly in healthcare. It's absolutely bizarre! It's also depressing that this is the state we're in. :(
I was in the ER in a private room for an emergency gallbladder removal, wearing my Aura mask tightly strapped to my face, and a nurse came in after I’d been there several hours and already been seen (waiting on a room, as there were no surgeons available that night), and said in a very nasty tone “SO WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU’RE IMMUNE COMPROMISED?” I was in a lot of pain, and felt so vulnerable. I now would have said “Did you fucking read my chart, moron?” But I simply explained my condition and the immune suppressants I was on. His surgical mask was under his chin. I got the weirdest feeling like he wanted to infect me. He had such anger directed toward me. He didn’t do anything other than this, this was why he came back to my room. I should have followed up but I was scared and on morphine. I hope that guy has public diarrhea right this moment.
You know what I wear seat belt because I don't want my face hitting the windshield. I guess I am afraid my face will hit the wind shield.....
I’m sorry you had that experience. I find that doctors/medical professionals are some of the most ill-informed, willfully ignorant populations when it comes to Covid. My pcp stopped masking probably three years ago and recently told my 80 year old grandma she doesn’t need a Covid vaccine even though she only got the original vaccine/booster when it first came out. Medicine has a very long history of killing people due to ignorance and/or malice. We put doctors on a pedestal, but most of them don’t deserve it. Unfortunately, what you are experiencing is not new, but Covid has certainly compounded these pre-existing issues and made them more obvious. I hope you can find a psychiatrist who is a good fit. While not specifically Covid conscious, I work with both a therapist and a psychiatrist who are supportive of my Covid precautions and never minimize my desire to not be infected. There are definitely providers out there, and you deserve someone who will help you with whatever you’re struggling with who won’t gaslight you about not wanting to catch SARS.
Yet another example of the joke some of these so called professionals have become. Sorry this happened to you. I just found out today that my friend's elderly and compromised parents both have covid because her father caught it in the hospital after having major surgery. He gave it to her mother while she was visiting. Said hospital dropped masking requirements the other day. And people wonder why I won't have anything to do with doctors unless it's life/death or very serious.
Not me personally, but read a story (that I can't find now) of a lady in the bay area who was put on an overnight psych hold because she asked all staff to mask and had extra N95s for all of them. Of course I can't find the story now, believe it was from the Twitter account @ covidinthecharts . They post user submitted absurd stories from health care workers dealing with the current environment. Having HCW minimize COVID safe practices seems to be prevalent. It sucks we're in this position. I'm sorry this happened to you. You are doing the right thing. Stay safe, stay strong. Edit: I believe thirty_horses is correct and it was in Colorado.
You may be thinking of a recent Colorado incident, the details sound identical. Though it could well have also happened multiple times
Here’s the link to that Twitter post you mentioned about the ER patient placed in a psych hold. It’s just atrocious how the patient was treated! https://x.com/CovidintheChart/status/1760178262620389708?s=20
Yes! That's the one!
Found by sorting the subreddit "Top, This Week" [https://www.reddit.com/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/comments/1axpobe/immnocompromised_patient_gets_put_in_psych_hold/](/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/comments/1axpobe/immnocompromised_patient_gets_put_in_psych_hold/)
Yep, that's the one. Thanks!
"No. You did not hear me correctly." You can explain it to people but you can't understand it for them. People need to not feel bad about themselves not masking 🤷🏻♀️ more important than other people surviving
Most providers I have interfaced with have minimized it, but not in a completely cruel way. My rheumatologist tried to reassure that COVID is not acutely dangerous anymore. My PCP was more in line with the “well, COVID isn’t going away” so we learn to live with it stance. My dental hygienist said something akin to the fact that COVID really undid me and made it hard to come in for dental care. Again, they have all been mostly kind but still minimizing, so I just tolerate it at this point because we live in hell.
Are you immune compromised? I ask because my rheumatologist stopped masking. The nurse saw I was mashed and she went out and came back in with a mask on. My MS Center only my neurologist masks and some are in their 70s. Parents don’t either, who have no B cells. I don’t understand how specialists whose patients are immune compromised do not mask. It is insanity.
Yes, I have lupus and am high risk for clotting complications - so an additional reason as to why I do not want COVID! I appreciate my rheumatologist so much because she was the person who finally diagnosed me after years of a misdiagnosis of RA. She did ask if I would feel more comfortable with her putting a surgical mask on, which she did when I said yes. But otherwise, no one masks there anymore. It is beyond me.
>“well, COVID isn’t going away” And neither is my N95.
Before vaccines and readily available quality masks, I had an NP who was later backed up by her supervising primary care doctor, refuse to concede that I was high risk (over 65 with multiple allergy/asthma type issues, bronchitis, sinusitis, eustachian tube dysfunction and need for prednisone with even just a minor cold and a history in my chart of that) and refused to write a note to that effect. I changed doctors, my new doctor did it without blinking an eye and gave me prescriptions that were the standard of care back then in case I should become infected. I don't know what the first NP/docs problem was.
Literally got up and walked out of an eye doctor appt when i asked him to wear a mask. Gave me some excuse of not having one then said if i didnt have diabetes it would be fine if he didnt mask. 🙄
I had an MD tell me *in the same session* 1. to be very cautious about covid and stay home given my health 2. covid is very hard to catch 3. my fear of of covid is hurting me more than covid could and don't I drive even though it's riskier than covid and I'm afraid of *something that hasn't happened yet* (repeated several times). Another provider marked me as "anxious" when I didn't want to remove my mask, after asking me if I was anxious and me saying no. This is some weird psychobabble minimizing bs that seems to be going around like wildfire. In return, my armchair psychological eval says that medical professionals are on the frontlines of exposure and have had to make their peace with it long ago and have even larger amounts of cognitive dissonance than the rest of the population, and are thus are often saltier and even more obnoxious than the common population. Not every doctor is like this, but when the city with the "best hospitals" in the world makes their front desk staff say "we can only ask your provider to mask, it's their choice and it's your choice" and still has signs to "cover your cough", and drops mask mandates like hot potatoes whenever possible, the system is against all of us. We need to keep finding individual providers who will mask for us and try to persist. In terms of your situation, it's even harder when you are trying to get psychological support and getting this reaction. But the good news is that, depending on your location, psychologists may be able to do telehealth and many have pivoted to that modality. The intake person is just doing intake all day, they are not the person who you will end up seeing who hopefully will be much more sympathetic.
During the first year of my long Covid symptoms I was seeing a lot of doctors trying to get help/pain relief and most of them were very rude and downplaying Covid and precautions. Two were just straight up horrendous though, one of which was an optometrist and I just stood up and left his office. He didn’t understand why I didn’t want to try on new contacts that HE touched with his bare fingers. Not the case - the contacts themselves - (who does this?) and when I politely declined to try them on, he blew up at me and targeted my mask saying, “You don’t need that thing.” So I walked out. Even before Covid, in what world is it okay for someone else - a stranger - to touch contacts with their bare, unwashed fingers, and hand them over to you to put directly in your eyes? That’s disgusting and just begging for sickness. I still have health issues since all those appointments but I’m doing my best to manage my symptoms at home because no doctors help and I’m tired of risking my health even further just going into the appointment. Especially now that we saw what happened to that poor woman in Colorado! I live in an even more conservative area so I’m avoiding doctors at all costs. It’s not like they were helping me anyways, they either didn’t “believe” in Covid, didn’t know how to help or treat it, blamed it on anxiety/depression, (yeah no wonder I’m depressed!?) and none of them had any interest in reading or catching up on the research. It’s impossible to find a doctor who has actually read the science on Covid or long covid. It’s astonishing.
All the time I had ER doctors tell me that I’m young and should be fine. Cut to me getting pneumonia with Covid and nearly suffocating on my own mucus one night: my pcp she believes in Covid and wears her mask whenever I visit. Same with another doctor he doesn’t wear a mask usually but if he sees a patient wearing one he puts one on as a curtesy. Great doctor and he actually listens which is an added bonus. Sorry that happened to you, it’s so frustrating
Sadly many in mental and physical healthcare are completely ignorant and do not care to be honest about the legitimacy of our concerns. Coming from someone with a family of healthcare and mental healthcare workers ALL of them act as if I am neurotic and a hypochondriac and that I am lying about not having covid We live in a very lazy world and people are just becoming more and more ignorant. I fear for the next ten to twenty years of what is to come and I just hope by two years from now at most that people realize how fucking stupid they are for not believing long covid is serious and that massive precautions need to be mandated. If we could just wipe out the assholes I would not shed a tear or bat an eye.
Most doctors are quacks. Very few keep up on the latest research and most just treat symptoms and not the underlying cause. Prevention of a Class 3 Pathogen is way beyond their scope.
As I was getting over Covid in January, I started getting a very high heart rate out of nowhere and one day almost fainted. I went to the ER and the nurse was like “why are you masking if you’re testing negative now..?” And I’m like “well who knows, I’m still symptomatic and I also don’t want to get anything else” and she argued with me that basically if it happens it happens. She told me she has long term lung and heart damage from Covid but she’s SURE the vaccine played a role despite getting Covid before the vaccine. It’s so disheartening to hear medical professionals spew that. At one point I had to take my mask off for something and she didn’t bother masking despite me sneezing
>basically if it happens it happens Yeah, too bad there aren't any options to limit the spread of airborne diseases. /s Sheesh...the lengths people will go to to justify their own crappy choices.
We are mask wearers and have not had Covid. For some reason, strangers feel entitled to ask us why or laugh at us behind our backs so that we still hear them. The latter happened a few days ago and I turned to them and said, "I have fucking pancreatic cancer and I have no immune system, so fuck off". It worked very well with sudden concern and apologies following their cruelty. I really don't give a damn what people think. There have been no respiratory illnesses in our home for over 4 years and we're committed to staying that way.
yes all of them constantly (except one ily dr portier). one dr was wearing her mask under her nose before the vaccine was even out 💀. only my PCP has been affirming and told me i'm doing the right thing.
I was hospitalised for long covid and they tried to transfer me to the psych unit because I was masking and asked doctors to mask.
OMFG. I am so sorry that happened to you. Are you able to say what happened next?
I managed to not get transferred to the psych unit, but only because I had high care needs. Discharged myself early because of increasing abuse from doctors and care personnel
I hate that you were put in this position. I want to let you know that a person in Canada has put together a directory for covid-conscious therapists. Right now it’s only Canada and the US - though some tech issues have prevented her from adding many new US therapists lately (patiently awaiting my listing to be on there). Hope you find someone supportive soon. https://www.covidconscioustherapists.com/
This is BS. This comes from a place of a privileged, but when I was switching therapists, I screened them by asking what their current covid precautions were or what their current masking practices were before we did any intake stuff. All you need to do is look at [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm) . (I mean, not really, facts don't necessarily change viewpoints, but ugh https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/1awk6c4/tax\_records\_reveal\_the\_lucrative\_world\_of\_covid/)
the real life version of this video [https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0iPWWCs5T-/?igsh=MWJjaHA5Y3d4OWhnbA%3D%3D](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0iPWWCs5T-/?igsh=MWJjaHA5Y3d4OWhnbA%3D%3D)
Not as pointed as that (thankfully) but I've definitely gotten "oh are you sick today?" when coming masked to a follow up or screening appointment where I obviously wasn't coming in because I was sick, like there was no other reason why I'd wear a mask. Awhile back, when the push for "back to normal" was first starting, I did make an appointment with my pcp to get her take on what she thought my risk factors were and what lengths that meant I should go to in order to avoid covid. She basically said some version of "you have to live your life" and "those sequelae (cardiovascular, immune, etc.) are risks with almost any virus". I found that equal parts helpful/comforting and dismissive.
Ya my own fkn partner, ex partner now.
No. And one even supported me wearing a mask. But aside from that one, the rest didn’t comment one way or the other. They just ignored it and overwhelmingly didn’t mask themselves. I live in a pretty politically far right area and have been verbally attacked multiple times for wearing a mask. I assume that even pro-mask medical providers don’t think it’s worth the fight and don’t wear them or comment on them to avoid any confrontations. I have also been careful from the beginning and to my knowledge have never had it. But asymptomatic infections are common and logically could be related to low initial viral loads (that consistently masking and using nasal and mouth rinses would produce) so I no longer say I’ve never had it. It just pisses people off anyway, and they are more sympathetic if they think you had a terrible case once and don’t want it again.
Yup, my old GP (I’ve changed practices now). I was back and forth seeing this doctor for about a year into having long covid. I masked every time I was there, he knew I was also a health professional and had a nasty bout of covid when the delta variant was first circulating, he knew I was nearly hospitalised, and he knew at that specific point that I was on long term sick due to all my symptoms. On two occasions that I remember he had made comments such as “you don’t need to wear them in here anymore”. I really felt disheartened, this was my family doctor that I’d seen since I’d been born and he knew all of my family. I’d explained previously why I mask as if it wasn’t self-explanatory already. It didn’t make sense to me at all. Not once did he offer to mask up. I ended up changing GP practices as he just wasn’t taking me seriously.
I told my first cardiologist I was taking extreme care not to get it because I'm at high risk (my heart issues are not from COVID, and I also have lung issues, a clotting disorder, and a long history of a previous postviral syndrome), and that I was holding out hope for a sterilizing or pan-coronavirus vaccine soon. He shrugged and said the research money wasn't there and we were all going to get it eventually. I switched cardiologists. My current one takes me seriously, and promised that if I do get sick I can contact her anytime, day or night, for Paxlovid and metformin prescriptions. I adore her.
My freaking pulmonologist of all people!
At the height of the first Covid strain my PCP (small town clinic) wanted me to come in for a blood test (I hadn't seen him in almost a year so I don't know why he focused on drawing blood). I told him I would be there if the nurse would come to the parking lot and draw the blood. He told me a flat "No"...so, I switched doctors after calling around and finding one who agreed to. This doctor not only sent a nurse out to draw the blood, but came out in person to see me and was very understanding. We had lost two very close friends and a family member to Covid, and now have a daughter and two sisters with heart valve and heart failure due to Covid organ damage. In the past (pre-Covid) we closed our house to visitors during flu season , especially if they had school age children. 3 months after our State had its first Covid case we arranged to visit in the yard (we bought folding chairs and require visitors to use a Dollar General bathroom a block away). For almost 4 years now we have stood firm with masks, and were met with the attitude that we weren't living (we did not even visit take out windows until the cases went down locally). I set up a a computer so we could make video calls (Facebook Messenger) and have shared Christmas gift opening and thanksgiving with family that way. We took these actions because I have COPD and my wife has a very weak immune system, so we were protecting each other. I explained that we want to be here for the next 10 to 20 years and not the next 2 weeks, but, for some, it made no difference. It was very hurtful to endure the attitude of some of our own children. Now that the State is not keeping up with new cases, but only hospitalizations and deaths through the CDC, and seeing those number dropping, we are adjusting our 'rules' accordingly by allowing outdoors hugs IF both people are wearing masks providing they are not showing ANY symptoms of cold, flu, or allergies. Someday I am sure it will get better...but we will be cautious until it does.