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Adele Stafford's avatar

Can we check our ableism here? While I appreciate that being sick for a matter of days or weeks is a total drag, especially with kids in tow, this type of banter is realllllly challenging to ingest for those of living with chronic illness. This is our life! Daily! And for those of us with Long Covid, hearing an able bodied person winge about not being able to go on vacation because of a positive Covid test is just fingernails on a chalkboard. It's high respiratory season b/c people are unwilling to protect themselves and one another. You can do your part to change that and that would make for a far more relatable read for those of us stuck in this liminal space of illness for who knows how long. Chronic illness vent sesh commenced.

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Sara Petersen's avatar

Thank you for naming this Adele. It’s such an important piece of the conversation.​ These short term illnesses that derail work and school do help underscore to me how much more we could be doing to support ​vulnerable folks.

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Carrie's avatar

I can't read any more "everyone is sick, isn't that crazy!!!" posts or comments that never, not once, mention masking or taking any other common sense precautions that have been mainstream knowledge for half a decade now.

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Shannon's avatar

Very much this. My partner and I mask and haven’t been sick since 2019. This isn’t a brag and I feel like I’m tempting fate when I share this, but masking works. I live a very full life, do all of the things I used to do, just masked. Even strategic masking—during the winter, for example—can help reduce transmission. Or simply if people would wear a mask when feeling unwell, would help. I’d love for everyone to stay home when sick but for a variety of reasons, that doesn’t happen. Wearing a damn mask when you’re sick and around people should be the norm at this point. I’m endlessly pissed it’s not.

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Esmae for now's avatar

I hear this and have taken the same approach but to be fair I don't have kids and I think it's really really difficult when there's so much unspoken social pressure for kids to be masking constantly at school. I don't think hardly anyone's doing that anymore and it's sort of pitching an individual solution to a systemic issue.

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Carrie's avatar

I barely see any adults masking, though. Kids obviously spread germs like wildfire, but if adults could mask even just in crowded places, on public transportation, etc. people of all ages would get sick a lot less. But…they don’t. Even in progressive, “In this house we believe in science” lawn sign communities, it’s not happening.

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Betsy Eichel Englander's avatar

They never mention masking or vaccines!! I know they have sadly become a hot button issue in mom groups, but I'm sorry, it drives me bonkers when people will complain about being constantly sick and then rattle off all the supplements they are taking to "boost their immune system" with nary a mention of a flu shot or heaven forbid a Covid booster. I am of course aware that people can and do get very sick even if they are current on their shots, and there's nothing like that for norovirus, etc. But I know that we have had bad but not terrible sick seasons in my house and I have to believe that is partly because we get a flu and Covid booster every year.

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Sara Petersen's avatar

i think mileage probably varies on this one but i hear you - vaxed to the MAX over here lol (i say having returned from the doctor's office where kid #3 was diagnosed with a double ear infection fa la la lol)

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Betsy Eichel Englander's avatar

Totally! I just meant it more as a tool in the arsenal that seems to never be mentioned. It makes me sad and angry that it feels like they can't even be discussed. And I agree masking (even just when sick) would go a lot farther to actually preventing illness.

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Amaltas's avatar

She has kids! Kids bring in pathogen non stop, interacting with other children.

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Amy's avatar

Thank you. I’ve got POTS and various other chronic conditions and while I am very sympathetic to those experiencing it for the first time post-COVID I’m still pretty pissed about how it wasn’t really considered debilitating until hundreds of thousands of people also came down with it.

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Heidi's avatar

We are in a quademic right now,(RSV, Covid, Flu and Norovirus) and yet, masking for our health has disappeared. Yes, I still mask everywhere in public indoors. I have not been sick with a respiratory illness since 2019.

Every link broken in the chain of transmission matters!

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Heidi's avatar

Also adding that improving air quality in schools via ventilation and air cleaning would dramatically help stop infections. Try @clean_air_club_

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Steph's avatar

My household got hit pretty hard by RSV (and, of course, an ensuing ear infection) over Christmas. We had a nice week of feeling ok and now we all have another respiratory virus - definitely less severe this time around, but just gross and uncomfortable. My husband, however, has been the most whiny and annoying through this whole thing. I don’t enjoy solo parenting but I’ve been considering sending him somewhere far away like Arizona to convalesce. As long as I can’t hear him complaining and hacking. (Also, I’ve been telling him for years to stop smoking weed and I have had to bite my “I told you so” about 3000x. Make healthier choices, guy.)

Thank you for the space to vent, that feels good lol.

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A Gal Somewhere's avatar

There is nothing like hearing the countdown clock start to your first sniffle when a kid (who has crawled into your bed at 2am) hacks a cough directly into your face. Tick, tick...

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Thu Nguyen's avatar

BOOM

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Rose's avatar

I drove up to NH for the long weekend to finally enjoy some snow to cross country ski on. Woke up at 3am with the worst fever and shakes and everything. Spent the weekend in a very nice hotel room binging Netflix. There was no skiing. Was it kind of nice to be away and not have to deal with kids or family household stuff at all while sick? Kind of, but mostly I wanted to go skiing and it was so disappointing.

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Emily Lynn Paulson's avatar

Mine are older which might make one think YAY NO BUTTS TO WIPE, and obviously yay, but add stress of missing tests/assignments to sickness and UGHHHHHH. Also echoing what others said above about chronic illness, it’s an added nightmare for my daughter who has an autoimmune disease 😭

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May // Vommat's avatar

I am a mom of three writing with a significant cold 😂 but walked to leave a note here to tell you about a product I developed after we dealt with our first couple stomach bugs with the kids. Vommats are ecofriendly disposable sheets that protect surfaces in your home from vomit for a fast and easy cleanup. At 16 sq ft, there’s room for your kids to lay on it and cover the potential blast zone. They reallllllly help take the edge off and when you’re less worried about where they’ll yak you can focus more on comfort and care. I love them and want everyone to know about them!

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Sarah's avatar

Same same same. Sick for weeks it feels like. I’ve had one day in 2-3 weeks where all of the children were at school. Then straight back to being picked off by viral malaise one-by-one. SICK OF IT.

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Sara Petersen's avatar

ugh nooooooooooooo

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Lowri Malinowski's avatar

We've had the fever-sweats which had improved but it's still lingering 2 weeks later. I've been considering going back to wearing a mask on transport to work. When does it end?!! 🥴🤧

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Jenny's avatar

Yep, day two of my 4 year old being off pre-school this week. She says she's really happy to be sitting in front of the TV all day on her own again. I am wracked with guilt. Bring on the summer. Hope you all feel better soon!

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Lauren Salles's avatar

*raises both hands* I hate feeling like I am wishing the time away, but if I could jump into a portal that would take me to summer I would do it without hesitating. My kids got pneumonia at the beginning of December. The very next week it was Norovirus (THE WORST). My youngest also had an allergic reaction and Roseola layered on top. NOW we are trying to get over the flu. It feels never-ending and our temps will be in the 20s all week, so fresh air will be limited. I'M SO DONE. Thanks for providing a place to vent! Sickness is something that no one talks about before you become a parent but it's such a significant part of having young kids. I've never been so sick in my life. For someone who is used to feeling strong and capable in my body, this has been a really tough adjustment!

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Sara Petersen's avatar

this combination is DEPRAVED - ugh!

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Beth's avatar

Honestly, we’ve got 20’s here in MN and after a holiday run with norovirus (a new adventure for me!) and now a round of regular colds I’m still sanitizing and opening the windows most days. Get this gross-ass air OUT of my house. Everyone else can pile under blankets until it’s clean.

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Thu Nguyen's avatar

The revolving door of sickness just keeps turning. And here’s the thing: one child is just sick/well enough where he could stay home or go to school, but I’m not going to be the parent that sends the coughing, runny-nosed goblin back too soon. But he has enough energy where he’s annoying at home, you know? And while I am saving the school children from

Infection, I just know that I am encasing myself in germs. Thank you for this vent sesh.

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Sara Petersen's avatar

YES THIS

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taylor roseweeds's avatar

Since we're probably about to lose even the tiny remaining shreds of institutional prevention resources (vaccine access, measuring infectious disease at all?...) this would be a great time for people to fight for and fund clean air in school buildings. Seems like most people are never going to regularly mask again even though its easy and proven, but this would be such a huge step to protecting our most vulnerable.

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Lori's avatar

Ugh... my husband & I are both vaxxed to the max and still mask in public places, and both of us STILL got sick recently! He got sick first, in late November, then me. He wouldn't do a covid test (eyeroll) -- I did, twice. It was negative, but it was still the worst chest cold/cough I've had in years. It took me well over a week to start feeling somewhat human, and a good 2-3 weeks before the cough gradually disappeared. Luckily, I was feeling better by the time we had to fly for Christmas (and yes, we masked at the airport & on the plane), and I did not pass anything on to my elderly parents!

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Virginia Sole-Smith's avatar

We are wrapping up three weeks of the flu and last night my almost-recovered 7 year old woke me up at 1am because…. Her nose was stuffy. No fever, no vomiting, she just felt I should be informed?! January is 900 years long.

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Sara Petersen's avatar

CONSIDERATE OF HER

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Thu Nguyen's avatar

The child who never hugs has now become a hugger because of the illness. It is very hard not to shove him and run away. So NEEDY

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Anabel Capalbo's avatar

We all had a terrible respiratory virus just before Christmas (not Covid) and now both kids are currently home with the flu. 🫠

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