Covid /flu season

[Parkerbarker]

How is everybody making it through this cold flu and covid season starting everybody around me is sick in my office my husband was sick I wear masks all the time but the last 2 days I feel like crap like I'm getting something and I just don't know what to do I talked to my transplant team they're just like well watching make sure you don't get too dehydrated or that you're not vomiting or high temperature but if you got covid come in for the infusions but I'm just so sick of this b******* what does a person have to do live in isolation for the rest of their life

[LisaSnow]

I understand the frustration. I got COVID on my first post-pandemic vacation in Europe. Having held out for over three years and it took no more than 24 hours in an unmasked country to get sick. All we can do it taking full advantage of the immunizations, actively sanitize and social distance, and being "defensive" in public. We will survive the flu season!

[Porter20 in reply to LisaSnow]

My doctor friend told me use Hydrogen Peroxide up your nose w/Q-tip and Listerine after you have been in a crowd.

[Transplant2018 in reply to LisaSnow]

I have still not traveled outside the country due to concerns about how to obtain treatment internationally should I become infected, e.g., language, insurance, finding a doctor who knows about transplant patients. What did you do?

[LisaSnow in reply to Transplant2018]

I was told to get Paxlovid and if I did, would pay out of pocket and get reimbursed by the insurance when I return. I didn't do that because my symptoms weren't too bad. My husband got even milder symptoms. Interestingly, he received all shots like I did but his immube system fought it so successfully his antigen tests never once tested positive (low viral load), whereas mine turned positive within like five minutes and lasted over 20 days 😆.

Although COVID made it a hell vacation, the vaccinations saved us.

[Transplant2018 in reply to LisaSnow]

Thanks. I generated no antibodies to any of my Covid vaccines - and, as recommended I've now had 5 - so suspect my symptoms would not be mild.

[LisaSnow in reply to Transplant2018]

We also got antibody preventative treatments (Evusheld) twice. They are effective. It is best to not get COVID, for sure.

[Transplant2018 in reply to LisaSnow]

I also got Evusheld twice, and am now in the clinical trial for their new mAb that will neutralize current variants. Unfortunately the virus is mutating faster then the procedures for approval.

[Darlenia in reply to Transplant2018]

Wish my hubby could join you!

[ShyeLoverDoctor in reply to LisaSnow]

If you are a transplant patient you cannot have Paxlovid if you take tacrolimus or cyclosporin!!! Paxlovid will make your levels toxic in your blood. My nephrologist, my transplant team both said so. Please do some reading on it.

[LisaSnow in reply to ShyeLoverDoctor]

Why are you replying to me?

[mingmiley in reply to LisaSnow]

That's right being defensive, Don't take chances if someone sitting behind you or around you just keeps coughing, get up and change a seat and make sure you got your mask on.

[horsie63]

I got my flu and pneumonia shots on Monday and will get the newest Covid and RSV soon. Other than going to dialysis and doctor appointments I pretty much stay home. I'm not a fan of crowds and basically I have no problem working from home. I'm a bit of an introvert.

[Jayhawker in reply to horsie63]

I’m doing the same. I’ve had my flu shot. Had all pneumonia shots pre transplant, of course. I’ll finally get COVID-19 and RSV next Thursday. I’m not sure how much protection they’ll provide with my immune system compromised and CMV still active. But I’ll do what I can to protect myself.

I wear s mask where ever I go and do look lots of hand washing when at home and hand sanitizing when away from home. Then I just hope for the best.

Jayhawker

[horsie63 in reply to Jayhawker]

All you really can do is protect yourself. I had all the covid shots and the boosters and then my husband also vaccinated and boosted went to an out of state wedding with unvaccinated people and brought it home to me. I got pretty sick but me doc gave me monoclonal antibodies right away and that kept me out of the hospital.

[Jayhawker in reply to horsie63]

So glad you didn’t get really sick with it.

Jayhawker

[Cabrilla]

I was scheduled for a transplant last month but it got cancelled due to I got COVID 10 days before the surgery. I was masking really well at work (medical office) but my kid went back to school in September and I think they brought it home. I went ahead and got flu and COVID vaccines last week. I'm not sure how I'll manage working in a medical office once I am immune suppressed. :0

[LavenderRabbit in reply to Cabrilla]

I’m so sorry you missed that kidney. Hope another comes along soon.

[Darlenia in reply to Cabrilla]

You may do okay in your office building has a great filtration system. Covid, flu, measles, and colds are all spread via aerosol particles. Sixty Minutes had a fascinating feature on how viruses, particularly Covid, are transmitted and the impact of great filtration systems in workplaces. It's also helpful to mask up thoroughly. Wish things were less complicated and more carefree.

[WinterSoldier007]

Hi…

I’m 3+ years post. My wife and I have been so very careful in not getting sick at all. We kept an eye on transmission rates, masked all the time, and maintained social distancing. Yet, 2 weeks ago, my wife had symptoms/tested positive for Covid. 2 days later, the same for me. To be sure, it’s a scary prospect getting sick with this virus. I was prescribed Paxlovid, on the spot, by my transplant team. I am also vaccinated 8 times. Along with a lot of rest and hydration I’m hopefully on the mend. The worst part, for me at least, was the stuffy nose. My wife is the one who had the “skull crushing” headache. Since part of the Paxlovid treatment interacts with Envarsus (TAc) I was off it for 10 days. Yet, labs for day 9 still had me around normal TAC trough level.

As I’m the 4th of 5 in my family to have a kidney transplant, I’m aware of the need to take precautions against disease — diseases which may be insignificant to healthy individuals but unforgiving to those who have weakened immune systems. It’s part of the deal when getting this new lease on life.

Best

[Jamok]

I’m so sorry you’re getting sick! My go to when I feel like I’m getting a cold is elderberry zinc lozenges.

I feel the same way you do though. We get a transplant so we can live but when can we actually start living? My dad had a transplant in the late 1960s. He lived his life fully. He traveled, ate anything he wanted-even raw beef sandwiches(Wisconsin holiday tradition), attended events in crowded theaters, weddings, hung out with grandkids later on. The only thing I remember doing special was when my brother or I got sick, we were completely isolated in our bedrooms until recovered. I would get the portable TV in my room so I never minded.

Now with all the super bugs, foodborne bacteria , and new respiratory viruses we are stuck in our house for fear of risking our transplant or dying. The medical field needs to come up with something better than killing off our immune system to stop our bodies from rejecting a transplanted kidney. Immunosuppressants are an outdated solution to prevent Kidney rejection in today’s world. That’s what it comes down to.

We are basically trading dying kidneys for a sick immune system. How does that make sense? It really makes me angry.

[Parkerbarker in reply to Jamok]

Yes it is the same stupid bad idea of using chemo to kill cancer,yeah kill off all the good things in you body so that it dies of that instead.

[Jamok in reply to Parkerbarker]

Exactly! That never has made sense to me.

[mingmiley in reply to Jamok]

I used to have a transplant for 16 years, I never had any infection except some annoying warts and acid reflux.