COVID-19 General Colorado Thread (train, trailer, RN)

[brightdoglover]

^^^^
Excellent article, thank you.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I think what people miss is going out to the actual place, at least some do. I know the local lectures and arts and all are often on line but I miss the gathering of the community.

If this is addressing library withdrawal, for me it is the spontaneity of discovering a book that looks interesting, while browsing the shelves. We are lucky and very grateful to have one of the three local libraries operating in COVID-period mode instead of being closed altogether. We look at their holdings list online and reserve a book(s) and, if it is available, they clean, bag, and label it for pickup outside the doors. If it is checked out, it must await return AND an additional one-week “book quarantine” before processing for the next person to take. The statewide share/lend program is suspended for now, not surprisingly.

I also do miss physically being in the library and seeing other people loving, appreciating, books. Even introverts feel connection to other people.

This way of borrowing books probably will end when things become safer. I would hate to think that looking for books to read is just like going shopping with a strict to-buy list, in and out and nothing more. I do that for much retail purchasing (clothes, for example) but bookstores, libraries, the former LP and CD stores...those things are kind of hallowed ground to me. Not to be rushed through as only a transaction.

[TigerLily24]

Originally Posted by katharsis

Of all the things I miss due to COVID-19, I think that I miss the library the most!

(Btw, I Googled it, but couldn't find anything about it, and unless I missed, Polis didn't mention libraries in his press conference yesterday.)

That’s what I miss the most too.

[emm74]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

Pulse ox normal in Denver is around 95%. In the mountains, can be in the 90% range normally.

that's helpful info, thanks. I was spending some "use it or lose it" HCSA money and randomly bought a pulse ox so at least I have one around the house if it seems like there is a need to use it.

Also wanted to share that Samsung Galaxy phones have a pulse ox testing capacity in their Samsung Health app. It tested several percentage points lower than the actual monitor did, although some of that could be from not making as good contact due to the case on the phone I think? The sensor is in the camera area, and it's not covered by the case, but part of your finger rests on the case when you test it. But if someone did want to track to see if there was any change in their numbers, this would be a way to do it without buying something else

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

The big killer in this pandemic is what doctors are calling COVID Pneumonia.

I read about it here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/o...gtype=Homepage

The gist is to use a simple ($40) "pulse oximeter" that measures the level of oxygen in your blood, which should be 94% to 100%. In the early stages of COVID Pneumonia the oxygen saturation declines but the person does not feel short of breath as in 'normal' pneumonia so people think all is well.

By the time a person feels sick enough to go to the ER, their pulse/ox is in the 50% range and bam, on a ventilator they go, where far too many die. Attending to people on ventilators places stunning workloads on hospital staffs.

The doctor who wrote the article said if they can get you in before your pulse/ox gets down to that 50% level they can keep you off a ventilator and get you recovered and out of the hospital fairly fast.

Pulse oximeters may be bought at most drugstores or online all over the internet.

My reading is consistently 98% which is very good. Daily readings take less than a minute. I keep my pulse-ox on the desk next to my keyboard. If I detect a drop in my ox levels I'll be on the phone with my Doc asap.

Thanks for posting that, we read the same article yesterday and just ordered one direct from the Manufacturer, Philips for $34.99. Amazon was pretty much sold out as was Target & Walmart & it sure looks like CVS and Walgreens increased the price.

[hollyt00]

emm74, I have a Samsung s8 and have been curious about the pulse-ox reading, found in the "stress" portion of the app. I was reading up on it to find out how accurate it was, which is difficult since the phone is a bit on the "older" side now. What I did read is that it is fairly accurate; that some people compared the numbers to monitors at a health facility, and the heart rate was off, but the oxygen level seemed to be just fine. Mine is always pretty much in the 97-100 range.

I believe that not all Samsung phones have this capability, that it's something unique to a few versions. I would be happy to be proven wrong though!

[BarryK123]

I have Samsung S9. I didn't know this was in there. Just checked it. My HR was accurate (62). My pulse ox measured 86%. I have no baseline for comparison, but my HR wouldn't be 62 if it were correct. My HR is on the slow side because I'm very active. Biked 80 miles so far this week. I know the fingerprint reader on the phone is awful, so I wouldn't expect this to be accurate, either.

[Mike from back east]

Today's grim news is how COVID-19 is generating strokes in people, not just old people.

Excerpts:

"There weren’t enough doctors to treat all the emergency stroke patients ... Dr. Oxley gasped when he got to the patient’s age and covid-19 status: 44, positive. The man was among several recent stroke patients in their 30s to 40s who were all infected with the virus. The median age for that type of severe stroke is 74. ... As Dr. Oxley, an interventional neurologist, began the procedure to remove the clot, he observed something he had never seen before. ... As he used a needlelike device to pull out the clot, he saw new clots forming in real-time around it. “This is crazy,” he remembers telling his boss."

Stay the hell home if you can, protect yourself if you must go out.

[Vision67]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Today's grim news is how COVID-19 is generating strokes in people, not just old people.

Excerpts:

"There weren’t enough doctors to treat all the emergency stroke patients ... Dr. Oxley gasped when he got to the patient’s age and covid-19 status: 44, positive. The man was among several recent stroke patients in their 30s to 40s who were all infected with the virus. The median age for that type of severe stroke is 74. ... As Dr. Oxley, an interventional neurologist, began the procedure to remove the clot, he observed something he had never seen before. ... As he used a needlelike device to pull out the clot, he saw new clots forming in real-time around it. “This is crazy,” he remembers telling his boss."

Stay the hell home if you can, protect yourself if you must go out.

Aliens.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Today's grim news is how COVID-19 is generating strokes in people, not just old people.

Excerpts:

"There weren’t enough doctors to treat all the emergency stroke patients ... Dr. Oxley gasped when he got to the patient’s age and covid-19 status: 44, positive. The man was among several recent stroke patients in their 30s to 40s who were all infected with the virus. The median age for that type of severe stroke is 74. ... As Dr. Oxley, an interventional neurologist, began the procedure to remove the clot, he observed something he had never seen before. ... As he used a needlelike device to pull out the clot, he saw new clots forming in real-time around it. “This is crazy,” he remembers telling his boss."

Stay the hell home if you can, protect yourself if you must go out.

That really does sound like something from a horror movie. As creepy as photos of guinea worms breaking out of people’s abdomens. But unlike those, COVID-19 hits in many different countries and climates.