Coping during Covid

[Ellener]

8 hours ago, schlumpy said:

I'll keep an eye for the Throat coat. My main restorative agent is lemon juice that can be taken as lemonade or just a sip straight up. It clears the throat of any mucous.

Do you have a daily routine you practice to maintain your breath support? I'm afraid that mine is fading no matter how much I practice. My normal routine is an hour a day. I start with scales and then I use Karaoke to push myself through a variety of vocal challenging songs.

 

I wrote you a detailed reply then the internet flaked...

Voice is a tricky instrument, affected by illness, allergies, emotions.

All voices change with age, I pick repertoire carefully now and have worked up show-off piano and comedy to fill gaps if my voice is off.

I think soft arpeggios going up and down are the best warm up, change key a few times half tone at a time.

 

[Eternal Sunshine]

I am kind of annoyed that most of my family is obsessed with getting coronavirus and it's completely unjustified. They haven't left the house or had any visitors in 2 months. They also confuse journalism with science. Australia hasn't even been badly affected and I am all for following lockdown rules. But going to paranoid extremes? My patience is wearing thin.

- My dad has read somewhere that coronavirus actually travels 20m instead of commonly mentioned 1.5m which means that he will not get out of the house, even for exercise

- Mum and dad have ordered oxygen tanks online in case they get coronavirus and there is no space in the hospitals (in Australia!)

- They wanted to give their cat away in case the cat has somehow dormant coronavirus that's going to mutate and infect them. So I took poor kitty.

- Despite all the excessive precautions, one of them will call me every few days convinced that they have symptoms of coronavirus (they have apparently already self medicated with oxygen tanks 😕 )

- My dad is at high risk of a heart attack and he has ignored strong chest pains because he doesn't want to see a doctor and get coronavirus

They literally have higher risk of dying from pretty much anything else than of coronavirus. I am finding this really difficult to deal with and can't talk to them without getting into an argument. I am also worried what will months of no exercise do to their health.

It's so refreshing seeing people in their 80s going for walks. My parents are only in their early 60s.

[elaine567]

5 hours ago, Eternal Sunshine said:

My parents are only in their early 60s.

And they know they have so many years to lose if they get the virus and die.
I am sure they don't want to die in their early sixties.
Three score years and ten was  the average life expectancy (70 years) in the Bible.
Surely in 2020 they can expect a bit more than to expire in their early sixties.
Severe Covid-19 is not a nice way to die either.
They are staring death in the face, you aren't.
You know that if you got the virus tomorrow you would likely survive.
They don't know if they would survive and that is very scary..

[sothereiwas]

According to the worldometers page on "Age, Sex, Existing Conditions of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths" the biggest risk indicator isn't actually age itself, it's comorbidities like hypertension and so on. Those often come with age but the data doesn't seem to support a huge bump in fatality rate due to just age alone. 

[SincereOnlineGuy]

17 hours ago, Eternal Sunshine said:

 

- They wanted to give their cat away in case the cat has somehow dormant coronavirus that's going to mutate and infect them. So I took poor kitty.

 

I can feel it in your words:

 

The cat's Coronavirus has been dormant for a few years.

 

 

[preraph]

Ridiculous about the cat.  Grr.  

[Lotsgoingon]

Eternal,

Sorry of to hear of your family's stories. The truth is ... it's really hard to get most people to take the virus risk seriously ... without scaring the heck outta them. And I don't mean that in a manipulative way ... I just mean ... for most people, it's an either/or world ... world completely open ... or completely shut. 

BTW: doctors want all checkups to start with phone calls. Your dad, I'm sure you've tried to tell him, could call his cardiologist .. .and the cardiologist would ask a series of questions that your can answer.  And if worst comes to worst, the cardiologist would likely know the best hospital to go to, one that isn't overwhelmed with covid-19 cases. I'm sure cardiologists are talking up a storm among themselves about options in case of patient emergencies right now. 

Sorry to hear of your frustrations. 

[Inflikted]

Man, I don't really know what to do about my mom. The thing is, before all this started, she's always been very melodramatic and "woe is me", but her fears about the pandemic are still real.

She's not been leaving the house since early March, and she's been very mopey that this is the "end of the world" and that there's no hope in sight. She's been worried because my dad has still had to work and potentially get exposed to it and bring it home.

Today, she's somehow dug even deeper. She's upset that I got called back to work because now I could also get it and bring it home. She's upset that she's now going to be locked in the house alone because me and my dad will both be working. She's practically in tears because she thinks she'll never leave the house again, since she's in her 70s. She thinks she'll die before this stuff is over.

Heck, today, she's even been saying maybe it's for the best if one of us gives her coronavirus and she dies peacefully at home so that she doesn't have to worry about it anymore.

It's frustrating, because I think she's partly doing her typical wallowing, but again, her fears are legitimate. Nothing I say seems to help. And it's tough, because her "depression" ends up getting in my own head, and then I start going to sad and depressing places in my mind, too.

[The Outlaw]

Working and some very bad things. Depending on who you ask. 😛

[Prudence V]

On 4/22/2020 at 2:00 PM, Ellener said:

How are you coping during the pandemic, emotionally and practically?

 

Practically, it’s great, in the main. 
 

Emotionally, I worry - so many of my students are really struggling. They’re poor, don’t have the resources for this emergency remote teaching gig, and exams are looming. 
 

Friends back home in informal settlements are struggling. Lockdown rules are very severe there and they rely on hand-to-mouth working opportunities - and these have vanished. They’re stuck indoors - six to ten people in a tiny shack, soldiers outside ready to shoot if they go out. Right now many are willing to take their chances with the virus - they’d rather die of that, than of hunger. 
 

Several friends and family members are frontline workers - nurses, social workers, child protection workers, doctors, etc - exposed daily, with insufficient PPE and harrowing conditions.  In the U.K. people stand outside and clap once a week and for a while Uber Eats gave free pizza, but really they’d rather know that their concerns about safety were being taken seriously. 
 

I’m reminded every day just how lucky I am. And it makes me feel so guilty, so powerless. 

[Ellener]

4 hours ago, Prudence V said:

I’m reminded every day just how lucky I am. And it makes me feel so guilty, so powerless. 

We are very lucky many of us, I feel gratitude and humility for that. Guilt, I don't know- I have been part of a lot of social justice movements to deal with that, and I'll help anyone I can, that's all we can do I think. (((((((((((((((((((((((((((( ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))