Got tested ---
The test is required for those of us wishing to participate in the re-opening Pulmonary Rehab program at the hospital.
My results: Negative for Covid, positive for anti-bodies. So, at some point, I did have the virus.
My respiratory therapist is amazed that I'm still standing, given my history. But it's my guess that how I've been dealing with other health issues has contributed to that test result. Some of the covid symptoms are things I already routinely experience, primarily shortness of breath. When that particular condition worsened a bit last fall, it was attributed to advancing COPD. And body aches and pains are already familiar with aging and arthritis. I didn't have fever, or cough, or sore throat, or headache; and having had pneumonia in the past, had any indicator of that showed up I'd have blasted into the nearest ER.
So my conversation with the RT concluded that I should continue with the self-imposed distancing, necessitated by side effects of some meds, that I've been practicing for a couple of years. I can still go to the Safeway for scrips and food, and continue wearing a mask whenever I go out of my apartment. And I will start back with the rehab next week; the hospital has only one entrance open, and they require a mask and temp check before letting anyone in.
Meanwhile, our county commissioners (much in the news lately, and not in a good way -- huge thank you to Rachel Maddow for that!) have changed how the reporting data is interpreted in order to announce that the death count is dropping. Sunday it was 126, Monday it was 86. It's not a miracle, it's a manipulation, the dead are still dead . . .
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= new reply since forum marked as read
I know, test reliability and all. If the tests are valid then it's great news.
I was tested but not for antibodies. Basically, all I know is that I didn't have an active infection on the date and time that took the test. The next day, who knows?
One month earlier, who knows?
Take care!
And this came up in the lengthy discussion with the respiratory therapist at the rehab gym. We're watching developments.
Thanks to my history, I have a GP, two pulmonologists, a cardiologist, and several respiratory therapists watching me like a flock of hawks. Damned good thing, methinks.
