My Mother's nursing home just got hit with Covid 19

Sorry I missed her birthday but happy late birthday. 

Snowdoggie said:

In reply to bearmtnmartin :

Sorry to hear that. 

I did find somebody in there 90s who actually contracted it and survived. That is possible. 

https://www.kiro7.com/news/eastside-news/90-year-old-kirkland-woman-survives-coronavirus-reunites-with-family/76GATGHI3BCGHLI4ZTXPJUOPUM/

Not only is it possible for a very old person to survive COVID, it's LIKELY.

Most recent data for my state shows there have been 10,555 cases in the 80+ demographic. There have been 2141 deaths in that same demographic. That means that 4 out of 5 people with confirmed cases of COVID in the 80+ demographic survive. It has an 80% survival rate in the oldest demographic.

If we instead break it down by long term care facilities only (among all ages) there have been 10101 positive cases and 2309 deaths in my state, which is a 77% survival rate.

Anybody that may be asymptomatic and not confirmed positive would only improve those numbers in favor of survival.

It's reality that COVID is a threat, particularly to older people and those in Long Term Care facilities. It's also reality that the majority of people survive a COVID infection in every single demographic, and it's not really close, even in the oldest demographics. If a person contracts COVID (which is hardly guaranteed in the first place), they're far more likely to survive than they are to die regardless of their age or living situation.

The only older person that I've personally known to be COVID positive was a 94 year old woman in a nursing home. She beat it in about a week and has been happy and healthy since June. It's a virus, not an automatic death sentence.

It's understandable to be concerned about loved ones, especially when you can't see them in person or do anything to influence the situation. For your own mental health, I think it's important to focus on the good parts of reality instead of stressing over the scary parts.

I knew of several who died including one my age. 

Snowdoggie said:

I knew of several who died including one my age. 

Yep. It can kill, but it's not automatic. Odds of survival are better than 75% for even the most at-risk age groups. You can make yourself miserable and stressed or you can hope for the best. If I were a betting man I'd put my money on survival and try to be less miserable.

Almost every post from you that I've read since this pandemic began has been negative. It's completely understandable to be stressed and concerned. I think that knowledge reduces fear, so I was trying to provide some of that for you so you might be able to reduce your stress and improve your life. You can focus on the slim possibility of death and make yourself even more miserable, or focus on the much more likely outcome and try to remain upbeat. That's your call. I was just trying to show you there's another option besides keeping your personal panic/fear/stress/worry knob cranked higher than the situation might warrant.

I don't want to get into another political argument here. I know what I have seen.

Not sure what's political at all about raw data but I'm done trying to inject any hope into your outlook. Best of luck to you and your mother, and anybody else impacted by the virus.

STM317 said:

Not sure what's political at all about raw data but I'm done trying to inject any hope into your outlook. Best of luck to you and your mother, and anybody else impacted by the virus.

Some people you just can't help. I realized that with this topic some time back and just stopped. Facts dont matter when feelings are involved. 

In reply to bobzilla :

I question your 'facts'. 

Two things can be true at once. The facts are:

• One is much more likely to survive this than die from it, even those in the high morbidity range. 
• If one has just tested positive, or is very close physically to someone who has just tested positive, that person is much more likely to die from this than they are from anything else, for the next 3-7 weeks or so - and that is a very real danger for somone in Snowdoggies moms age group. 

My mom just got diagnosed with breast cancer. For her specific case, it is a 99% chance of survival. I'm still terrefied, as is she. I'm also more frightened of Covid for her, because that would mean that she has a .00whatever% chance of dying from Covid, and it decreases her likelihood to get through the cancer/cancer treatment unscathed as she would have to delay the treatment longer. 

People saying that if we're frightened, we are ignoring the facts seem to ignore (1) that emotions happen no matter what, and (2) the law of large numbers means this is a very real threat. 

Of course, we do know that masks work and we are getting better at treating it every day, so there is a LOT of reason to be optimistic. But if you're in a war zone and hear the bombs hitting 3 blocks away, you're still going to be wary and concerned even if you know that 99% of them won't hit you. 

Snowdoggie said:

In reply to bobzilla :

I question your 'facts'. 

And statements like this don't help anyone. This is why I stopped bothering. You want to be sad/worried/angry/whatever I am not going to change that. I can only wish you well and hope that life gives you something to help your outlook. Being angry all the time is very unhealthy. I know this from personal experience and making that change to find some positives in life REALLY helped my emotional health. I hope you can find some peace as well.

In reply to Snowdoggie :

My 'facts' came directly from figures on my state's official covid tracker. It's updated since my last post, but the odds haven't changed. I have no interest in spreading politically motivated lies, especially here. I was legitimately trying to help you. I guess I can show my work if you really need to see it and can't just take me for my word:

If you look at that official site linked above, there have been 188,066 total cases. The demographic chart says that 5.7% of that number have been 80+ years old. 5.7% of 188066 = 10719 cases in that age range.

There have been 4199 deaths total. The demographic chart for deaths shows 51.6% of total deaths have been in the 80+ demographic. 51.6% of 4199 = 2166 deaths in that age range.

So for the 10719 people 80+ years old that have been positive in my state, 2166 have died. 2166/10719= .20207 or 20%. So in my state, 20% of the people that have been COVID positive in the 80+ demographic have died. That means 80% of the people that have been COVID positive in that demographic have survived.

You can probably do the same basic calculations with your states' data too if you think it might improve your life. Here's the offical Covid data for Texas. About 1/3 down the page there's a link to a pdf for specific demographic breakdowns. Taking control of my fear and doing some simple math really helped me figure out how I felt about this virus. It might help you to feel better too.

bobzilla said:

Snowdoggie said:

In reply to bobzilla :

I question your 'facts'. 

And statements like this don't help anyone. This is why I stopped bothering. You want to be sad/worried/angry/whatever I am not going to change that. I can only wish you well and hope that life gives you something to help your outlook. Being angry all the time is very unhealthy. I know this from personal experience and making that change to find some positives in life REALLY helped my emotional health. I hope you can find some peace as well.

You don't know anything about me other than a few posts I make here. How do you know that I am angry "all the time", if you are not with me all the time. In fact, I don't think we have even met in person. Yes, I do get upset when I am waiting for my mother's Covid test to come back. What do you think I should do? Throw a party? I'm also a little depressed about a dying dog. I think everybody gets a little sad when a really old dog gets sick. It's called situational depression. It eventually goes away. 

In reply to Snowdoggie :

I hope life gets better for you. I can do no more than that.

STM317 said:

In reply to Snowdoggie :

My 'facts' came directly from figures on my state's official covid tracker. It's updated since my last post, but the odds haven't changed. I have no interest in spreading politically motivated lies, especially here. I was legitimately trying to help you. I guess I can show my work if you really need to see it and can't just take me for my word:

If you look at that official site linked above, there have been 188,066 total cases. The demographic chart says that 5.7% of that number have been 80+ years old. 5.7% of 188066 = 10719 cases in that age range.

There have been 4199 deaths total. The demographic chart for deaths shows 51.6% of total deaths have been in the 80+ demographic. 51.6% of 4199 = 2166 deaths in that age range.

So for the 10719 people 80+ years old that have been positive in my state, 2166 have died. 2166/10719= .20207 or 20%. So in my state, 20% of the people that have been COVID positive in the 80+ demographic have died. That means 80% of the people that have been COVID positive in that demographic have survived.

 

You can probably do the same basic calculations with your states' data too if you think it might improve your life. Here's the offical Covid data for Texas. About 1/3 down the page there's a link to a pdf for specific demographic breakdowns. Taking control of my fear and doing some simple math really helped me figure out how I felt about this virus. It might help you to feel better too.

The numbers on that site are telling me that I live in a hot spot and that infections are increasing. Uhhh. Thanks? 

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

Two things can be true at once. The facts are:

• One is much more likely to survive this than die from it, even those in the high morbidity range. 
• If one has just tested positive, or is very close physically to someone who has just tested positive, that person is much more likely to die from this than they are from anything else, for the next 3-7 weeks or so - and that is a very real danger for somone in Snowdoggies moms age group. 

 

People saying that if we're frightened, we are ignoring the facts seem to ignore (1) that emotions happen no matter what, and (2) the law of large numbers means this is a very real threat.

I clearly said that it was completely understandable to be concerned, COVID was a legitimate threat to older people and I never said that anybody was ignoring facts. All I was trying to do was share some information that might allow the OP to feel less frightened/stressed by the situation. That's not saying that he should feel care free, but just that our level of concern should be related to the actual threat, and not the perceived threat. There's a difference between playing Russian Roulette with 1/5 of the chambers loaded vs playing with 4/5 of the chambers loaded. If a person actually contracts it, COVID among the 80+ group is playing roulette with 1/5 of the barrels loaded. Feeling concerned is 100% justified, but there's also a greater chance of walking away than is often implied.

Snowdoggie said:

STM317 said:

In reply to Snowdoggie :

My 'facts' came directly from figures on my state's official covid tracker. It's updated since my last post, but the odds haven't changed. I have no interest in spreading politically motivated lies, especially here. I was legitimately trying to help you. I guess I can show my work if you really need to see it and can't just take me for my word:

If you look at that official site linked above, there have been 188,066 total cases. The demographic chart says that 5.7% of that number have been 80+ years old. 5.7% of 188066 = 10719 cases in that age range.

There have been 4199 deaths total. The demographic chart for deaths shows 51.6% of total deaths have been in the 80+ demographic. 51.6% of 4199 = 2166 deaths in that age range.

So for the 10719 people 80+ years old that have been positive in my state, 2166 have died. 2166/10719= .20207 or 20%. So in my state, 20% of the people that have been COVID positive in the 80+ demographic have died. That means 80% of the people that have been COVID positive in that demographic have survived.

 

You can probably do the same basic calculations with your states' data too if you think it might improve your life. Here's the offical Covid data for Texas. About 1/3 down the page there's a link to a pdf for specific demographic breakdowns. Taking control of my fear and doing some simple math really helped me figure out how I felt about this virus. It might help you to feel better too.

The numbers on that site are telling me that I live in a hot spot and that infections are increasing. Uhhh. Thanks?

Yep. It's all terrible, all the time. You can choose to focus on negativity or you can look on the bright side. It's clear that I'm not going to change your outlook. Again, best of luck.

I also get stressed about Dallas traffic to the point that I wear helmet when I am on two wheels. 

Maybe I ought to crunch some numbers about people who fall on their heads and survive and not worry about it so much. Yeah. Then I could ditch the helmet and not worrry. 

To do anything else shows some deep mental problems and a lack of peace in my life that would require a therapist and some kind of guru found on a mountaintop in Tibet to cure. 

Yeah. That's it. 

STM317 said:

Snowdoggie said:

STM317 said:

In reply to Snowdoggie :

My 'facts' came directly from figures on my state's official covid tracker. It's updated since my last post, but the odds haven't changed. I have no interest in spreading politically motivated lies, especially here. I was legitimately trying to help you. I guess I can show my work if you really need to see it and can't just take me for my word:

If you look at that official site linked above, there have been 188,066 total cases. The demographic chart says that 5.7% of that number have been 80+ years old. 5.7% of 188066 = 10719 cases in that age range.

There have been 4199 deaths total. The demographic chart for deaths shows 51.6% of total deaths have been in the 80+ demographic. 51.6% of 4199 = 2166 deaths in that age range.

So for the 10719 people 80+ years old that have been positive in my state, 2166 have died. 2166/10719= .20207 or 20%. So in my state, 20% of the people that have been COVID positive in the 80+ demographic have died. That means 80% of the people that have been COVID positive in that demographic have survived.

 

You can probably do the same basic calculations with your states' data too if you think it might improve your life. Here's the offical Covid data for Texas. About 1/3 down the page there's a link to a pdf for specific demographic breakdowns. Taking control of my fear and doing some simple math really helped me figure out how I felt about this virus. It might help you to feel better too.

The numbers on that site are telling me that I live in a hot spot and that infections are increasing. Uhhh. Thanks?

Yep. It's all terrible, all the time. You can choose to focus on negativity or you can look on the bright side. It's clear that I'm not going to change your outlook. Again, best of luck.

There is actually a bright side to State Covid data? The next time I need a laugh, maybe I could read some car accident death statistics. 

I'm out. When I want to be baited, I'll go to faceyspace or twitogram.

In reply to bobzilla :

Baited? This was about my mother. I didn't invite you in here and I don't know you. 

Why  are you so angry? 

Snowdoggie said:

I knew of several who died including one my age. 

I know of over 200 that had it and didn't really get sick, so? That proves what? The "woe is me" gets old fast. 

In reply to Snowdoggie :

I wasn't aware you owned this thread, and I never said I don't like you. People here are trying to help you see the positives, but you'd rather be negative. Carry on feeling sorry for yourself, it seems to be working for you

Steve_Jones said:

In reply to Snowdoggie :

I wasn't aware you owned this thread, and I never said I don't like you. People here are trying to help you see the positives, but you'd rather be negative. Carry on feeling sorry for yourself, it seems to be working for you

Why are you so concerned about my well being. We have never met. You know nothing about me other than a few posts you read here on a day when I am waiting for my Mother's Covid test results to come back. Are you a therapist?

I think you are just a troll, and you know what they say about feeding trolls.