MY EXPERIENCE with COVID-19 began on March 4, 2020. That morning, I got off a plane in Buenos Aries. While standing in line with my passport, I noticed several people wearing masks, so I put one on as well. Back then, we were being told to go about our business. “It’s like a bad cold.” If only.
We boarded our ship for a 30-day cruise, which I documented in five articles for HumbleDollar. On that cruise, the real nature of COVID became clear as they announced a new death among the passengers every few days.
My wife and I got through those 30 days unscathed, despite eating and traveling by bus and plane with a friend who, after returning home, went on to spend two weeks in the ICU.
We got vaccinated as soon we could. Having taken every vaccine available during my lifetime, and experienced childhood diseases now rare, I have no tolerance for the anti-vaccine crowd or even those who claim personal choice over the common good. But that’s another story.
Having been fully vaccinated against COVID, I had confidence in my immunity. I may even have picked up a few antibodies on the ship. Or maybe not.
A month or so ago, my daughter was having a family gathering. I had a runny nose and a cough, but no fever. I really didn’t feel bad. My daughter and my wife ganged up and insisted that I get tested.
Confident in my immunity, I went to a local testing site. They took the swab and left me sitting alone in the room. “I will be back in 10 minutes,” the technician told me. All the while, I was watching the testing device tick away. Then it made a noise and I looked at the screen. “Positive,” it read. I was shocked. How could it be? I’ve been playing by the rules for the past year and a half.
When the technician returned, despite the protocol, I convinced her to do another test with a different machine. Ten minutes later, she returned and said, “Bad news, it’s positive.” I was shaken.
The good news is—because I was vaccinated—my breakthrough case was indeed mild, like a bad cold. I was lucky. But the state health department called to be sure I quarantined for 10 days. I’m making progress. Last time, after the cruise, it was 14 days of quarantine. By the way, my wife tested negative.
But now, I feel vulnerable like never before in my life. Could it happen again, but maybe worse? Leaving the house without my mask has become as traumatic as forgetting my phone.
My stress grew after I told a few friends—with whom I’d had contact—about my test results. The word got out, triggering an email alert—in red text—from our condo association. It said there was a COVID-positive person in the complex. No name was given, but I felt shunned nevertheless.
We received our booster shots three weeks after I tested positive. But even that hasn’t diminished my feeling of vulnerability. I’m on edge when shopping or in a restaurant.
Every time one of my grandchildren doesn’t feel well, I worry. It seems nothing will be the same again.
The good news—I suppose—is that my new concerns have gotten me to take action.
I’ve better organized my finances and papers. I’ve also updated my final instructions, thinking more about what my children need to know.
I’m ashamed to admit it took a global pandemic to motivate me to act.
I have a $10,000 credit from our ill-fated cruise that must be used in 2022. I’m thinking that it will go in the loss column, despite my yearning to travel again.
My outlook on life and my retirement are forever changed. I suspect that’s true for many people, especially those less fortunate than me.
READ MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON HUMBLEDOLLAR AT THE LINK BELOW
Source: Positive but Not – HumbleDollar
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Wish everyone would heed your warning!
Sent from my iPad
>
LikeLike
Quinn, you are apparently ignoring all bad news concerning the vaccines. Blood clots, heart conditions, ADE, and that’s just in the first year. God knows what the long term effects will be, all for a “vaccine” that doesn’t prevent catching or spreading the disease. CDC had to actually change the definition of vaccine for the crap they’re peddling. Good luck, and thanks for being a lab experiment for those that are or convinced by the propaganda put out by he people making money peddling snake oil.
LikeLike
I got my my shots but they are proving to be just that, shots. I want to know how the FDA approved them without knowing their effectiveness. How did they review all the paperwork in 2 months but have asked a court for 55 years to release the data. It immediately begs asking question what are they hiding in the data?
As for the masks, anybody who knows what the “Rainbow passage” knows that a piece of cloth is useless. Anybody who has used a dust mask still gets dirt in their nose. Do you think a microscopic virus is going to be stopped by anything other that a respirator with N95 filter that is rated for particles of that size? OHSA has a respiratory standard and a bloodborne pathogen standard but the employer mandate for both the masks and vaccines were political decisions not science based unlike those two regulations which will “limit” covid-19 transmission.
As far as factcheckers and mainstream media, they are no more reliable sources than the CDC. Go to the prime source of the data. You can’t because they won’t release it. I don’t know if that doctor’s statement will be found to be true or false. But the FDA does not know the long term effects of the vaccines on children. How can they say it will not cause cancer after 3 months of being approved, invented for less than a year when cancers take decades to develop? The fact is children are not dying from covid. There has been 771 (as of 12/15/21 per the NIH) children under the age of 18 who have died and many with underlaying conditions. That is 0.001%.
If you are in a risk group, be scared. For the rest of us there is not much we can do. We are going to get covid sooner or later, with or without the shots. Because I got the shots, I hope it will be less severe, at least that is the propaganda.
LikeLike
A University of Minnesota study looked at how long it takes a person to be infected by COVID-19 according to the type of mask they were wearing around an infected person.
For example, if the infected person is maskless and you have on a cloth mask, the study found that you had about 20 minutes before you were infected. You had 30 minutes if you were wearing a surgical mask and two and a half hours if you were wearing a fit-tested N95 or equivalent, like a KF94 or KN95.
Your protection time increased if the person was also masked. The study suggested that the maximum protection of 25 hours was achieved when you and the person both wore a fit-tested N95 or equivalent.
“If you’re going to be in an indoor place for a while with other people, then upping the game to a KN90 or an N95 is really the way to go,” Infectious Disease Specialist at Family Health Centers of San Diego, Christian Ramers, MD, MPH said.
Dec 20, 2021
https://www.10news.com/news/coronavirus/do-masks-protect-against-new-covid-19-variants-like-omicron
So much for a cross country airline flight.
Note, the story did not reported on vaccine status, but by Mr. Quinn’s own experience, you can still get Covid. I am not saying do not get vax or don’t wear a mask, but we are not being told the whole truth. This story confirms decades of me being fit tested for a respirator and being an EMT subject to bloodborne pathogens regulations, my knowledge that a cloth face mask is a joke. I have failed fit tests in a very expensive full face mask several times.
Therefore everything is suspect and or propaganda.
LikeLike
I am not anti-vax. But, the COVID vaccines where rushed to market, for the drug companies to make billions of dollars. The vaccines loose any ability to protect you after 4 to 6 months. The vaccine side effects are the same as getting COVID in many people. When I was in the USAF I received the FLU shot every year, several times I still got the FLU, One year I was so sick I was put on quarters for 14 days, it was tough going, I even thought I might die. I left the USAF in 1995, I have not had a FLU shot since and I have not had the FLU. Researching it, FLU vaccines are only 30 to 40 percent effective and the number of FLU cases are low most years.
As for COVID – My 66 year old wife and I traveled over 10,000 miles through 18 states from Sept 2, 2020 to April 10, 2021. We stayed with family in CA, OK, TX and GA. Always following the CDC guidelines – masks and social distancing. Since I am retired and do not have anyone over to the house, my choice is no COVID vaccine. I do not even remember the last time I had a cold with a fever. I now have plenty of stuff delivered, instead of going to the store. When I go to Sam’s Club or Walmart I order on line and have a store worker bring the purchase out to the car.
I hope by Fall of 2022 things get better and you are able to take that cruise.
LikeLike
I do hope that you are feeling better.
Breakthrough case? It’s more of a case where the so-called “miracle” vaccine is of limited effectiveness, just as things like masks are. Your personal biases seem to be preventing you from coming to rational analytic conclusions.
This is the United States, where people have choices. I’m very disappointed to hear that you have “no tolerance for the anti-vaccine crowd or even those who claim personal choice over the common good”, especially in light of the limited effectiveness of this vaccine. In a country where you have been able to prosper because of your personal choices, I want those choices to remain in place.
I’m not anti-vaccine, I’m anti-forced vaccine, especially one that’s of limited effectiveness.
I’ll continue to wear a mask in public, wash my hands 27 times when I go to the grocery store, etc. And I’ll continue to live; I’ve already taken two vacations (by plane) this year and have more planned for next year.
It’s a virus; you can’t stop it; you can only do things to mitigate the spread and to protect yourself. A vaccine isn’t the miracle cure but it does mitigate some risk of spread and infection.
LikeLike
I am like you ZAD, no forced vaccination. I believe you can get through this COVID pandemic without a vaccination. The biggest thing is risk reduction, social distancing, not shaking hands will be found to be one of the things that helped stop the spread, way more than the gene therapy vaccine.
LikeLike
Sorry, you are quite wrong and there is plenty of world wide evidence to support the value of vaccinations. Of course if by get through you mean other people dying or being miserably sick or long term disabled until it runs its course, that’s something different. Unfortunately we humans can’t stick to rules or advice so distancing is being ignored too much of the time
LikeLike
RD- There is also evidence that the rMNA vaccine is not like other vaccines. It has way more side effects and many of them lead to death. View and read below with an open mind.
What Happened: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya on 19 Months of COVID
More Children Have Died From COVID Shot Than From COVID
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/12/21/more-children-died-from-vaccine-than-from-covid.aspx?
The Most Important Podcast You Can Hear About COVID-19
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/12/21/understanding-covid-19.aspx
LikeLike
That is a false rumor. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/11/18/fact-check-covid-19-vaccines-not-linked-deaths-children/8584681002/
LikeLike
Sorry to hear of your news. Happy that your medical outcome was moderate and that you avoided the worst.
Like you, I am of “advanced age” and the vaccines were sooo welcome, I waited my turn, but not a day longer, same for the booster. As Einstein was reputed to have said, “We are all ignorant, just on different subjects.” and “We are all very ignorant. What happens is that not all ignore the same things.” While I have little trust in bureaucrats, I feel I have to trust the medical professionals in my life – they know so much more than I do … on their subject.
Two of my favorite sayings from a pre-retirement planning seminar I used to do (generally targeting employees once they reached age 50) were:
1. Whenever you retire, congratulations, you’ve certainly earned it, and
2. Life is not a dress rehearsal for retirement, start doing all those things you dreamed of now, today.
COVID has certainly delayed my efforts at the latter – as we remain cautious in many endeavors. But, so far, cautious ≠ anxious, depressed. Hopefully, all this shall pass, and pass soon.
Best to you, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year
LikeLike