Covid Day 9

 So today I did another covid test and I have to wait 2 days to get the results. I decided to get one a day early since my mom also had to do another test today. The test she did at Walgreens did not go through.

The company they have processing their tests is:

It took us two days to find out that they messed up the test.

The the below is there error message we got.

So by trying to trust Walgreens even to do a simple covid test is past what they can handle. Not only did we not get the rapid test that we had signed up for, somewhere along the way the test got messed up. Do not trust Walgreens for covid tests. We ended up going to one of the Mako locations today and they are slower, but more reliable.

Beside this how am I doing today? Well, the breathing has gotten better. Still stuffy at times. I've noticed the head congestion moving into my ears. I normally have issues with my ears so it is moving into one of my weak places. I've noticed my hearing is reduced and my ears feel like they need a good popping. 

Today I've increased my probiotic intake and added pomegranate juices for the antioxidants. I'm trying to use my knowledge of energetic nutrition to keep me on my feet. If you have not looked into this I would highly recommend it, specially if your medical team is as useless as mine is. I've learned that with health care in America for the most part you have to be your own advocate, and if you are not no one else will be. It's sad that our medical system forces everyone to basically become a doctor just so they can get the treatment they need. I don't know how many times I have shocked doctors because I can speak their language. This is why I get so pissed of when people in the medical field talk down to people thinking they are stupid. 

So enough of me ranting today, but I do have one take away for everyone. Do your own research. Never trust what people tell you. That is why I make sure to site my sources as much as I can for all of my blogs. I want my readers to be educated.

Covid Day 8

 So this morning I got woken up by a call from Kaiser. They were bust spouting the same BS that there are no treatments approved by the FDA and that I would need to seek outside treatment. For the first one you can check the links I have shared on this blog to show that Kaiser is not telling the truth and the FDA has approved several different treatments. The later part then also shows how Kaiser is breaking it's own mato that you can get all your medical treatments under one group. Below is a copy of my updated Google review.

11/13/21-Still fighting with Kaiser over this. They are not offering any type of covid treatments. They keep saying that I have to seek treatment elsewhere and then they give you bad links to try and find a place to get you the help you need. This time I spoke to an Amy and she said even though the FDA has given emergency approval for several different types of treatment that Kaiser does not see them as approved.

So thank you Kaiser for starting off my day with abuse from your employee Amy.

Covid Day 7

 So I saw some improvement today with my sinuses. I think that my combination of over the counter, non-traditional medicines, and vaccine are working. The sinus pressure has greatly reduced and my thinking is much clearer.

Kaiser update: I had someone reach out to me from their customer care department about my google review. When I was trying to explain my issues he just kept repeating that he wasn't on the medical side of things and that he would have someone from the medical side of the house reach out to me. I kept telling him that it was the medical side of the house where my problem was and that they do not have options for people, that they do not explain things clearly or go into detail, and that they just like passing of their work on to the member. He basically then just tossed me aside and said that some one would reach out. Then needless to say that call did not come and it's nearly 9:30pm. That call isn't going to happen. Also Monday is my 10th day and you can only receive the anti-body in the first 10 days. That means that by the time Kaiser gets back to me it would be too late for the only treatment that they think people should be allowed to have if they do all the ground work.

So I went back to the email they sent me. It sends you to a website where you have to try and find a center to do the procedure and you have to set up all the arrangements. The problem is that from the sites I tried to look at all the contact information was missing. The site is useless. I can also use technology. I can just imagine how frustrating trying to navigate that mess of a site would be to older members who are not as up to date on technology. Kaiser just keeps dropping the ball. I'm actually tempted to add a subsection to this site about many of the mistakes I have caught Kaiser in over the years in both my care and that of family members.

Below is a sample of the little info their link gives you. From this point your are left trying to track down the contact number of the right department within these larger bodies. It is pointless trying to call to get the correct department let alone to schedule an appointment.

This just shows how Kaiser is leaving its members hanging. If they are going to provide links they should at least verify that the info on those links will actually help people.

Covid Treatment Resources

Here are some resources for those looking for treatment of covid. I will update as I find more. 

•https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-legal-regulatory-and-policy-framework/emergency-use-authorization

-So in my fight with Kaiser in trying to get treatment they said they would only use things approved by the FDA…except they are not looking at this list from the FDA on treatments that they have given emergency use authorization for. This tells you that Kaiser is not keeping up with the medical knowledge that is official and easy for anyone to find.

•https://covid19.colorado.gov/for-coloradans/covid-19-treatments

-This is on Colorado's main state page.

Covid and MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Resources

 When it comes to MS and covid the main concern is that a lot of people with MS are on immunosuppressants to keep their MS in check while at the same time this opens them up to catching covid. There are other medical conditions that are also treated with these same types of drugs and these people do not have the same immune system response to covid that a normal person would have. Infections can kill and people that are fighting mask mandates and vaccinations are taking an active voice in that the lives of others do not matter to them. They only care about themselves. These people have a right to life as well and everything needs to be done to protect life. I’m hoping that by putting this information into one place people can use it for their own medical treatments/research and so that others can know how these groups are impacted. I will continue to add to this list as I come by more information. 

Here is some information on MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and Covid. 

Articles:

Below are articles I found that should have gone through the peer review process before being published. I would give these more backing then the general websites that you can find on the same topics. These articles you should be able to easily access through the links without having to have access to a college library.

•”COVID-19 and MS disease-modifying therapies”. Neurology (Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation) By Joseph R. Berger, Rachel Brandstadter, and Amit Bar-Or. (May 15^th 2020).  https://nn.neurology.org/content/7/4/e761.abstract (https://nn.neurology.org/content/nnn/7/4/e761.full.pdf)

-One of the key results of this shows that people with MS do not have a higher chance of catching covid, but they do have a higher death rate due to the body’s over reaction to the infection. 

•”COVID-19 in teriflunomide-treated patients with multiple sclerosis.” By Amir Hadi Maghzi, Maria K. Houtchens, Paolo Preziosa…..(June 3^rd 2020) Maghzi2020_Article_COVID-19InTeriflunomide-treate.pdf

-This one has some good pictures to help explain what they are talking about.

 

• “Multiple sclerosis and COVIS-19.” By Jan Mares and Hans-Peter Hartung. (July 17^th 2020) Bio_002599_fin-0001 (1).pdf

•”Multiple sclerosis and COVID-19: How many are at risk?” . European Journal of Neurology: The Official Journal of the European Academy of Neurology. By Gabriel Bsteh, Christina Bitschnau, Harald Hegen, Franziska Di Pauli,…..(September 25^th 2020). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ene.14555 (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ene.14555)

-This one looks at overlapping health factors and age in relation to the MS covid issue.

 

Websites: 

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/coronavirus-covid-19-information/multiple-sclerosis-and-coronavirus 

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/ms-and-covid-19.html

-So this website goes against the peer reviewed information I found. In those studies they found higher death rates and this site tries to make it sound that people with MS fit into the same numbers as other groups. I included this for the reason of showing how websites can give bad information and what you read on this site should not be trusted. 

https://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/fulltext/2021/05060/how_do_patients_with_multiple_sclerosis_fare_with.5.aspx

-This one I’m on the fence with since it says that people with ambulatory disability had higher risks, but other people with MS were on average with everyone else. This is still just a website and should not be trusted as much as more official research.

https://www.ajmc.com/view/patients-with-ms-testing-positive-for-covid-19-saw-worse-depressive-anxiety-symptoms

-This one I found interesting because it also looks at the impact of mental health around the subject of covid and MS.

https://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclerosis/covid-19-multiple-sclerosis-ms 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0255316

-This one I put under websites instead of Journals because it came from a newer source that has not yet established its credibility. This one says that instead of worrying about how immunosuppressants will impact your chances of covid, that you should still keep up with your MS treatments. It is on the newer side of things, but I’m hesitant in trusting it due to where it was published. 

https://www.mssociety.org.uk/about-ms/treatments-and-therapies/disease-modifying-therapies/covid-19-coronavirus-and-ms

-I like getting an international perspective on situations since I feel that US politics many times warps all the parts of our lives. You can see this even today with how politicized the mask issue has gotten. This site from the UK acknowledges that your chances of infection from covid and complications are higher. 

 

One of the interesting things I found though is that most of the studies and sites focused on people with MS that are on some type of immunosuppressants and that there was little to no info on people with MS that are not taking any form of them. I would have also liked to have found info on people with CIS in relation to COVID since their body has already shown an ability to over react.

12/9/21: Update: "FDA clears AstraZeneca's Covid antibody treatment for immunocompromised" - https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-clears-astrazenecas-covid-antibody-treatment-immunocompromised-rcna8130?fbclid=IwAR2tLG0bPdPRcMr8T4pa1PeRP01X1RpZr6HgADLUElCngAXXHPk2_SqWF4M

1/28/22: "Woman With MS Dies of COVID After Doctors Told Her She Couldn't Get Vaxxed, Family Says" - https://www.thedailybeast.com/nerissa-regnier-woman-with-ms-dies-of-covid-19-after-doctors-told-her-she-couldnt-get-vaxxed-family-says?fbclid=IwAR2S44WwYCHoTJZXngFUjVVsMVT-v1hSmQsDUaxjD6t6gjkNaBaf510mVNk

 

Covid Day 6

So I got the above generic message from Kaiser. I don't know how many times I have made complaints to them over the years and feel like they will never change the bad ways. It's on all levels, admin assistants to doctors, clinics to hospitals. I did respond to their message by cutting and pasting both my Google review and a link to this blog.

How am I doing today?

I know that I'm not getting much sleep at night due to having to sleep upright just to be able to breath. My body is feeling that. The throat is also worse and trying to talk a whole sentence is a struggle. Breathing issues are still focused in the head. Sometimes are worse then others. I feel like I'm trying to deforest a small forest with all the tissues I'm going through. Last night for my class I forgot to mute myself and blew my nose. I quickly said sorry and muted myself when I had discovered what I had done. At least my professor already knew I had covid. Energy levels are still low. I weighed myself this morning and just since Sunday I've lost 3.6 pounds. I'm finding that I'm not really hungry even though I know I need to eat to keep up my strength. 

9pm: So Kaiser's care package was left at my door. The door bell never rang and I was lucky it wasn't stolen. It was actually filled with good stuff except the anti-bacterial soap had all ruptured. Not sure if they had frozen or exploded due to pressure change if they had been shipped on a plane. At least it's nice of Kaiser to try and help you protect your family while you possibly die from lack of treatment. Yes, I'm very cynical and sarcastic when it comes to Kaiser's lack of options for people.

11/10/21 - So why am I starting this blog on top of my other ones and everything else I do. Simple: it is due to the horrible medical experience I have had with Kaiser in my own Covid diagnosis. 

I think I was exposed on Friday night when I was with my mother in the ER. Then the symptoms kicked in on late Saturday. On Monday I went to Kaiser to get tested and then on Tuesday got my results by email… this is where the problem started. No real contact on what I should do. On Tuesday I tried to call the medical advice line to find out what I should do next. That took over 2 hours to just be able to talk to a human that said she would get a message to my primary care provider…so much for a medical advice line. Then there was another Kaiser number where you could speak to an education specialist and get a free covid supply kit. I did this, but all the information the lady provided was just the same general information that the media has been feeding people for months about cleaning surfaces, washing hands, staying 6 feet apart, and wearing a mask. So no real help there. 

Then today I also emailed my doctor to see if I could talk to her. So on top of this I do have other health issues that when mixed with covid can be really bad, so I was hoping that there would at least be some concern from my medical team (as Kaiser likes to say they have to support each person’s needs…BS). I did finally hear back from a nurse and over 3 conversations here is what I was able to find out. Kaiser does not support any type of treatment for covid besides the antibody treatment. The problem with that is that they also do not offer that directly and that people have to seek treatment out of network if they want even the antibody treatment. Then they also treat their members like they know nothing about science or current happenings in medicine. I would like to call BS on Kaiser again and I did tell the nurse to stop treating me like a child (which she was doing) and that I had several degrees and knew a few things about science (LOL). People really should look people up before they start talking down to them. 

What does this mean? That Kaiser does not support its members and it does not care about their health. Also it is way behind on medical treatments when compared to other medical providers. 

So with this in mind I decided to build a place for people to go to in order to find resources, to share my own covid story, and to also start tracking the history and events of covid. I will be re-sharing some previous articles I have written on covid, pictures I have taken over time to document the outbreak, and everything else I can find on the subject. 

People need support out there for covid and if medical providers like Kaiser will not provide it. Then I will.

 I will fully admit that I believe in the vaccine and face masks. I blame all the anti-maskers and anti-vax people for the mess that we are still in and for my own infection. I can only do so much to protect my own health, but if others are going to force their freedoms above other people's very basic right to life then they need to be stopped. We need to look at all of science and be willing to try anything to not only stop the virus, but also to help our fellow human beings. Stop being selfish. 

Welcome to your new headquarters for all things covid in Colorado and beyond.

Background image of page is from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1