Grea Alexander's Blog - Posts Tagged "books-to-read"
I'll Corona Your Virus! UPDATED 03/31/20
UPDATED 3/31/20
So today this doctor just tweeted this image of a coronavirus test via nose swab (which is what I had).
Enjoy: https://twitter.com/DrPeckPNP/status/...
Was it the best time ever?
No.
However, some of the commenters are being SO MELODRAMATIC.
Folks, it was nowhere near the most painful medical thing out there.
Try being urethra catheterized, the nurse being incompetent and having to pull it all the way out and try again... back to back. (Yes, that happened to me during one of my pre-term labor episodes.) Now THAT was pretty damned painful.
What is a urinary catherization exactly?
Well, it involves having a tube about the girth of a pencil slowly shoved up your tiny pee hole and all the way into your bladder - sans any kind of sedation or anesthesia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinary...
Or perhaps try a nervous system stimulation test where they stick a needle into various points of your body, one by one, right into the nerve and then proceed to administer electroshock to said nerve - 1 to 5 times per nerve point with each time getting more intense.
(Yes, I've had that one as well. I was stuck and shocked more than 200 times total.
And guess what? They couldn't find the damned problem.
Know who figured it out?
ME!
And it was something simple and easily fixed in my environment.)
Oh and did I happen to mention that I'm a needle phobe at that?
I dare say others have had even more painful experiences like say, I don't know, pushing a watermelon sized being out of a non-watermelon sized hole?
#GoodTimes
UPDATE 3/30/20
So I got my coronavirus test back even FASTER than 48 hours and it was negative.
Yay me!
-----
PREVIOUS POST: 3/29
'Allo my fellow detainees!
Like many of you, I live in a city on lockdown. However, unlike others, I am in double super max lock down as I await the results of my coronavirus test.
Now let me preface this by saying that I'm feeling much better at this point. I'm not having nor have I had any major respiratory distress symptoms such as shortness of breath or anything. I also haven't had to be hospitalized or anything of that nature.
In fact, except for a few days that I was super tired and my symptoms were at their most irritating, my symptoms have been very mild (though I am told that that could turn on a dime and to continue rest, etc).
Though I was fine with just staying home in self quarantine, out of an abundance of caution and concern for anyone who might have been near me the last 14 days, I decided to get tested.
So, how did I get the test?
Well, in Houston, you are required to have certain symptoms via a pre-screening before you are administered the test. Unfortunately, I checked too many symptom boxes during the screening and have been determined as possibly infected.
While there are a number of different tests, mine consisted of a thin swab being stuck up my nose all the way into regions that nothing has ever been stuck before. Yes, all the way up into your sinuses.
While not painful, needless to say it is not the most comfortable and made me start coughing. Of course, this does not seem to be ideal for anyone (though my nurse basically had on a hazmat mask, gloves and a disposable gown over her clothing).
The rooms are also thoroughly disinfected between each test. I can attest to this fact as the smell in the room was disgusting and overwhelming as the fragrances of the various cleaning and disinfecting products came together in a horrible cacophony of loud stench. Still, I'd rather smell the chemical cleaning funk than not.
Post swab I was face masked and instructed not to take it off until I'm home, to continue self-isolation (going absolutely no where) and to record my temperature each day.
While my discharge papers say I'll have the results in 48 hours, in the room I was told 3-5 business days (so who knows when I'll actually get the results).
Either way, the worst of the infection seems to be over for me. Hopefully, if whatever this is is indeed coronavirus, I haven't infected anyone else. I've been super careful (even before symptoms started) with social distancing, etc. However, other people around me have not been or have encroached on my 6-foot bubble.
Even in situations where everyone is social distanced (such as at the grocery store), as soon as the door opens, they all crowd together at the entry/basket corral.
I've been taking walks at sunrise when most people are still asleep and diverting my path like Pacman being chased by ghosts if I see anyone even within 10 feet of me. Even then, I see people just randomly walking up to neighbors or the maintenance man or mail person, stand right next to them and having conversations like nothing is going on.
Considering that an estimated 17% to as high as 50 something percent of infected show no symptoms (at least at the time they are spreading infection), I've been treating everyone like they're zombies for weeks and have been staying as far away as possible.
That being said, one can only Netflix and Chill for so long. During my downtime, I've put together this interesting multi-genre group of ebooks that are priced at $5 or less with some titles as low as 99 cents.
More details can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Cheers!
Grea.
So today this doctor just tweeted this image of a coronavirus test via nose swab (which is what I had).
Enjoy: https://twitter.com/DrPeckPNP/status/...
Was it the best time ever?
No.
However, some of the commenters are being SO MELODRAMATIC.
Folks, it was nowhere near the most painful medical thing out there.
Try being urethra catheterized, the nurse being incompetent and having to pull it all the way out and try again... back to back. (Yes, that happened to me during one of my pre-term labor episodes.) Now THAT was pretty damned painful.
What is a urinary catherization exactly?
Well, it involves having a tube about the girth of a pencil slowly shoved up your tiny pee hole and all the way into your bladder - sans any kind of sedation or anesthesia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urinary...
Or perhaps try a nervous system stimulation test where they stick a needle into various points of your body, one by one, right into the nerve and then proceed to administer electroshock to said nerve - 1 to 5 times per nerve point with each time getting more intense.
(Yes, I've had that one as well. I was stuck and shocked more than 200 times total.
And guess what? They couldn't find the damned problem.
Know who figured it out?
ME!
And it was something simple and easily fixed in my environment.)
Oh and did I happen to mention that I'm a needle phobe at that?
I dare say others have had even more painful experiences like say, I don't know, pushing a watermelon sized being out of a non-watermelon sized hole?
#GoodTimes
UPDATE 3/30/20
So I got my coronavirus test back even FASTER than 48 hours and it was negative.
Yay me!
-----
PREVIOUS POST: 3/29
'Allo my fellow detainees!
Like many of you, I live in a city on lockdown. However, unlike others, I am in double super max lock down as I await the results of my coronavirus test.
Now let me preface this by saying that I'm feeling much better at this point. I'm not having nor have I had any major respiratory distress symptoms such as shortness of breath or anything. I also haven't had to be hospitalized or anything of that nature.
In fact, except for a few days that I was super tired and my symptoms were at their most irritating, my symptoms have been very mild (though I am told that that could turn on a dime and to continue rest, etc).
Though I was fine with just staying home in self quarantine, out of an abundance of caution and concern for anyone who might have been near me the last 14 days, I decided to get tested.
So, how did I get the test?
Well, in Houston, you are required to have certain symptoms via a pre-screening before you are administered the test. Unfortunately, I checked too many symptom boxes during the screening and have been determined as possibly infected.
While there are a number of different tests, mine consisted of a thin swab being stuck up my nose all the way into regions that nothing has ever been stuck before. Yes, all the way up into your sinuses.
While not painful, needless to say it is not the most comfortable and made me start coughing. Of course, this does not seem to be ideal for anyone (though my nurse basically had on a hazmat mask, gloves and a disposable gown over her clothing).
The rooms are also thoroughly disinfected between each test. I can attest to this fact as the smell in the room was disgusting and overwhelming as the fragrances of the various cleaning and disinfecting products came together in a horrible cacophony of loud stench. Still, I'd rather smell the chemical cleaning funk than not.
Post swab I was face masked and instructed not to take it off until I'm home, to continue self-isolation (going absolutely no where) and to record my temperature each day.
While my discharge papers say I'll have the results in 48 hours, in the room I was told 3-5 business days (so who knows when I'll actually get the results).
Either way, the worst of the infection seems to be over for me. Hopefully, if whatever this is is indeed coronavirus, I haven't infected anyone else. I've been super careful (even before symptoms started) with social distancing, etc. However, other people around me have not been or have encroached on my 6-foot bubble.
Even in situations where everyone is social distanced (such as at the grocery store), as soon as the door opens, they all crowd together at the entry/basket corral.
I've been taking walks at sunrise when most people are still asleep and diverting my path like Pacman being chased by ghosts if I see anyone even within 10 feet of me. Even then, I see people just randomly walking up to neighbors or the maintenance man or mail person, stand right next to them and having conversations like nothing is going on.
Considering that an estimated 17% to as high as 50 something percent of infected show no symptoms (at least at the time they are spreading infection), I've been treating everyone like they're zombies for weeks and have been staying as far away as possible.
That being said, one can only Netflix and Chill for so long. During my downtime, I've put together this interesting multi-genre group of ebooks that are priced at $5 or less with some titles as low as 99 cents.
More details can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Cheers!
Grea.
April-Shower Proof: Over 50 Ebooks Priced at $4.99 or less
'Allo my fellow detainees!
Like many of you, I live in a city on lockdown.
That being said, one can only Netflix and Chill for so long. During my downtime, I've put together this interesting multi-genre group of ebooks that are priced at $4.99 or less (with some titles as low as 99 cents).
Genres include: Action & Adventure, Children's, Contemporary Fiction, Drama, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Nonfiction, Romance, Sci-Fi, etc..
Please note: Myself as well as some of the participating authors are/may be Amazon affiliates though other retailers are included besides Amazon (depending upon author).
Retailer options vary by author but include Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo & Google Play.
April-Shower Proof: https://storyoriginapp.com/to/GmQY5BK
Please Note: Although the official start date of the April group is April 1, you can pop on over and get these deals at any time (at least through the promotion end dates).
At anytime, you can go here to see what is coming up next: http://seamonkeyink.com/seamonkey_ink...
Enjoy!
Grea.
Like many of you, I live in a city on lockdown.
That being said, one can only Netflix and Chill for so long. During my downtime, I've put together this interesting multi-genre group of ebooks that are priced at $4.99 or less (with some titles as low as 99 cents).
Genres include: Action & Adventure, Children's, Contemporary Fiction, Drama, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Nonfiction, Romance, Sci-Fi, etc..
Please note: Myself as well as some of the participating authors are/may be Amazon affiliates though other retailers are included besides Amazon (depending upon author).
Retailer options vary by author but include Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo & Google Play.
April-Shower Proof: https://storyoriginapp.com/to/GmQY5BK
Please Note: Although the official start date of the April group is April 1, you can pop on over and get these deals at any time (at least through the promotion end dates).
At anytime, you can go here to see what is coming up next: http://seamonkeyink.com/seamonkey_ink...
Enjoy!
Grea.
