@mollyv - it’s okay to vent on Connect. I like to think of us as sitting around the kitchen table and enjoying a cup of coffee and sharing the good and the bad times that we are experiencing. I can recall the many times where I have done that with my real life friends and it is the same with us here. Extra benefit is coming free is available 24/7. We “get it”. We understand from a transplant patient point of view.

@mollyv This COVID pandemic has changed our basic lives in so many ways. My husband is a kidney transplant recipient [Oct 2016], and I am active cancer/kidney disease patient. There have been so many things we had planned to do in retirement that have to be on hold. It's frustrating, to say the least. But we who are compromised have to be strong in watching ourselves, so we can be around to get back to life on a more normal basis. Is it tough, emotionally? You bet. Can we hang in there? You bet! We're in this together!
Ginger

As you can see, this is a hot button for so many of us! You’re definitely not flying solo with concern for this virus and how people are dealing with it. It’s so frustrating to always be on guard and compensating for the lack of consideration by those around us who have no clue that they could help get this under control by wearing masks and getting the vaccine. Yes, there are a few exceptions for not getting the shots. But most excuses are based on non-factual anecdote.

As a bone marrow transplant patient, my world is just like yours. So grateful to be given this second chance and I’ll be darned if I’m going to risk it with some virus I can avoid. Getting the vaccine was crucial!
I had reactions to my first shot. After an MRI, bloodwork and a neurological work up, I was cleared for shot #2 by my transplant team, neurologist and an allergist at Mayo. They all felt the risk of actually contracting the virus was way more dangerous than the possibility of a reaction to the shot. My 2nd dose went off without a hitch. But again, just like all of us with compromised immune systems, I have no idea the efficacy of the vaccine for me.

While I’m venting, our local school board changed the policy for a mask mandate…having all children wearing masks. Immediately one mother complained that her children will NOT be wearing masks and that she’s already informed the school board that this is the case. I’m not one to get angry very easily but that just had me seeing red! I wanted to grab her through the TV by the shoulders and scream that this is much bigger than her and her family! That her actions to deny that this virus is dangerous puts so many other people at risk. She is very selfish as this isn’t just about her!

After learning the educational level of this woman in her interview on the news, I’m also bewildered how she could possibly think she knows more than all the degreed scientists and doctors and apparently can interpret the research, statistics and data in a whole new light! Shaking my head…

So pull up a chair with @rosemarya and @gingerw and the rest of us and we’ll have an old fashioned gab session! LOL.