Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	My family ChiCom virus saga
Date:	1/13/2022 9:19:44 AM (updated 1/13/2022 9:51:55 AM)

So while we were dealing with my Mom's passing we were also in the throes of what we believe is Omicron.  Wanted to provide some details because how this moved around and manifested itself is interesting.  The first to get it was my youngest daughter who is double vaxxed and boosted.  We think she got it on the flight to ATL.  Her symptoms, scratchy throat, fever, drainage, cough and headache started the day after Christmas.  She went and got tested the next day and was positive so she went into isolation. She had a fever for three days and was pretty much wiped out by the virus for the better part of a week. Then my wife, double vaxxed but not boosted, started to have the same symptoms two days later so she too got tested, was positive and went into isolation. I went to the lake to stay away from her although I was around her a lot for at least one day and maybe two while she was probably contagious.  She also had a fever for several days and was pretty sick.  Also very tired all the time and didn't sleep well due to congestion and coughing.

Then my Mom was taken by ambulance to the hospital so I came home on the 1st.  Funeral was on the 8th, the day my middle daughter got her scratchy throat.  She drove back to Texas with my youngest the afternoon of the 8th after the reception.  After she got home she too was wiped out for the better part of a week like my wife and youngest daughter.  Then my son, also double vaxxed but not boosted started to have symptoms after he had returned home.  Also pretty sick with the same symptoms.  He likely got it from my daughter at the funeral or afterward.

Then there is me, the unvaxxed leper.  I started to have a scratchy throat on Monday the 10th.  Tuesday I felt pretty terrible with a 3 deg fever, headache, cough, etc.  No point in getting tested as I had the same symptoms as all the others.  However, on Tueday evening I started to take my Ivermectin and Z-pack along with all the other stuff suggested by the I-MASK protocol.  By Wednesday morning I had no fever but still had a scratchy throat, mild headache when I coughed and was feeling tired.  However, I was feeling much better and worked most of the day at my home office.  Slept pretty well.  Today I am feeling even better and the scratchy throat and headache are completely gone.  Just feeling a little tired and have a little congestion that I am managing with Advil congestion relief.  None of the others wanted to follow my lead on the treatment protocol so their symptoms were far worse and lasted much longer than mine has.  Literally the only difference between them and me was how the virus was treated and having had the vaccine.  

My conclusion is that the vaccines do not protect against infection, especially the Omicron variant, which is not exactly new news.  Second, I can't comment on whether the vaccines help with Omicron symptoms.  All four of them had the same symptoms for the same length of time so the booster doesn't seem to help with symptoms.  As for the I-MASK protocol it seemed to work very well for me to reduce the severity and length of symptoms for Omicron.  Unlike the others, I was never flat on my back and other than feeling a bit tired was able to keep working, albeit remotely.  

Name:	lakngulf -	Reply
Subject:	My family ChiCom virus saga
Date:	1/13/2022 9:31:08 AM

Glad everyone is back on their feet.  Sounds like you handle it quite well.  We had a funeral just before Christmas as well, with a lot of close, inside encounters--the breeding grounds for normal winter time cold and flu.  My wife and I both came down with something that zapped us for a few days.  We stayed apart during the rough times.  She had fever, I did not.  Just zapped our energy for a couple of days like can happen any year.

My daughter sent me this family recap from one of her college buddies.  I have heard a lot of stories like this and like MMs

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	My family ChiCom virus saga
Date:	1/13/2022 9:43:47 AM

I suspect had you been tested it would have been positive for the virus.  The real question in my mind is whether having Omicron will give me antibodies that protect against the earlier variants.  In the news they keep saying Omicron is the dominant variant although I suspect the only way they know which variant it is by the symptoms.  Omicron seems to be upper respiratory while Delta and earlier versions attacked the lungs.....hence the fewer hospitalizations, etc.  And don't believe all the nonsense about hospitals being overrun.  The majority of those are in the hospital for something else and were tested and were positive for the virus.  And ICU's are deigned to be operated at 90% capacity, otherwise the hospitals lose their butts on those units.

I'm not sure how well we handled it given we all got sick.  I think the problem with this variant is that you are contagious when you have very mild symptoms....for us the scratchy throat.  Had we realized that earlier we would have been more careful to isolate at the first onset of symptoms.  Either way, this virus is highly contagious.  I don't ever recall one that got our whole family.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	My family ChiCom virus saga
Date:	1/13/2022 8:55:20 PM

From what I can gather, the booster is supposed to be the thing that keeps people from getting sick enough to be hospitalized.  Your immune system may be better than other members of your family, for whatever reason.  

But glad to hear that everyone is getting back on their feet with no hospiitizations.  that's the main thing.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	My family ChiCom virus saga
Date:	1/14/2022 10:22:24 AM

Well there's no doubt the vaccines don't prevent infection, that's for sure.  There's a lot of debate around the world about the need for and efficacy of the boosters.  My youngest who was boosted got it as bad as my wife which is very strange.  She's almost never sick and when she did occasionally get the flu she seemed to get over it faster than anyone else in the family.  Viruses hit people in different ways but in my family I'm the one that usually gets it the worst.  I've had numerous flu bouts 10 times worse than this one.  I just don't think this variant is very harmful for the vast majority of people.  I do know that within a day of taking the Ivermectin and z-pack I felt far better, far quicker than anyone else in the family, which is the opposite of what usually happens.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	My family ChiCom virus saga
Date:	1/14/2022 8:38:15 PM

You know, I actually believe I had COVID in Dec 2019.  As sick as I have ever been, high fever, felt like crap for 2 weeks and then coughed for weeks after.  This was before anyone had heard of COVID.  I had a flu shot that Fall and it didn't really feel like the flu.  I credit my strong immune system with pullling me through.  

I actually think COVID was around before it was made "official".  I wasn't even a believer about COVID until massive numbers of people got sick and died.  

Whatever worked for you, I'm glad it helped and you weren't sick long.  

Name:	fish1550 -	Reply
Subject:	My family ChiCom virus saga
Date:	1/14/2022 9:30:44 PM

Sincerely sorry for the loss of your mother.