Webster4Eva 12: It's Webster5Eva Now!

[Giraffe]

2 hours ago, GuineaPigCourtship said:

@WatchingTheTireFireBurn it's as simple as this: when you are surrounded by people who are going to judge you for doing what you want, you either don't do it or you do it and keep it a secret.  Anyone who is extreme about a position is going to encourage people around them to keep secrets to avoid the judgement.

Thank you for putting it much better than I could come up with!

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 hours ago, GuineaPigCourtship said:

@WatchingTheTireFireBurn it's as simple as this: when you are surrounded by people who are going to judge you for doing what you want, you either don't do it or you do it and keep it a secret.  Anyone who is extreme about a position is going to encourage people around them to keep secrets to avoid the judgement.

I think it’s why so many ex fundies say they were great liars growing up. It reminds me of Lane and Mrs. Kim on Gilmore Girls. Mrs. Kim was so over the top strict that Lane had to constantly lie to have any sort of normal teen life. 

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

On 10/5/2022 at 4:41 PM, Giraffe said:

Thank you for putting it much better than I could come up with!

I defer to you guys wisdom on the matter.

 

I am an atheist who was raised surrounded in Southern Baptist hellfire etc. and didn't go to secrecy nor to cramming anything down people's throats.

There's many ways of being.

[gobucks]

Watched the Websters' YouTube video today. John is having some health issues. They said earlier that he has shingles. This week's video shows him in the hospital for a few days due to Afib. They ran an echocardiogram and at some point, his heart converted back to normal rhythm. He will be wearing a 30 day heart monitor and following up with a cardiologist. YouTube comments include speculation about "people having these types of things like Carlin's seizures and this after getting the 'jab'. I have never heard him say anywhere that he received the vaccine nor do I remember him saying he had covid at any point but obviously people have to make comments about it. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

10 minutes ago, gobucks said:

Watched the Websters' YouTube video today. John is having some health issues. They said earlier that he has shingles. This week's video shows him in the hospital for a few days due to Afib. They ran an echocardiogram and at some point, his heart converted back to normal rhythm. He will be wearing a 30 day heart monitor and following up with a cardiologist. YouTube comments include speculation about "people having these types of things like Carlin's seizures and this after getting the 'jab'. I have never heard him say anywhere that he received the vaccine nor do I remember him saying he had covid at any point but obviously people have to make comments about it. 

If anyone didn’t get the vaccine it’s these fundies. They’ve all had Covid. I bet they think they are immune 🙄. My close friend had shingles in college when she was pulling all nighters surviving on coffee and cigarettes. The fact that a healthy young man like John got shingles makes me think he’s wore out. They got a new puppy, Alyssa is pregnant and not feeling well, and they have 4 young kids. All while he works a full time job. I’m guessing he wasn’t getting much sleep and was working a lot for him to get shingles 

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

Most of the video was Alyssa saying the same things 3x and John mumbling in the background all with distracting nursery mobile music tinkling away. I have no idea what he said. She said nothing of importance. Who edited this?

Makes the Stewart's clickbaity videos about hospital/sickness/Dr. Etc. seem like pure cinema.

I'm so grateful I don't have a "helpful" relative to videorecord me lying in hospital. John looked exhausted. 

[SassyPants]

I just wish all these folks would slow down and connect the dots to out of control, constant movement, changes, illness and reproduction and adding another and another and another on what seems like a whim, and all these sudden ailments in very young, previously healthy people. It’s all too much. From the outside looking in, I think we all realize it’s just too much. When G/KG and JB/M sought out and entered the lifestyle, all the extraneous stuff: travel, housecleaning, laundry, schooling, animals, exercise, primping + the jobs outside the home fell by the wayside. Most of the Bates and adjacent families are trying to do it all while holding down jobs too. It’s all too much! I think some of these people’s life expectancy might ultimately fall-

[GuineaPigCourtship]

Wow, that's some pretty bad luck for both Alyssa and John to have had heart issues.  I hope they really don't have anymore kids after this one.

[marmalade]

Someone in the comments noted that shingles can cause Afib. I googled it, and it seems to be true. But they left the hospital with no answers. I wonder if John mentioned his shingles to any of the doctors during his multi day stay in the hospital? He said in the video that the shoulder was still bothering him. 

[SassyPants]

AFIb is quite serious. This is NOT SVT, like Alyssa had, which is most usually easily treat. AFIb is an unpredictable and irregular dangerous heart arrhythmia and a leading cause of stroke. A sudden incidence of AFIb in a previously healthy, younger man, would require a pretty extensive cardiac work up. Yes, meds can control AFIb, but I think any cardiologist would be looking at the “why” here. I tend to think this might not be AFIb. Conversely, ablation is generally a fix for SVT which is heart RATE issue which is not as critical as rhythm issues. 

[Audrey2]

Not a medical professional at all and hesitant to ask this because of starting a rumor.

Could it have been possible that John had had covid at some point and that weakened his heart whether he had a strong case or not? Is afib sometimes found in people who have had covid, with no other explanation for it?

[MaryOrMartha]

One of my good friends is a doctor here in Australia and she has noted an influx of (young!) patients who are developing shingles all of a sudden, post covid infection. This is apparently known to cause cardiac issues too. She's seeing it in vaccinated and unvaccinated population before anyone jumps on and blamed the vaccine as many do with anything surrounding covid these days.

[Smash!]

@Ozlsn recently posted a study about the rise of cardiovascular disease since Covid, here‘s the link to her post:

 

[Keys]

There was a recent study looking at damage to cardiac DNA after a covid infection (summarized here: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220930/covid-attacks-dna-in-heart-unlike-flu). There are lots of causes of afib - certain drugs/meds, thyroid issues, alcohol use, BP issues, etc. Hopefully they can get to the bottom of it for him, as he’s quite young to be experiencing that. 

[Smash!]

But Covid is just a cold! /sarcasm

[Melissa1977]

If we rely on statistics, then we cannot think that ALL Bates sickness come from covid. We know having covid increases some health issues, but not always. So it's enterely possible that Bates have covid and after that, develpop other sickness non-covid related, just like the majority of the population.

Shingles are not rare and sometimes are tied to a weak immune system due to stress and exhausion. As someone posted before, John has 4 kids, 1 new puppy, a sick wife, a job and a very sick father, plus Alyssa said something about being short of cash. Years ago, his mom helped babysitting and caring for sick Alyssa but probably she can't do it anymore. 

They last Websters needed was a puppy and a pregnancy. They are relatively down-to-Earth (compared with other Bates), but they have taken many wrong decisions lately.

[displayname]

So I'm going to throw this out there but I'm 99% sure I caught covid Feb 2020 when it supposedly wasn't here yet. Since recovering I've developed POTS. I haven't had any other sickness like strep (mask work people not so much as a cold!) since then that would have triggered it. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the Bates mystery illnesses are post covid related. 

[Mama Mia]

6 hours ago, displayname said:

So I'm going to throw this out there but I'm 99% sure I caught covid Feb 2020 when it supposedly wasn't here yet. Since recovering I've developed POTS. I haven't had any other sickness like strep (mask work people not so much as a cold!) since then that would have triggered it. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the Bates mystery illnesses are post covid related. 

A lot of people in my friends and family are sicker and have just a wide array of health issues since having covid. Mostly vaccinated, but some had it before vaccines were available. Especially -but not exclusively- people who already got sick easily, or had other health conditions.
While other folks I know with similar demographics and lifestyles and risk factors never got it, or got a minimal case with no on-going issues. It really is a strange disease. I also know people who had pretty serious vaccine reactions. But I’m not going into that discussion today. 

[Tdoc72]

My 44yo hubs passed in Jan 21 from a septic knee infection that went to his heart. We had Covid in Dec 20 but his was different then the rest of us. His like bad flu for 3 days, the kids and I like a cold for a week or so. He had recovered but still wasn’t 100% yet (maybe 90%). The Dr told me that she thought it was Covid related, either gave the infection or made his heart weak/susceptible, that they were seeing new things all the time with Covid, and that we’d probably never know. His death certificate just says cardiac arrest/sepsis. 

[Keys]

I strongly believe that my pregnancy complications were, at least in part, a result of having covid while pregnant. For both of the complications I developed, I had absolutely zero risk factors, no family history, etc. They both just came out of nowhere. 

[just_ordinary]

I am not sure the COVID vs jab distinction will be helpful in the long run. Or at least less. Many people with 3(+) jab are catching COVID now. Multiple times. Yes, the vaccination helps (and I am all for it) but I think we are are mostly lucky the last dominant mutations were mild forms anyway. Like flu and cold the mutation rate is insane. 
If someone unvaccinated catches a mild variant and only has mild to non symptoms, they might be better off than someone with all the jabs but catching a more aggressive variant and struggle a lot (or struggle with a mild form- happens a lot even to young people atm here). Statistically the jab is still the best thing to do.
But we shouldn’t forget that, as with many things, there isn’t necessarily an easy causal connection. A COVID infection (and maybe if he was one of the 0.00000001% unlucky ones the jab) might have increased his possibility for heart problems. But his family living situation also plays a big part. As does the general situation of the society he lives in and I doubt the Websters are completely oblivious to what’s going on in the world. Regular nature catastrophes in the US and globally, war and unrest, job/money worries, mid/post covid societies…..

The “post” Covid Society (I mean it’s not over but I doubt we see another complete shut down) alone is enough to increase tons of illness. Society is different than before and the emotional and maybe economical scars from the hot phase of the pandemic haven’t healed yet. Many standard procedures or check ups have been delayed and therefore put a dent into the regular maintenance of health. Depression and anxiety has increased, especially in groups that weren’t that affected before. Widespread diseases only benefited. I am sue it varies from nation to nation but here that would include: diabetes type II, heart diseases, hypertension, osteoporosis and adiposis. It’s hard to say at this point how much is due to links to a COVID infection (vaccinated and not), to people avoiding going to doctors are being delayed or due to the general pressure and experiences. Looking at John’s life situation and the knowledge about the last three years I am not really surprised by both, the shingles and the heart problems. Even without an actual COVID infection he is quite a good candidate in my eyes. 

[meee]

19 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

As someone posted before, John has 4 kids, 1 new puppy, a sick wife, a job and a very sick father,

I missed that. What happened to John’s father?

[Melissa1977]

1 hour ago, meee said:

I missed that. What happened to John’s father?

There are rumours but he looks definitely aged and weak in pictures. He's still on politics, though. John is very close to his parents and works for them and his father's health issues must be stressful, specially because he is also the boss while trying to keep his politic role.

[Keys]

3 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

I am not sure the COVID vs jab distinction will be helpful in the long run. Or at least less. Many people with 3(+) jab are catching COVID now. Multiple times. Yes, the vaccination helps (and I am all for it) but I think we are are mostly lucky the last dominant mutations were mild forms anyway. Like flu and cold the mutation rate is insane. 
If someone unvaccinated catches a mild variant and only has mild to non symptoms, they might be better off than someone with all the jabs but catching a more aggressive variant and struggle a lot (or struggle with a mild form- happens a lot even to young people atm here). Statistically the jab is still the best thing to do.
But we shouldn’t forget that, as with many things, there isn’t necessarily an easy causal connection. A COVID infection (and maybe if he was one of the 0.00000001% unlucky ones the jab) might have increased his possibility for heart problems. But his family living situation also plays a big part. As does the general situation of the society he lives in and I doubt the Websters are completely oblivious to what’s going on in the world. Regular nature catastrophes in the US and globally, war and unrest, job/money worries, mid/post covid societies…..

The “post” Covid Society (I mean it’s not over but I doubt we see another complete shut down) alone is enough to increase tons of illness. Society is different than before and the emotional and maybe economical scars from the hot phase of the pandemic haven’t healed yet. Many standard procedures or check ups have been delayed and therefore put a dent into the regular maintenance of health. Depression and anxiety has increased, especially in groups that weren’t that affected before. Widespread diseases only benefited. I am sue it varies from nation to nation but here that would include: diabetes type II, heart diseases, hypertension, osteoporosis and adiposis. It’s hard to say at this point how much is due to links to a COVID infection (vaccinated and not), to people avoiding going to doctors are being delayed or due to the general pressure and experiences. Looking at John’s life situation and the knowledge about the last three years I am not really surprised by both, the shingles and the heart problems. Even without an actual COVID infection he is quite a good candidate in my eyes. 

Not sure about this - many scientific experts seem to think that the perception of omicron being “milder” is due to a higher baseline of immunity (either through vaccination or previous infection). We are still seeing +++sick patients with it, especially in those who are unvaccinated. Anecdotally, my family members who have had covid for the first time in the last few months have not had an easy go with it - my dad was febrile for 7 days, my grandfather became quite ill, delirious, and developed very severe vertigo. Weeks out from his infection now, he is still dealing with a very bad cough. Hopefully the updated bivalent vaccines will help, but unfortunately uptake seems to be much lower than with the original/first 3 vaccines. With covid, it’s the fact that there seem to be so many potential long-term effects, and many experts have agreed that the way this virus impacts our body is unlike any other virus we’ve seen before, and still not well-understood. The long-term morbidity is, in my opinion, quite concerning (and arguably the most concerning aspect). What kinds of effects will we continue to see? How will that impact society economically (i.e. I have seen multiple patients who are now off work on long-term disability due to long-covid)?
 

It is for these reasons that I get very frustrated when people/government want to act like it’s over. We can still enjoy a “normal” life while taking simple precautions, like masking in essential businesses/public transportation, and encouraging hand hygiene, keeping in place isolation requirements while sick with covid, etc. My own brother is currently sick with a respiratory virus, and when I asked him if he’d taken a covid test, he responded with “no, because I wouldn’t isolate anyways since it’s not required by law anymore”. This is a problem. I get that people are tired of covid. Aren’t we all? But covering our ears and turning a blind eye to a problem have never been effective ways of dealing with it. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Keys

[FiveAcres]

My partner and I were traveling in California in September. My partner developed allergy symptoms and I didn't think much of it. Then he started complaining he felt feverish because he had gotten too much sun. Also, he had some aches, but that was because he had walked down to Point Reyes lighthouse. (313 steps.) He went to sleep around 8:00 pm and when he was still sleeping over ten hours later, I started looking for a COVID test site. Because of his demographics and symptoms, the test site administered a rapid test as well as the PCR. Ninety minutes later, he was texted that he was positive. An hour later, I developed some GI symptoms, so I decided that there was a 99% chance that I was positive as well.

We rented a car as we had planned to take the train home. I developed more symptoms the next day, but never felt more than miserable. I did have one night of fever and chills when we spent the night in Salt Lake City. The next day I felt like I had a regular cold. 

A friend stocked our house with groceries and COVID test kits. (I tested positive with the OTC rapid test.) Another friend brought our Boston Terrier to the house so he would be waiting for us when we got home. By the time we were done isolating, I felt normal except for a lingering cough and hoarseness and my partner felt normal. A few days later, we both tested negative with the OTC rapid tests.

ETA: We are both in our sixties, and both have the original vaxes and two boosters.

Edited October 16, 2022 by FiveAcres