#Stay away from the new coronavirus | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

toshootforthestars · 10 months ago

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From the report by Beth Mole, posted 29 Feb 2024:

In a lengthy background document, the agency laid out its rationale for consolidating COVID-19 guidance into general guidance for respiratory viruses—including influenza, RSV, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, enteroviruses, and others, though specifically not measles. The agency also noted the guidance does not apply to health care settings and outbreak scenarios. "COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, but it is no longer the emergency that it once was, and its health impacts increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses, including influenza and RSV," the agency wrote. The most notable change in the new guidance is the previously reported decision to no longer recommend a minimum five-day isolation period for those infected with the pandemic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Instead, the new isolation guidance is based on symptoms, which matches long-standing isolation guidance for other respiratory viruses, including influenza. "The updated Respiratory Virus Guidance recommends people with respiratory virus symptoms that are not better explained by another cause stay home and away from others until at least 24 hours after both resolution of fever AND overall symptom are getting better," the document states. "This recommendation addresses the period of greatest infectiousness and highest viral load for most people, which is typically in the first few days of illness and when symptoms, including fever, are worst." The CDC acknowledged that the eased isolation guidance will create "residual risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission," and that most people are no longer infectious only after 8 to 10 days. As such, the agency urged people to follow additional interventions—including masking, testing, distancing, hygiene, and improving air quality—for five additional days after their isolation period. "Today’s announcement reflects the progress we have made in protecting against severe illness from COVID-19," CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement. "However, we still must use the commonsense solutions we know work to protect ourselves and others from serious illness from respiratory viruses—this includes vaccination, treatment, and staying home when we get sick." Overall, the agency argued that a shorter isolation period would be inconsequential. Other countries and states that have similarly abandoned fixed isolation times did not see jumps in COVID-19 emergency department visits or hospitalizations, the CDC pointed out. And most people who have COVID-19 don't know they have it anyway, making COVID-19-specific guidance moot, the agency argued. In a recent CDC survey, less than half of people said they would test for SARS-CoV-2 if they had a cough or cold symptoms, and less than 10 percent said they would go to a pharmacy or health care provider to get tested. Meanwhile, "The overall sensitivity of COVID-19 antigen tests is relatively low and even lower in individuals with only mild symptoms," the agency said. The CDC also raised practical concerns for isolation, including a lack of paid sick leave for many, social isolation, and "societal costs." The points are likely to land poorly with critics. “The CDC is again prioritizing short-term business interests over our health by caving to employer pressure on COVID guidelines. This is a pattern we’ve seen throughout the pandemic,” Lara Jirmanus, Clinical Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a press release last month after the news first broke of the CDC's planned isolation update. Jirmanus is a member of the People's CDC, a group that advocates for more aggressive COVID-19 policies, which put out the press release. Another member of the group, Sam Friedman, a professor of population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, also blasted the CDC's stance last month. The guidance will "make workplaces and public spaces even more unsafe for everyone, particularly for people who are high-risk for COVID complications," he said.

But, the CDC argues that the threat of COVID-19 is fading. Hospitalizations, deaths, prevalence of long COVID, and COVID-19 complications in children (MIS-C) are all down. COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing severe disease, death, and to some extent, long COVID—we just need more people to get them. Over 95% of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 in the 2023–2024 respiratory season had no record of receiving the seasonal booster dose, the agency noted. Only 22% of adults got the latest shot, including only 42% of people ages 65 and older. In contrast, 48% of adults got the latest flu shot, including 73% of people ages 65 and older. But even with the crummy vaccination rates for COVID-19, a mix of past infection and shots have led to a substantial protection in the overall population. The CDC even went as far as arguing that COVID-19 deaths have fallen to a level that is similar to what's seen with flu. "Reported deaths involving COVID-19 are several-fold greater than those reported to involve influenza and RSV. However, influenza and likely RSV are often underreported as causes of death," the CDC said. In the 2022–2023 respiratory virus season, there were nearly 90,000 reported COVID-19 deaths. For flu, there were 9,559 reported deaths, but the CDC estimates the true number to be between 18,000 and 97,000. In the current season, there have been 32,949 reported COVID-19 deaths to date and 5,854 reported flu deaths, but the agency estimates the real flu deaths are between 17,000 and 50,000. "Total COVID-19 deaths, accounting for underreporting, are likely to be higher than, but of the same order of magnitude as, total influenza deaths," the agency concluded.

(say no to raw dough: CDC)

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jeanbie · 2 years ago

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omg imagine going to a new year’s party with the 104th 🥺

NEW YEARS EVE WITH THE AOT CHARACTERS ★ masterlist.

⏤ noooooo because this is my fantasy......

during your first year of uni, you threw the new years party and invited around half of your course (nobody could fit into your kitchen, somebody broke the tv off the wall unit, and three people threw up in the courtyard and security had to escort them off the premises)

second year, everybody got sick and nobody felt like having a party (armin is convinced everybody had the famous coronavirus and a zoom new years party was held, which is never happening again as long as any of you are alive)

third year should have been your final year, but all of you went on study abroad trips or work placements or gap years until finally, final year is here and it’s a brand new year and brand new party

flat 6 is holding the party this year, meaning reiner, eren, jean and connie are the hosts

almost all of your extended friend group are invited: the four hosts, the main group divided into flats on different campus dorms, course friends, gym friends, even eren’s phd brother and his friends are coming…it’s the last new year at uni all together, so let’s make it count

the flat is dipped in darkness with sequins and confetti, shiny tinsel wrapped around furniture items and for some reason the christmas tree is still up in the corner of the living room

although it started off as a bad idea, everybody put together a collaborative playlist and pock is on the dex

eren thinks that he is still sober after four heavy rum and cokes but he isn’t

he’s high on that alcohol grind and high on life, half lidded, smiling at everything and everyone

mikasa’s letting loose, her hair is down and she’s in a dress that historia helped her pick

she’s probably drinking a gin or sipping on a cocktail

armin doesn’t drink too much (first year war flashbacks involving whiskey and too much weed), but he’s enjoying the playlist and has hooked up his switch to the tv and people are playing mario kart

jean is looking comfy in his clothes (which shocks many, but hey, it’s been a long year and he’s just here to make memories), he’s a touchy drunk so he’s always throwing an arm around your shoulders, is probably drinking something with vodka in

connie’s already on his fifth vodka red bull and since jean is in charge of measuring the smirnoff, it’s likely that connie is one drink away from a blackout or a trip to the toilet bowl

he keeps trying to hijack the playlist even though a good chunk of it is his songs anyway

he can’t be trusted on the balcony tonight but he keeps going out there to smoke weed with eren’s big brother (zeke says weed is good for the brain, and connie believes him because he’s doing a phd which means he’s really smart and therefore everything he says is true)

sasha is currently beating literally everyone at mario kart

ymir and historia are joined at the knee and ymir was originally committed to staying sober to watch over historia

fast forward an hour and ymir is joining reiner and connie in a game of beer pong

reiner is bad at beer pong but he’s very willing to drink anything that ball bounces into

and the same cannot be said for bertie who looked like he was going to be sick after a cup of strawberry flavoured gin

even annie is having fun tonight, cracking a few smiles watching reiner’s team lose miserably

hange came to the party after her late lab and is still in her uni clothes, but she picked up a bottle of aperol on her way here and is trying to coerce erwin into making a cocktail out of it

erwin is in the kitchen helping jean and yourself think up cocktails for pleasure and for the long long torture of beer pong

levi didn’t want to come but he has major fomo and only pretends to dislike going to social events

actually sometimes he really thrives off the energy of people (especially his best friends) so it’s connie’s plan to give him a spliff and see if he unwinds

sasha even thinks she saw him SMILE tonight (he did) ((he does a lot, but they all still act surprised for the bit))

warrior unit came, but you’re not super close with them since they’re friends through zeke, who is friends with reiner, bertie and annie since they all meet up at the gym and they only met through eren

the clock is approaching 12…

the national streaming in london is on tv

outside, another dorm is having a bonfire and party and half of your party are on the balcony and by the windows and the other are in the living room, surrounding the tv and piling on chairs and laps

you’ve all had a planned new years kiss for a few weeks now

since none of you are officially dating (save ymir and historia, who will pick eachother regardless of if somebody else lucked out and got them), you picked names using spin the bottle

sure, by now, all of you have entertained hooking up, trying it with eachother to see what works, if anything works

there might be times where the urge becomes a lot, but for better or worse, you’re all still best friends and that will never change

this year, you’ve landed yourself with jean

which is fine, because you love jean, and he loves you

pairs are all naturally near one another as the reporter commences the countdown

10…….there’s a buzz in the air……9……..sasha is screaming that everyone should get ready….8….7….6….somewhere outside, people are yelling in excitement, their own delayed string of numbers…..5….4….3…..someone sets off a firework early in the distance…..2……you turn to jean, he’s smiling widely at you already……1……..and a cacophony of noise and bursts of colour

everybody cheers out blessings and then jean grabs at your shoulders and pulls you for a kiss

there’s a split intermission of kissing silence and everybody is screaming again

you pull back from jean instinctively through giggles, and he’s laughing too

“kiss like that when we get married please!” jean says, and you had almost forgot about your marriage pact

you laugh again, and the sky fills with colours of pink and orange and green

down on the grass, people have sprinklers and they scream up happy new year’s

you’re not the only people throwing a party but it feels like the flat are the only people in the world, present in the party, happy in each other’s company

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daancienttime · 1 year ago

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The Devastating Impact of Coronavirus on Greek Mythology Girls

Greek Mythology Girls Blog, like many other websites, relied heavily on user-generated content and active community participation. However, with the pandemic spreading across the world, people's lives were disrupted, and priorities shifted. As the health crisis escalated, the interest and engagement of readers dwindled. Many followers faced personal hardships, including health issues, financial struggles, and emotional stress, which understandably diverted their attention away from the blog.

The pandemic's consequences were felt by the blog's contributors as well. Writing and researching content on ancient mythology required focus, creativity, and emotional investment. Unfortunately, the pandemic's anxieties and restrictions made it difficult for writers to maintain their usual levels of productivity and dedication. Some contributors might have faced job losses or increased workload due to shifting work dynamics, leaving them with little time or energy to contribute to the blog.

Another crucial aspect that impacted the blog's reach was the surge in misinformation and sensationalism during the pandemic. With numerous myths and misconceptions about the virus circulating, readers might have been skeptical of consuming content, even if it pertained to mythology. The climate of uncertainty caused people to seek out factual information about the pandemic, often overlooking or dismissing leisurely pursuits like the Greek Mythology Girls Blog.

Furthermore, the pandemic significantly altered online content consumption patterns. People found themselves spending more time on social media and news websites, trying to stay updated on the rapidly changing situation. As a result, niche platforms like the Greek Mythology Girls Blog struggled to compete for attention in an increasingly crowded online space.

The financial impact of the pandemic also affected the blog's operations. Advertisers, who were themselves dealing with economic challenges, reduced their spending on non-essential platforms like the blog, leading to a decline in revenue. As a result, the blog faced resource constraints, hindering its ability to adapt and overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Despite these setbacks, the Greek Mythology Girls Blog attempted to adapt to the new reality. They might have shifted their focus to discussing how ancient myths and legends could provide valuable insights and comfort during challenging times. They could have also used their platform to raise awareness and funds for pandemic-related causes or support their writers who were facing difficulties.

As the pandemic eventually receded, there might have been opportunities for the blog to regain its footing. The enduring allure of Greek mythology and a sense of community amongst its followers could have helped revitalize the platform. Additionally, they could have explored innovative ways to diversify content, engage with readers, and expand their reach.

#greek mythology #coronavirus #coronavirus washington state #coronavirus washington state update #coronavirus vaccine #how coronavirus vaccine works #history of the entire world #coronavirus usa cases #what coronavirus vaccine is approved #history of the entire world i guess #where did coronavirus come from #coronavirus usa #coronavirus documentary #novel coronavirus #coronavirus america #documentary about coronavirus #mythology #history of the world

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beardedmrbean · 2 years ago

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Ilta-Sanomat writes (siirryt toiseen palveluun) that Turkey's change of heart concerning Finland's application to join the western alliance is the result of a tough behind-the-scenes game in which the United States has offered both a carrot and a stick.

Finland's President Sauli Niinistö begins a two-day visit to Turkey on Thursday. It is widely expected that on Friday Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will announce the country's approval of Finland's Nato membership bid.

Risto E. J. Penttilä, the director of the think tank Nordic West Office, told Ilta-Sanomat that he believes that the US has been the driving force in recent developments concerning Finnish Nato membership, having made it clear to Turkey that the delay must end.

Penttilä says that US President Joe Biden and his administration have worked behind the scenes to promote the membership of both Finland and Sweden.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we hear news about F-16 fighter jet purchases [by Turkey] soon," he told Ilta-Sanomat.

President Niinistö visited the US last week where he met President Biden in Washington, even though the original programme did not include talks between the two. Penttilä took this as a sign that matters had moved forward significantly.

According to Penttilä, Turkey is ultimately dependent on the United States. It needs both military and economic cooperation with the US.

He noted, though, that Finland itself has done well in handling negotiations with Ankara. At no point, he said, has Turkey been able to say that Finland is a problem.

Just three years ago

Although it may already seem like the distant past, it was only three years ago as of Thursday that a state of emergency was declared in Finland in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Iltalehti reminds readers (siirryt toiseen palveluun).

Because of the Covid pandemic, Finland was in state of emergency from 16 March to 16 June 2020, and again from 1 March to 27 April 2021.

The paper recalls how initially people rushed to stockpile dairy products and toilet paper.

As the state of emergency was announced, Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) and Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Krista Kiuru (SDP) held a press conference to reassure people that they could still safely go outdoors.

The capital and surrounding province of Uusimaa were cordoned off from the rest of the country on 28 March of 2020. The police and defense forces cut off all major roads, restricting travel in and out of the province.

Face masks caused public debate from the very beginning. At first, stocks were distributed only to healthcare staff. It was not until August 2020, that the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL issued a recommendation on the use of masks by the general public.

The paper notes that in the early stages the Covid pandemic also sparked measures that now seem excessive, such as an order for all people over the age of 70 to quarantine.

Cleaners' strike

Most papers, including Hufvudstadsbladet (siirryt toiseen palveluun), report the Thursday start of a strike by cleaning and real estate maintenance personal after the service union PAM rejected a mediation offer in a contract dispute Wednesday.

The strike includes 2,500 employees who work in cleaning services at around a hundred companies. These include VR's trains, Helsinki's Olympic and Katajanokka terminals, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, several hotels and a long list of industrial properties around the country, all of which will be without cleaning services for three days.

This strike ends on 18 March, but the union has issued warnings of two more strike actions if no settlement is reached. Up to 25,000 union members could walk off the job later this month.

Cold keeping birds at bay

Very few spring migratory birds have returned to Finland over the past few weeks, according to the group BirdLife Finland.

The farmers' union paper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus (siirryt toiseen palveluun) points out that freezing temperatures and cold northerly winds have largely delayed migrations.

However, the forest soundscape already does include the songs of titmice, Eurasian treecreepers and greenfinches, as well as the drumming of woodpeckers.

According to BirdLife Finland, there are a few early returnees. More than 20 skylarks were seen in Turku last week, and in the past couple of weeks more than 70 skylark sightings were reported in the coastal municipalities between Pori and Porvoo.

The most unusual sighting of March so far was made on Monday of last week, when two little auk (Alle alle) were seen in Imatra.

#nunyas news #updates from up north

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phanfictioncatalogue · 2 years ago

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Quarantine/Lockdown (2) Masterlist

part one

33 (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: A decade of unwavering commitment doesn’t always work to soothe the ragged edges of Dan’s abandonment issues, but it has given him the means to cope. It’s given him the fortitude not to give in to his brain’s more irrational fears.

A Day in the Life of Dan and Phil in Quarantine! (ao3) - silentdescant

Summary: Phil posts a Day in the Life video of a typical day in quarantine.

as long as i'm here (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Facing instructions to leave his dorm amidst the pandemic, Dan turns to his best friend for a place to stay

A Very Dan and Phil Proposal (ao3) - ScarletDamian

Summary: While stuck at home during quarantine, Dan realizes that it is now or never. This is the story of how Dan and Phil got engaged.

blankets, coffees and afternoon naps (ao3) - zsunsetz

Summary: Blankets, coffee and afternoon naps have become the new normal.

brown (ao3) - djhquiff

Summary: Dan is in love with Phils hair

celestial (ao3) - sunflowerwitches

Summary: phil wants to help dan love himself a bit more during quarantine

distracted (ao3) - sunflowerwitches

Summary: phil telling dan a story but dan isn’t paying attention at all because he’s too busy thinking about what a cutie phil is.

a fic that I planned to write for BIG anniversary and didn’t finish it until a few days ago

I Always Did Like Acting (ao3) - Analphancones

Summary: "He is as insatiable as he believes I am being by constantly chasing orgasm. I just want to look at him with love again. I want to not dream of what I could be missing in ditching my only real love so messily by publicly replacing him with Dan just so he’d see. I want to not run from the emotions for others I do manage to have in my heart just for someone I do not have feelings for."

i jump for my phone every moment it lights up (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Dan left YouTube behind to become an actor, but years later when coronavirus hits and forces him into self-imposed quarantine he rediscovers an old passion of his - AmazingPhil. He hadn't counted on becoming internet friends with him, or falling in love for that matter.

i love you (ao3) - iamalwaystired

Summary: the fic where dan and phil plan their wedding

it's like 2009 again (ao3) - morelikeexisting (orphan_account)

Summary: His laptop's charging. Fully charged now, thank heavens. His fingers drum against the laptop with impatience. He feels like he is 18 again, waiting for AmazingPhil to Skype him again; lips wet, eyes wide, and heart in his throat.

Phil picks up soon, lips parted, hair pushed back and glasses on his nose. He smiles, Dan does the same.

"Hi," Dan whispers, feeling giddiness fall over him.

"Hi," Phil whispers back, and after a long time, Dan feels like he is at home.

( or the one in which its quarantine, except Dan's in Reading and Phil's alone in London )

Like a Puzzle (ao3) - thewakeless

Summary: Phil is terrible at doing puzzles, luckily there are other ways to please his boyfriend.

Like Old Times (ao3) - dip_the_pip

Summary: How did hair dye end up in their grocery order?

memories for ourselves (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: quarantined dan and phil have a screen-free day

silence (ao3) - danhoweiis

Summary: they were used to silences between them and after years of living together and being in each other's space they knew what particular silences meant

Starlight (ao3) - counting2fifteen

Summary: There isn’t much else to do during lockdown, so Dan and Phil go stargazing.

Sutures (ao3) - jerseker

Summary: Phil returns to the forever home after a week away, just in time to pull Dan out of his negative thought spiral.

The Gaming Video. (ao3) - iamalwaystired

Summary: dan and phil decide to bring back the gayming channel with dab and evans wedding video. basically just fluff for 6k words,

trim yourself to fit the world (ao3) - CapriciousCrab

Summary: Phil wants to cut Dan's hair, Dan has second thoughts.

#phanfictioncatalogue #phanfiction #phanfic #phan #masterlists #quarantine #quarantine masterlist

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hopeintheashes · 2 years ago

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March 2020 stuff under the cut. Long post. Edits for clarity and confidentiality.

I just needed to... process, I guess.

_ _ _

March 22, 2020: The Beginning of All of This

The Penzu prompt is: Why I'm Writing.

I'm writing because this is unprecedented. Because I might want to look back on it someday.

The journey so far. I've cross-checked dates with my texts, work calendar, and VPR as best I can.

Sunday, 3/8 - Time Change Sunday. I hate time change. I know it's going to be a rough week. I have no idea how rough.

Monday, 3/9 - Tired. The kids are tired. We end with take two of our department meeting. Good news, mostly. Next year is sort of starting to feel within reach. Williston and Wilmington are closed, but only as a very short term measure. The first confirmed case in Vermont was announced yesterday. It's in Bennington County. That's pretty far away.

Tuesday, 3/10 - Pretty normal day at work. Still tired. Haven't managed to switch over re: the time change. When I get home, there's an email from the Community Chorus director: Rehearsal is cancelled... because everything on campus is cancelled... because no one is allowed on campus... because they're closing down the campus... and sending all the students home. "What? What??" -- out loud. I had no idea this was coming. It feels like a physical, electric shock. I text K - are we still on for the Welcome to Night Vale this weekend? She's going to find out. They've just announced that there's an outbreak in New Rochelle. Woodstock isn't that close... but it's certainly not that far away.

Wednesday, 3/11 - Eval Planning meeting at School A. After the actual business, we talk about the coronavirus. What else is there to talk about? They're going to close the schools, my coworker says at some point in the day. It's not if, but when. I feel weirdly calm about that. Certainty is better than uncertainty. I text K: Regardless of what the venue decided, I'm not going to venture into the Hudson Valley. It seems safer to stay in Vermont.

Thursday, 3/12 - Three meetings back-to-back at School B. They're meetings that have been on the books for weeks, but still, I'm starting to feel the rush of trying to get everything done. Just in case.

Friday, 3/13 - Now I'm feeling the pressure. There's a 7:30 a.m. meeting with a parent. Five adults including me all in a room just big enough for a table for four. I've been vaguely worried about germs all week, but it's the first time that I think, we shouldn't be doing this. I don't know how to speak up about that. I try not to touch my face. By the end of the school day, my anxiety is running high. They're going to close the schools... right? What does that mean? No one knows. There's an email from the superintendent: The governor is holding a press conference tonight. I watch live. "We're not closing the schools." What do you mean, we're not closing the schools? Am I allowed to opt out even if I'm not personally in a high-risk group? Everything is upside down.

Saturday, 3/14 - My brother's birthday. I text him Happy Birthday. My sister-in-law is making him pie. They're not going out. His office is insisting that everyone come in in person. They're right next to the outbreak in New Rochelle.

Sunday, 3/15 - Admins have been in meetings all weekend. They're in meetings all day today. Another press conference: We are closing the schools. It's mandatory starting 3/18. We have two days to wrap everything up before we step into the abyss. They say the closing goes through 4/6. It still seems possible that we might be back then.

Monday, 3/16 - I'm at School A. We have almost exactly 2/3 of the kids there. As far as I know, it's the highest percentage in the district. I find out later that School B had 1/3. Someone says, "School C [the wealthiest in the district] had like 15 kids in the building." I believe it. The inequalities are already showing strong. [Context note: Those are near-exact matches for the percentage of each student body who qualify for free/reduced price lunch. These are the kids who need to be at school to be safe and fed. The ones whose parents can't stay home.]

After school: Staff meeting. We'd had an agenda... it's out the window. We're just trying to make it through the next two days. Everyone is facing this head-on. Pressing ahead. I half-expected things to fall into panic, but they never did. As I'm going to bed, we get a call: School is off for tomorrow. Yesterday was, it turns out, our last day with the kids. No fucking closure. None at all.

Tuesday, 3/17 - The superintendent says to think of today like a snow day, so I do. I do laundry, and dishes, and watch mountaineering films. One day at a time.

Wednesday, 3/18 - We go in in person. It feels wrong, but we have to pack up our rooms. School B > District Office > School A. Bouncing around, trying to keep our distance. In a lot of ways, it feels like the very end of the year. Spoken or unspoken, everyone is now operating under the assumption that we're not coming back.

Thursday, 3/19 - I go in briefly. Sign my Medicaid billing logs, make sure my coworker has what she needs to finish packing up the room, deliver the paperwork to the district office. And-- that's it. It's remote from here on out.

Friday, 3/20 - Two virtual meetings, then trying to figure things out, then one more virtual meeting. Everything's moving fast, inconsistent. Frustration is starting to build.

Saturday, 3/21 - Finally, some good things: a 3-hour Google Hangout with my college friends.

And-- that's where we are. I'm watching the UU service. Starting to read Rumi. Hopefully convincing Mom and Dad that it's time for them to learn how to do video calls.

More later. We go on.

_ _ _

March 29, 2020: Another Week In

Another week. I'm busy. Busier than I was before. It's weird.

Mon, 3/23 - Fri, 3/27 - Just... work. So much work. Trying to figure out how any of this is going to work.

Thursday, 3/26 - The governor announced that we won't be going back for the rest of the year. It was the next logical step... it still feels like a loss.

Somewhere in all of that, I had a moment of sheer hopelessness, like I've never had before: a flash of, if it's always going to be like this, what's the point in going on? Just a flash, but it scared me.

I talked with friends (phone call or video call) almost every day this week. It helped.

Yesterday, I caught up on sleep. I think. I was still really tired. Some lovely person on Ao3 went through my whole catalog with detailed, pull-quote gushing comments. It was a very nice ego boost. :-)

Today, I watched a different UU service (it was okay), did laundry, went shopping, cleaned all the groceries, did virtual Community Chorus rehearsal, and practiced guitar. That makes me sound productive. I was, in the sense that I got all that done. I also just about panicked about steeping foot outside my house (and into another enclosed space; walks outside are still fine), and was in pain from cramps for hours this afternoon and evening. So.

I think there's a post about gratitude. Maybe I'll make that one separately.

_ _ _

March 29, 2020: Gratitude

In the midst of inexorable low-level panic and the kind of abject hopelessness I thought I'd banished from my life, I've been trying to focus on the positives. It sounds superficial and fake. It's not. I don't think. So, things I am grateful for:

At this exact moment, as far as I know, I and the people I love most in the world are healthy and safe.

From everything I've heard so far, all of my students are housed and fed and accounted for.

I still have a job, and a paycheck, and health insurance, and meaningful work to do on a schedule that looks a lot like it usually would, except that I get to sleep in by an hour.

Levels of video chatting with friends that hasn't happened since they were studying abroad a decade ago (and with much better technology, this time!).

Video chatting with my parents - I've finally convinced them to give it a try!

I have a piano and a guitar and a violin and a mandolin and a clarinet and a flute in my house, and I have been playing two of those things.

As much as being alone sucks (I literally don't know when the next time I will get to touch another human, or even an animal), it does mean that I have control over my environment in a way that does bring my anxiety down.

I found another series to love.

My house is slowly becoming cleaner in the "neater and tidier" sense, as moving around and putting things away is a desirable break after several hours of staring at a screen.

It's walking weather, and the crocuses are starting to appear.

_ _ _

from a later entry: May 23, 2020: Every time I go out, it is into a different world

Sun, March 29 - laundry, groceries

Laundry felt dangerous. I don't have it written down any time between March 6 and March 29. I'm not 100% sure that's right, but it could have been... I think I did four loads. Hand sanitizer, avoiding others. Hot water in the washer; everything through the dryer. Just about holding your breath in between.

A few people had started wearing masks. Hardly any. No masks on staff. First visit with plexiglass shields for cashiers. A few employees wearing masks, but not many. Very few cleaning supplies of any kind. Very few eggs. Almost no flour, although I did snag some.

From March 18-April 17 (School Closure through Spring Break), everything was full out, all the time, all day, every day. Mind-numbing, exhausting, stressful, feeling like you're failing at everything all the time. One of the administrators tried to ban the expression "building the plane while we're flying it" and the word "overwhelmed." I… think he was kidding?

Wed, April 15 - groceries

First time wearing a mask in public. Now, at least half the people were doing the same. That weird, involuntary grin of, holy shit, this is happening, the world has turned upside down, this is not a drill kicked in when I passed the first set of other customers wearing homemade cloth masks (not bandanas, not those neck gaiters you can pull up over your face, made-for-the-purpose honest-to-god face masks). I was glad that because of the mask, they couldn't see my face and misinterpret it as excitement - it was a thrill, but a thrill of adrenaline, of, alright, so we're doing this, of, we're off to war.

Not 100% of staff were wearing masks, but definitely more than last time. Got a little more flour, but it was still in short supply. I think this was the week that most everything was back in stock (except toilet paper, Lysol, or hand sanitizer), certainly everything in the produce section, but weirdly - no bananas. Just that day. Or two weeks; how would I know.

_ _ _

April 10, 2020: Two More Weeks

Two weeks since I went grocery shopping. Two weeks since I did laundry. Two weeks since I was in a shared enclosed space.

I've stopped walking around the block. Too many people. Now I'm in the woods.

I'm finding parts of the park I never knew existed. Going off on trails on a whim. I found the waterfall.

Everything feels both sped up and slowed down. There's so much to do for work. The district's lawyer described it as drinking from a fire hose. That feels... more right than not.

I keep thinking I should go grocery shopping. This internal sense of time. It's time to go to Hannaford's. It's time to wash my clothes. When I actually look in the cupboard and the fridge and the closet, though, I have enough. I'm doing fine.

Even my bank account is fine. For the first time since I moved up here, I'm not worried about money. This morning, after my paycheck and before I paid my credit card bill, I had $6000 in the bank. It's been years. If the stimulus check comes through, I'll get $1200. It doesn't feel fair. I still have a job. Some people are going to donate theirs. I can't bring myself to give up the piece of mind.

Every time I talk to Mom and Dad, they're so-- unworried. They're being careful, but they don't seem stressed. I think it helps that they're up on the hill. No one in sight but the cows.

I feel like I should be writing. The barrier is the amount of time. I think it's been a year.

I think I need to eat something real. I'm not sure what. Or maybe sleep. I don't know what I want. Nothing sounds good.

I listed to As It Is' album The Great Depression on repeat while I was out walking. It felt good, and now it feels insubstantial.

It all feels insubstantial.

I think I need to eat. I definitely need to make bread. I'm out. There's still crackers, and tortillas, and stuff like that. I'm not too worried. But I should probably make some bread.

I feel like I'm failing all the time.

And then I go in the woods and I don't feel like I'm failing. It snowed today. Big fat flakes. Then back to rain. Snow-rain-snow-rain, all my rain gear slick but I was warm and safe, sliding in the mud.

I see my kids and I don't feel like I'm failing. I found a way to put away my school stuff, and that didn't feel like failing.

Productivity is good. And exhausting. It's hard to tell the difference between inertia-exhaustion and hard work-exhaustion.

And I'm always in pain. All this sitting around is terrible.

I need to get up and eat.

_ _ _

April 10, 2020: update from two hours later

I ate real food.

It helped.

_ _ _

Epilogue: August 17, 2020: Two to go

Last entry was three work days left. Today's is two days until work begins.

Summer has been... summer: walking in the woods in the rain and sleeping weird hours and cleaning my entire house and watching entire shows in one go.

In a lot of ways, the strangest part was not being able to camp with A, not because of lockdown, but because her baby is too young. Like the downtown construction, might as well consolidate all the weirdness into one year.

Some parts feel normal. Someday (I assume) we'll be able to go back into indoor spaces with strangers and not wear masks. To hug our students and give high-fives. To visit family without checking the map to see if it's allowed. For now, though, the masks at least feel normal. Feel safe. Feel right. It's going to be a long time before I feel safe around strangers again.

_ _ _

postscript: and then i spent a year processing it all through fiction.

#reblogs turned off but replies/asks/etc. about it are welcome #like i said... just needed to reflect and process for a while #because today marks 3 years and for the most part everything was just... normal.#shoutout to one of my coworkers who took some time to talk it through with me #i wasn't even in this district then #but i needed that today.#long post

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lofifantasymusic · 2 years ago

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Launch! Brazilian Lofi music to relax

The musician Afrobrazuca releases today the album Great is the Lord, an EP with five Christian songs in the lofi style.

When an artist does not have the money to pay for a large production and ends up doing everything in his home studio, he is usually limited by the quality of his recordings. He often employs tricks to make the work more interesting, such as using cassette tape recorders, “toy” instruments, sometimes even a little out of tune (as if they were played on an old and out of calibration phonograph) and effect generators, squeaks and turntable pen emulator.

Lo-fi music is light and simple, and since it doesn’t have a voice, it’s very popular at home, as a way to help stay focused while working from home, and even while reading or relaxing. Wait for sleep to come. Although the lo-fi hip-hop style was fashionable, it lacked the aggression, punch and bass of traditional hip-hop, keeping the pace slower with so-called “lo-fi beats”.

A few years ago, more or less since 2015, the style started to emerge and, more recently, a movement to find channels and playlists of lo-fi music (hip-hop or not) started to emerge with a lot of force. The date is all about the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine: the crowd is moving away from the overproduced style, looking for something intimate, simple and peaceful, but it’s having a profound effect on these people’s focus.

These productions have two main premises: simplicity, mainly within an artist’s budget, with a lo-fi aesthetic, even whistled (included on purpose); and an electronic beat, played in a loop or simply recorded. As the style gained in popularity, many artists embellished hip-hop and brought more casual nuances, through vaporwave, and sometimes even using phrases and snippets from jazz and bossa nova (whether sampled or composed).

Thanks to this phenomenon, new talents are discovered every year. We at Lo-Fi Fantasy Studio are happy to announce the first release from a talented artist: Afrobrazuca.

As a differential, Afrobrazuca combined his 25 years of experience as a Brazilian musician with his study of the lofi style and worship music. All the songs on the Great is the Lord EP are gospel compositions by the musician himself, arranged in lofi chill music.

The songs can be heard on streamings:

YouTube Spotify Amazon Music

We hope that you, like us, enjoy the sound of Afrobrazuca.

#lofi #lofigirl #LoFiBeats #worship #lofiworship #brazillianmusic #brazillianlofi #chillmusic #lofihiphop #studymusic #chill #focusmusic #lofichillbeats #lofibeats #Spotify

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myfreedomjourney2025 · 7 days ago

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Repost of Covid Blog (2020) - Now discontinues

At the start of 2020, most of us believed it had to be better than 2019. Months later, I couldn’t even recall why we thought 2019 was so challenging.

Early in 2020, rumors began circulating about a fast-moving and deadly mystery virus—the Novel Coronavirus. We now know it as COVID-19. Whispers of a Spanish Flu-type outbreak began to spread as rising death tolls in Asia and Europe caught global attention.

It quickly became clear that the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions were especially vulnerable. Nursing homes were overwhelmed, and hospitals in major cities faced unprecedented strain, inundated with patients suffering severe respiratory issues. ICU beds and staff were pushed beyond capacity.

Emergency workers—on the streets, in hospitals, and nursing homes—became the front-line troops in this war against COVID-19. Governments at every level declared emergencies, shutting down schools, businesses, and public events. Words like “stay-at-home orders,” “social distancing,” and “mask mandates” became part of our daily vocabulary. For months, we stayed indoors, hoping to “slow the spread” and support healthcare workers stretched to their limits.

What began as two-week emergency declarations stretched into months. COVID-19 fatigue set in as the toll on front-line workers—illness, exhaustion, and even suicide—became evident. Even the prospect of a vaccine, which might have been universally celebrated, sparked controversy and division.

As if the pandemic weren’t enough, a tragic incident involving law enforcement in Minneapolis led to civil unrest. Protests erupted, adding another layer of strain on emergency services already grappling with the virus. Days of unrest turned into weeks and months, with cities burning, lives disrupted, and first responders injured or killed.

All of this unfolded against the backdrop of an intensely divisive national election, amplifying the tension and hostility.

For me, the year turned deeply personal when it became safe enough to fly, and I visited my parents in Maine, 1,500 miles away. My father, 75, and my mother, 73, revealed devastating news: my mom had been diagnosed with Progressive supranuclear palsy which can only be described as Parkinson’s on steroids

My mom, the strongest, most independent woman I’ve ever known, now faces a disease that will steal her strength and independence. My dad, her devoted partner, is grappling with the reality that her care may soon exceed what he can manage. Living so far away from them has always been difficult, but now it feels unbearable.

As a retired EMS professional, my instinct is always to help, to rescue, to save. The heartbreaking realization that I can’t do that for the two people who raised me and saved me countless times is crushing.

So, if I seem distant, restless, or irritable, it’s because helplessness doesn’t sit well with me. I’m struggling to navigate the “new normal” that 2020 has forced upon us.

It's safe to say now 5 years later we have a lot more freedom.

Editors Note: My mom passed away after a 5 year battle with Progressive supranuclear palsy. She was a great women and see is missed. You can find her Obituary here: https://www.mchoulfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/5431176/Gedney-Nancy/index.php?FILogin=1

#COVID REVIEW #freedomjourney #northlandconverativevoice

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jptamvada · 1 month ago

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Black and minority ethnic businesses need support to weather the pandemic

Tolu Olarewaju, University of Staffordshire and Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada, University of Southampton

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted underlying inequalities that ethnic minorities face in the UK. In England, both death rates and hospital admission rates are more than twice as high for Black people or people from a south Asian background than they are for white people.

The poorer outcomes from COVID-19 among the Black and Asian populations are a result of the underlying social and economic risk factors that ethnic minorities face, such as living in overcrowded accommodation, being employed in riskier lower-skilled jobs, having worse access to healthcare, not to mention structural racism.

But among these well-documented racial inequalities, there is another hidden story: the specific plight of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) business owners who have also been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Specific challenges

During the first lockdown in March, many businesses in the UK temporarily closed with the majority of those that were able to operate doing so at reduced capacity with lower turnover. This had significant implications for BAME-owned businesses, which are traditionally concentrated in the sectors worst hit by lockdown such as retail, health and social care, education, restaurants and accommodation.

Before the pandemic, BAME business owners were less likely than non-BAME business owners to obtain mainstream business support and in the early days of coronavirus, nearly two-thirds of BAME business owners felt unable to access state-backed loans and grants, leaving many on the brink of financial ruin.

The economic crisis facing these businesses is aggravated by the fact that they are more likely to hire a considerable number of BAME employees and attract more BAME customers. The significantly higher risk among such groups from COVID-19 implies that these businesses would have had to incur considerable costs to protect their staff and customers.

COVID-19 has also exacerbated pre-existing disadvantages in the business sector. Although there are some exceptions, BAME entrepreneurs on average have substantially lower success rates for starting businesses and see less success overall compared to other entrepreneurs.

Black business owners in particular experience worse outcomes than their white counterparts. Last year, Black business owners in the UK had a median turnover of £25,000, compared to £35,000 for white business owners. The median productivity of Black business owners is also less than two-thirds that of white business owners, and only half of Black entrepreneurs meet their non-financial aims, compared to nearly 70% of white entrepreneurs.

Our research

To help understand better how COVID-19 has affected business owners, we are currently asking British entrepreneurs about their experiences of the pandemic.

So far, we have found a range of options that many BAME-owned businesses have used to cope in these uncertain times. These include raising the prices of certain products to cover the cost of compliance with new regulations, adjusting operations to take account of social distancing, adopting new technology to facilitate day-to-day business activities and venturing into new business endeavours entirely.

Adaptability and the capacity for evolution have been crucial for BAME-owned businesses to keep afloat during this pandemic, especially as restrictions have become localised and three-tier lockdowns have been introduced.

Despite this tendency to adapt to changing times, some BAME business owners have reported that their customers have stayed away for fear of contracting the virus specifically because of the higher mortality rates reported for their ethnic groups.

How the government can help

We must appreciate the concrete action BAME business owners have already taken to protect their customers and staff in this time of crisis. But the government can do more to protect individuals from adverse health and economic outcomes.

State-backed grants and loans should be made more accessible as an incentive to business owners who have incurred additional costs to protect customers and staff. Crucially, the process to obtain them should not be too onerous, which risks putting people off applying. Regional governments should also take care to plug BAME businesses into the supply chains of local projects in response to the pandemic.

As a community, we need businesses to get through this pandemic in one piece, and we must help protect those who are most at risk. That means working specifically with BAME business owners in creative ways to help ensure their survival.

Tolu Olarewaju, Lecturer in Economics, University of Staffordshire and Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada, Associate Professor in Strategy and Innovation, University of Southampton

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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suicidalgamergirl · 5 months ago

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Coward

Trigger Warning: Fatpobia. Blood. And Coronavirus. I tend to make my characters look bad.

Some people admired the Gur Monster Hunters I made up. Might do a write up of my characters in this Batstarion fic in the next post.

****

She was at the grocery store. Her cart carried her shopping bag trolley. She was looking at videos of fruit bats while she got here.

Especially one that was mouthing a banana for views. She took a small bunch to add to her cart. She was then looking at the quart cases of blueberries and blackberries.

Then someone caught her attention.

“Well if it isn’t the Fat Fuck Nessie,” they said.

She looked up as her name was called. It was Ken, with his new highly supermodel-like girlfriend looking back at her.

“My name is Vanessa,” she replied with a stern look at him.

“But Fat Fuck Nessie has a ring of truth to it,” Ken stated and looked at the fruits she was buying.

“Ken,” the girlfriend asked, “do you know her?”

“Nah,” Ken replied, “she’s just a lazy fat fuck.”

Ken had his own life. Why did he interfere with her simple shopping adventure? She wanted to go home. Right now.

Ken looked at Vanessa one last time.

“You know if you were down to 100lbs,” Ken said, “you’ll probably be worth the fuck. Come on Katsy, we gotta make sure she doesn’t take all the McCain Deep and Delicious cakes for herself.”

She stayed quiet as Ken and Katsy left her alone. Tears were running down her eyes. Sure, Ken had finally moved on to another girlfriend. He was glad to see Vanessa in misery.

Why can’t she move on too? Why did it fucken hurt that everyone was happy and not her? Why did he have to show up?

Maybe you are a fucken coward.

Ness, you have a bat to feed. Focus on that.

She put the berries in her cart and with her head lowered, trying to hide her tears, and headed to the checkout counter with her three items. Bananas, blueberries, and blackberries.

Least she could make the bat happy.

****

The white bat flew out of the bat house. The bat took a seat on the outdoor chair and stretched his wings. Mists spun around said bat, morphing back into The Vampire Ascendant.

Looking out of the balcony, he was safe from those moronic monster hunters.

As his new found powers, his curiosity of this apartment can allow him to enter buildings. He did not need his prey’s permission. He opened the balcony door and entered the small place. He seemed to be in the living room quarters. His eyes gazed into the area, whereas a kitchen and bathroom was there. The last room was probably the owner’s bedroom.

Curiously, the vampire ascendant ventured to the bedroom. He wanted to get an idea on who lived here and created the badly done bat house. Perhaps he should thank them for saving his ass from monster hunters. It was the least he could do for them.

Inside was a room that perplexed him. Yes, there was a bed, a closet and dressers. There were also figurines humans waste to showcase and a collection of plush toys. Touching one of the plush toys, the vampire ascendant pondered if this room belonged to a thirteen year old girl. Someone that dreamt of being swept away by a handsome Prince.

Well, he wasn’t no Prince Charming, especially with his sparkling sharp fangs.

He noticed a garbage pail that had bloody gauzes covered in blood. He picked it and took a small whiff on it.

It was the same blood that was in the bat house that he was in.

Now he really wanted to learn more about his savior. Their blood smelt like the finest brandy he tasted.

Though, where are they? When will they return?

Sitting on the bed, he turned to see there was a book on the nightstand. Curiously, he picked it up and looked into it.

Indeed the person who lived in this apartment is a woman. She had pictures of someone named “Ken”, but his face had a red X over it. It seemed this person was important to her. Oh humans. They love to stir up drama.

Still in the book, there were no self portraits of said lady. He could relate to not knowing what he looked like. The profane ascension ritual did bring his reflection back. He can see why he was so perfect to lure prey for his old master.

His old and very dead master. Thanks to him and 7000 souls, he was living his lavish life as The Vampire Ascendant. Perhaps, he should show pity to his old master.

Nah.

****

The hunters were scavenging the local park, looking for any signs of a bat sighting. The locals thought that the group of five hunters assumed they were a bunch of larpers. Adults who enjoy role playing like they were in the Middle Ages. They didn’t think the weapons they had were actually real.

Their boss was annoyed. How can one white vampire bat survive in the city? That vampire was smart. Most of the bat population took a nosedive a few years ago, hence no one would dare confront a bat, vampire or not. People were told to stay away from them.

Which made the team frustrated with their search. That vampire could be in the cracks of the city, preying on a new meal.

It pissed the boss off. That vampire is getting away with world domination at his fingertips.

“Boss,” one hunter exclaimed, “we’re not going to find that bat anytime soon.”

Their boss was annoyed by the news. He wanted to stop anyone from becoming his prey. Thanks to the coronavirus years ago, finding a bat in the city was going to be harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

The boss turned to his team.

“Fall back,” he said, “we might need the news to cover this for us. It sucks, but we must wait for a bloodless victim.”

Biting his lip, he hated that someone would die again at the hands of that vampire.

There was nothing else the group could do.

#ascended astarion #noisy vampires #vampire hunters #bats #little batty big city #snarky astarion

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covid-safer-hotties · 3 months ago

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Also preserved on our archive

Do you have $32,000 for covid treatment? Neither did Nannette, and now her whole family is paying the price for her covid hospitalization. This is why we must mask up: You may be able to afford that cost, but you are just as likely to spread covid to dozens who cannot if you refuse to take precautions, especially when ill.

By Noah Zahn

CHEYENNE — When Nannette Hernandez got COVID in 2021, she didn’t realize how long it would take to recover. Although she was released from the hospital after only a few days of care, she is still suffering from the financial burden that has led to the loss of her job and her home.

At 45 years old, Hernandez and her son, 26, moved in with her mother when she lost her home. The three of them now live together in a mobile home south of Cheyenne. The walls and tabletops are decorated with photos of family members, many of the frames containing photos of her three grandchildren.

Papers were strewn across the coffee table in the living room: bills from the hospital, letters to the hospital, research on how to get financial assistance, one letter denying financial assistance.

Although Hernandez says she tries to keep a positive attitude, her smile faded when she said she often feels hopeless as her debt continues to grow and she is considering filing for bankruptcy.

“They garnish my wages every week, and I owe them more now today than what the judgment was for, and that’s all due to the interest,” Hernandez said. “I’m never going to get through this, you know.” Toys are neatly put away in a corner of the room, behind the couch, for when her grandchildren come to visit on her days off work.

Hernandez has a new job and has health insurance. In addition, she contributes a portion of her wages to life insurance. She said she does this so that she at least has something she can pass on to her family.

Before interest, Hernandez’s bill from Cheyenne Regional Medical Center was around $32,000 after three days of care for COVID and related pneumonia and reduced to $22,000 because she was paying uninsured and out-of-pocket. Between garnished wages and paying for insurance, Hernandez says she only sees at most $12 of her $17.30 per hour wage from working at a deli in a truck stop.

Hernandez said she now suffers from depression as a result of the stress caused by her medical debt. It is difficult for her to work full 40-hour weeks at her job.

However, her smile returned as she talked about how she gets to spend time with her grandchildren, aged 2, 4 and 8, on her days off.

“They’re my light. Oh, they’re wonderful,” she said. “… I stay happy. I don’t let it give me misery, that’s one thing. I might carry it, and I might be right here, always talking about it, but very blessed, very happy, though, still, no matter what.”

Available funding The Provider Relief Fund (PRF) was established in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to reimburse eligible health care providers for increased expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID care.

A companion fund to the PRF is the Uninsured Funds, which made $10 billion available nationally to reimburse providers for treatment, vaccines and vaccine administration costs for care provided to uninsured individuals.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CRMC received $3,145,097 in Uninsured Funds for COVID treatment, accounting for nearly 30% of the Uninsured Funds received by care providers across the state. It is unclear whether these funds were what reduced Hernandez’s bill from $32,000 to $22,000. Her itemized bill notes the reduction as a discount for “self-pay, uninsured.”

Hernandez received her $22,000 bill shortly after she was released from the hospital and was summoned to court when she did not make payments. She did not appear in court, as she said she felt hopeless and afraid and knew she would be unable to pay. As a result, the court ordered the hospital to garnish 25% of her wages and any argument she had that the government should have assisted her financially was nullified.

After her hospitalization, Hernandez was forced to leave her job of 10 years, where she worked as a waitress, and was unable to work for three months while she stayed at home and was on oxygen 24 hours per day, due to COVID complications.

“I would like to see if they could reverse this, it’s not that I didn’t seek assistance. Now I’ll never get out of this, I’m never going to get out of this,” she said. “It started at $32,000. I’ve been paying on that this whole time. I had started working, they started garnishing right away. I owe them more now. What am I paying for? What am I working for?”

Additionally, Hernandez said she applied for and was denied CRMC’s financial assistance program. According to CRMC’s policy summary, CRMC determines whether patients qualify for financial assistance based on their income and household size compared to the Federal Poverty Guidelines from the HHS. In 2021, those guidelines stipulate that the threshold for a one-person household is $12,880 annual income.

“If being an uninsured waitress making $350 a week doesn’t qualify a person for financial assistance under your hospital’s charity policy, I’d like to know what does,” Hernandez wrote in an email to CRMC officials.

Hernandez sent this email to CRMC, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Wyoming government officials. In nearly two months, she only got a response from CMS, which informed her it never received an application submitted on her behalf for Wyoming Medicaid and she was not on Medicaid at that time.

Hernandez: “The prices, they’re outrageous”

In this letter, she also claims she was overcharged. On her itemized bill, she was charged $2,124.20 per 100 mg vial of Remdesivir. Gilead Sciences, the drug’s manufacturer, set the price of Remdesivir at $390 per vial for uninsured patients. Hernandez was charged for five vials for a total of $10,621 instead of what would have been $1,950 for five vials directly from the manufacturer.

Hernandez was charged $8.01 for each 20 mg tablet of famotidine, an acid reducer. This medication is commonly available over the counter and a pack of 225 20 mg tablets is available on Amazon for just under $9, equivalent to about $0.04 per tablet. At this rate, CRMC’s price for the medication is 19,825% higher than what can be purchased in store or online.

CRMC charged her the same price for each 100 mg tablet of thiamine mononitrate, more commonly known as a B1 vitamin. These can also be purchased in the pharmacy section of most grocery stores. A pack of 100 tablets can be found for $7, or $0.07 per tablet, more than 114 times less than the hospital’s price.

It is common for hospitals to charge more for medications, even if it can be purchased at a CVS or Walgreens, for charges associated with administering the drug to the patient. This may include factors like the doctor’s prescription, the pharmacy charge to fill the order, the transportation of the drug from the pharmacy to the medication unit, administration of the medication from the registered nurse to the patient and documentation that the correct medication was administered on the patient’s record.

However, Hernandez believes an 11,343% upcharge for a B1 vitamin may be a bit too much.

When she initially went to urgent care and got an X-ray scan, she was told to go to the emergency room immediately, and the providers at the urgent care said it was a matter of life or death. Without financial assistance or price transparency as her bills continued to grow, Hernandez felt disenfranchised and marginalized and is now fearful of the system that is supposed to provide care for her and the community. She said she is now afraid to ever get sick again.

“I feel it’s unjust. I should not be living every day with a heavy burden like this,” Hernandez said. “… I’m sure I’m not the only person this has happened to. I know there has to be so many more.”

Price transparency In 2022, the White House reported that one-in-three adults in the United States — nearly 100 million people — have medical debt. It is now the largest source of debt in collections — more than credit cards, utilities and auto loans combined. Data from the 2020 U.S. Census also found that Black and Hispanic households are more likely to hold medical debt than white households.

The U.S. spent 17.8% of gross domestic product on health care in 2021, nearly twice as much as the average economically developed country. However, the Peterson-KFF life expectancy tracker shows that the average American lifespan is nearly five years lower than those in the comparable country average and was about the same in 2022 as it was in 2004, while most other comparable countries’ life expectancies have increased since then.

Marni Carey is the president of Power to the Patients, a nonprofit organization advocating patients’ rights to upfront price transparency from hospitals.

“I get letters every day from people who are fighting medical debt, burdensome medical debt,” Carey said. “… It’s just a horrible place to be driven to. And if hospitals could tell patients in advance what their financial responsibility is, or if patients could look online and see what the cost of care is, they could choose providers that were affordable to them and competition could enter the marketplace and Tylenols wouldn’t be $80, they would be $5. That’s why we need transparency, so patients can have financial certainty when they go into the medical system.”

A February 2024 report from Patient Rights Advocate, a nonprofit advocating systemwide health care price transparency, found that nearly two-thirds of American hospitals were not compliant with the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule, which took effect in January 2021, including CRMC. This legislation requires hospitals to make their prices publicly available and easily accessible online to help patients understand the cost of care before they receive it.

According to the report, CRMC is compliant with all transparency rules except for negotiated rates, which Patient Rights Advocate measured by whether the hospital posted the charge that the hospital has negotiated with a third-party payer for an item or service. They found CRMC lists 89% of its negotiated rates as “N/A.”

“I couldn’t go into the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center machine readable files and find out if (Hernandez’s) bill was at all correct, because the hospital doesn’t have that, they don’t comply,” Carey said.

CRMC officials declined to comment on this story, citing patient privacy.

“For privacy reasons, we can’t disclose patient medical treatment or billing details. We recently received a letter from Ms. Hernandez and we will review the medical and billing records and provide a response,” CRMC told the WTE in a statement. “As a general matter, please note that sending a bill to a collections agency and potentially sending an unpaid bill through a court process are last resorts, used only when someone does not respond to offers of financial assistance, billing statements and phone calls.”

At the time of publication, Hernandez said she has yet to receive a response from CRMC and never got any offer of financial assistance. The only correspondence she has received after her release from the hospital has been her bills and a letter stating she did not qualify for the hospital’s charitable care program.

No savings left Hernandez said she believes she would have been in a better situation now if she had more savings before she got COVID more than three years ago. She said she did have savings, but she had to burn through those savings when her father, who lived in California, passed and her grandmother, also in California, passed a month later. Between several trips to California and multiple funeral services, she said she had little savings remaining when she got sick.

“My dad’s burial cost took all my savings, everything, because I just wanted my dad to lay in peace, you know, I wanted to bury my father, and that took all my savings,” she said.

“It’s just like a train of events, such an unfortunate train of events in life that people go through. Everybody goes through it, and that was mine. I said, ‘Man, if I would have had all that money held just a little bit longer, I would not be in this right now.’”

#long covid #mask up #covid #pandemic #covid 19 #wear a mask #coronavirus #sars cov 2 #public health #still coviding #wear a respirator #covid conscious #covid is airborne #covidー19 #covid isn't over #covid pandemic #covid19

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aylce101 · 6 months ago

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The Curious World of Gold Prices: FintechZoom's Views

Introduction

Always a major commodity in the financial markets, gold serves as a safe refuge during economic crisis, a hedge against inflation, and a basic component of world reserve currencies. Platforms like FintechZoom provide real-time insights and analyses priceless for traders, investors, and economists both as the financial terrain changes. We will investigate the elements driving gold prices in this blog, look at current trends, and learn how FintechZoom could be a very useful tool for people engaged in the precious metal market.

Gold's Historic Significance

From its use in ancient civilizations as money and jewelry to its part in contemporary financial systems, gold's appeal stems from past. Gold has long been a consistent source of value, holding worth over millennia. Unlike fiat money, which might be devalued by inflation and other economic events, gold's inherent value stays rather constant.

Aspects Affecting Gold Prices

Economic Indices: Economic data greatly shapes the value of gold. Important markers are GDP growth, employment numbers, and inflation rates. Investors swarm gold as a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty or downturns, so driving up its price.

Monetary Policy: The gold market depends much on central banks. Gold prices might change depending on policies on reserve requirements, money supply, and interest rates. Low rates, for example, often lower the opportunity cost of owning gold, which increases its appeal.

Geographic Events: Geopolitical Gold prices can vary greatly depending on political unrest, wars, and world conflicts. In geopolitally tense times, investors see gold as a safe investment.

Value of the US dollar has a notable inverse relationship with gold prices in terms of fluctuations. For foreign buyers, a stronger dollar increases the cost of gold, so lowering demand; a weak dollar has the reverse effect.

Supply and market demand: The price of gold is directly impacted by demand from sectors including jewelry, technology, and investment as well as by mining output and recycling's effects on supply.

Recent developments in gold prices

Gold prices have been rather erratic in recent years, shaped by different worldwide events and economic policies. Let's review some important patterns:

coronavirus 19 Pandemic: The worldwide epidemic set off hitherto unheard-of levels of economic uncertainty that drove gold prices skyward. Fears of inflation drove investors toward gold as central banks carried out bold fiscal stimulus and monetary easing.

Concerns about inflation: Significant pressures on inflation resulting from post-pandemic recovery Though the link is complicated and affected by several factors, including real interest rates, gold, usually considered as an inflation hedge, has benefited from these worries.

Technological Advancements: Blockchain and digital gold trading platforms among other financial technology innovations have made gold more available to a wider audience. These developments have improved the gold market's transparency and liquidity.

Many central banks—especially those in developing nations—have been building more gold reserves. Supporting gold prices, this trend shows a diversification approach away from the US dollar.

Gold Price Insights Using FintechZoom

Leading venue offering real-time financial news, data, and analysis is FintechZoom. For those who invest in gold, it provides several tools that might improve decision-making:

FintechZoom guarantees investors have the most recent information at their hands by offering up-to--minute gold price updates. Those who trade short-term or make quick investment decisions depend on this ability.

With regard to several economic indicators, geopolitical events, and market attitude, the platform provides in-depth study of gold price fluctuations. Detailed studies and expert analysis enable investors to grasp the fundamental causes influencing gold prices.

By means of historical gold price data, investors can spot long-term trends and tendencies. Those who want to make wise decisions depending on past performance and cyclical behavior of gold must have this knowledge.

FintechZoom compiles pertinent news and events possibly influencing gold prices. Anticipating price movements depends on keeping up knowledge of world events, central bank policies, and economic developments.

For traders, FintechZoom provides a selection of technical analysis instruments including trend lines, charts, and indicators. These instruments use technical signals and price trends to help find possible points of entrance and exit.

Techniques for Allocating Gold Funds

Investing in gold calls for a calculated approach based on long-term goals as well as present possibilities. Investors should give these some tactics some thought:

Purchasing physical gold in the form of coins, bars, or jewelry is a conventional approach of investment. Though it offers a physical benefit, storage and insurance expenses should be taken into account.

ETFs for Gold: Mutual Funds Without having to physically handle it, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) expose to gold. These financial instruments offer liquidity and diversification advantages as well as track the value of gold.

Investing in companies engaged in gold mining and production provides a leveraged view of gold prices. Still, it's important to evaluate these companies' geopolitical and operational risks.

Futures and Options: Contracts offering a means of gold price movement speculation allow sophisticated investors. These derivative instruments carry more risk and call for a strong awareness of the market.

Thanks to fintech innovations, investors may purchase and sell fractional ownership of gold on digital gold platforms. These sites provide less entry requirements and convenience.

The direction of gold prices:

Given the several elements influencing gold prices, it is difficult to project their future. Still, several patterns will probably affect the market:

Sustainable and Ethical Gold: Growing knowledge of ethical and environmental problems in mining could stimulate market for gold derived sustainably. Investors are growing more aware of how their choices affect the surroundings and society.

Blockchain technology integration in gold trading might improve traceability and openness, so improving the market efficiency. Digital gold platforms probably will become more popular.

Monetary Policy Shifts: Particularly in reaction to inflation and economic recovery, central bank policies will always be very important. Any notable modification in monetary policy or interest rates could affect gold values.

Global Economic Conditions: Investor attitude toward gold will be influenced by trade conflicts, geopolitical stability, growth possibilities, and state of the global economy. Gold is probably going to be a preferred asset in unsure times.

Final Thought

Still a great value in the financial markets, gold provides inflation and economic uncertainty protection. For investors trying to negotiate the complexity of the gold market, sites like FintechZoom offer insightful tools and analysis. Understanding the elements affecting gold prices and using technology developments will help investors to make wise decisions and maximize their portfolios.

The interaction of economic policies, technological developments, and world events will always help to define the gold market going forward. Maximizing possibilities in this ever-changing terrain will depend mostly on keeping informed and flexible.

#news #gold prices

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mandysblog85 · 8 months ago

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Is COVID-19 Really Over? What's Going On?

Written by: Amanda Diallo

Date: May 23, 2024

Is COVID-19 really over? Has it gone away? The answer is no. But the pandemic, yes but not the virus. Sorry ladies and gentlemen, but it's here to stay. It's not only here to stay but it's still evolving (more variants).

What is Covid-19 and what are its symptoms? Well, it is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. It usually spreads between people in close contact. Anyone can get sick with Covid-19 and become seriously ill or die, but most people will recover without treatment. Symptoms also includes loss of taste or smell, sore throat congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.

Researchers in China initially named it 2019-nCoV. On February 11, 2020, it was renamed SARS-CoV-2, and the disease was named Covid-19.

From the beginning of the pandemic (early 2020) we had the first variant (the Alpha), then the Beta, Gamma, Delta, and then the Omicron (2022) which was named the worst yet at that time by doctors and the media. It made most of us worry by getting tested before traveling for the holidays, continue our stay-at-home work, and kept our mask on (not all of us).

By 2023 a few more variants made its way, after the first wave of the Omicron, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control announced the BA.2, BA.4, BA.5 subvariants, by Spring '23 it became the XBB series, we also had the EG.5, then by late '23 the XBB, HV.1, and the FL.1.5.1.

Fast forward to now, we are in 2024. There was the JN.1 variant from late '23 into 2024, but now there's a new Omicron subvariant. What to know about the FLiRT variant.

Well, 28.2% of Covid infections in the US by the third week of May, making it the dominant variant in the nation right now. The FLiRT strains have since been identified in several other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.

There are also concerns of a summer uptick as we enter the season.

The point is Covid is NOT over. It's unfortunately here to stay. As far as these variants go, it will keep mutating. So, the best way is to get your booster vaccine and go about your day. Masking is a choice now, I don't mask up as I used to, especially if I'm outside. Most are not, but once in a while I see older individuals doing it indoors, and that's okay. When I enter hospitals and my doctor's office, I masked up. The doctor does too. It's a courtesy and safety type of thing.

I receive my vaccine at least twice a year and try my best to dodge the "RONA". I specifically take the Moderna vaccine for better results. Along with the Covid-19 vaccine, one can also take the flu shot the same day as well.

In the city of Wuhan (China), where it all started in late 2019 (not in a wet market by the way), the WHO declared it a global health emergency in March 2020 right before lockdowns.

In February 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO), in a joint mission with China, attempted to investigate the origins of the pandemic. By 2022, the WHO urged more investigation. The recommendation came after a theory that the virus started elsewhere, and not the marketplace in Wuhan.

Another thing to cover about Covid is long Covid. What is it? Click here to read more.

Brain fog is one of the most common, persistent complaints in patients with long COVID.

In conclusion, COVID-19 is not done with us. So, try your best not to catch it (if haven't by now) and yes, you can get the virus more than once.

Recently Dr. Fauci's (retired) former top adviser Dr. David Morens testified about the origins of COVID-19.

It's also known that the COVID-19 pandemic was the deadliest disaster in the country's (US) history. Over 1.1 million US deaths alone have been reported.

Read more on the FLiRT subvariant.

#tumblr #writers on tumblr #covid 19 #long covid #coronavirus #vaccines #viruses #decade: 2020s #blog #tumblog

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amberjazmyn · 10 months ago

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you stayed ("whenever you're ready baby girl" alt ending)

𝓲𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮 - you stayed ("whenever you're ready baby girl" alt ending)

𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 - happy ending, girl dad x misha, terminal illness, crying, flashbacks

𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 - whilst misha and elouisa collins' eldest little girl always seemed to draw the short straw in her life, what if she actually survived and beat her cancer? what if she actually never died after the new york supernatural convention? what if she made it to her tenth birthday and every other birthday after that? what if her short straws began to grow back healthy again in the same way she had? what if she got to see her dad's final season five years later?

𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓮 - the original version of this was for kian egan from westlife and because i have also done it for misha i need to also come out with the part two alternate ending. i know she's nine in the first part and five years after that would make her like fourteen but, i'm gonna lowkey bump her age up to eighteen due to the conventions they had after coronavirus cleared up. so even though the original timeline is season ten which would line up with her being fourteen when the show came to its end, i wanna make her newly turn eighteen so sorry for being confusing but that's why she's older by more than five or so years. no song will be used in this but flashbacks from the original one-shot will be in italics, present in normal font and like the original, it'll be written in lowercase.

masterlist read part one here!

- - -

willow collins was eight-years-old when she was diagnosed with cancer. she already wasn't considered a "normal kid" because of who were parents, misha collins and elouisa collins are. however, the moment the young girl and her parents heard the news of the heartbreaking diagnosis, they knew exactly how the press and other kids willow's age would react. to the other kids and everyone else, not only did willow's parents and their fame make the girl weird but her new cancer diagnosis made her even weirder and as though she was an exhibit in a museum.

when willow was nine-years-old when her dad and his supernatural cast were starting their season ten convention circuit before going on hiatus before the next season, there was a moment. during the first of five conventions in new york, chicago, hawaii, houston and dallas that everyone, including willow herself, thought she wasn't going to make it through the entire day and wake up the next morning. but, she did wake up the next morning. she opened her eyes the next morning and cried out for her daddy who was in new york. in a rage of emotions, danneel ackles, who is the wife of misha's castmate jensen ackles, rang misha in a frenzy of her own emotions.

thinking the worst, misha was mere seconds away from dropping everything at new york's auditorium. that was until he heard the very voice he had thought, imagined, he would never hear again. he then stopped for a moment and took that as his chance to just breathe. his little girl was alive and she was okay.

willow's pov | flashback to cancer diagnosis

i could tell my parents felt like the walls in the doctor's office was closing in on them. they, like me, never imagined to be getting this news. after all, it was just supposed to be just another regular hospital trip for me, eight-year-old willow collins.

whilst i wasn't in the office with my parents, whilst my doctor, dr phelps, told them, i could still hear them. especially when it's realised that the hospital is never as soundproof as one thinks, "...mr collins? misha, did you hear what i just told you?" dr phelps questioned my dad, who until now had never really called him by his first name as dad responded after blinking a couple of times

"no, sorry, what did you say? could you please repeat that?" it was obvious that dad was still so far away from dr phelps' office mentally, doing his best to not tune out a second time since it was important news that dr phelps was telling my parents

"i was saying that, with willow's recent diagnosis of terminal cancer, she can still try chemotherapy and maybe a little bit of radiotherapy but we are not certain that it'll work in the way it usually would if we had seen it earlier..."

ahh, yes, i could see the wheels in my dad's head start to turn as he realised what the conversation was about. his eldest daughter, me, had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and were having a conversation about the roads of treatment for me. and just how successful they could be for a small eight-year-old who had many ailments before this new one. as i watched from the waiting room, i could tell that dad could feel a cry building in his throat, mom also feeling it as well, holding his hand tightly as i knew they both wished they were anywhere but in dr phelps' office at this moment.

i watched as dad continued the conversation, "...ah, umm, so, theoretically speaking, if our daughter...willow, was to undergo a round or couple of chemotherapy and maybe radiotherapy, how long would you say we'd have her with us, realistically?" dad gulped as i watched the way he fiddled with the scrunched up tissue in his palm as he squeezed mom's hand with his other hand

dr phelps paused before he continued, "now, mr collins, i really couldn't tell you because this is so new and so late in finding the cancer in willow's system that we truly have no idea how long it could potentially prolong her life but, once the chemo and radiotherapy do start, then we can start estimating things like that..." dr phelps responded as i could tell that dad felt his heart shatter

mom feeling like she was holding all of his heart and hers together. dad's face almost crumbling as he then turned away from the dr when he caught a glimpse of me. which i quickly turned my head to make it seem as though i was in conversation with my uncles jared and jensen, who had lovingly put their hands up to take care of me whilst uncle rob and uncle rich put their hand up to take care of my baby siblings, west and maison.

hesitating to turn his head back around, he quickly did so before continuing on, making me turn to look back at my parents and dr phelps, "...she doesn't deserve this..." hearing my dad so heartbroken and his voice so croaky from his tears was not something i'd ever heard before as he brought his tissue up to cover his face, mom comforting him whilst dr phelps sighed solemnly

"...no, she doesn't misha, no one her age does. she's so young but, unfortunately, these things happen and it's absolutely cruel but i promise, we'll do everything we can to make sure your little girl has the best chance of surviving and beating her cancer since she was so strong during all of her other surgeries and ailments," dr phelps was confident in the idea that once again, i was going to survive another diagnosis

but heartbreakingly, i could tell mom and dad thought otherwise and it seemed as though, in my eyes, i too thought the same thing as my parents.

as mom, dad and dr phelps continued to chat, i silently slipped my hands into both of uncle jared and uncle jensen's hands since i was sat in the middle of them. i was absolutely terrified and it didn't take a genius for uncle jared and uncle jensen to figure it out either and the looks we shared with each other weren't as helpful as we hoped they'd be.

present time

as i remebered the day i was diagnosed, i remembered that i didn't cry like i had imagined myself i would have. because if you know my family well, most especially my dad as well as my uncle jared, we're literally the definition of crybabies. like, to the point where it's been mentioned in interviews before that my dad is so emotional and fragile that he cries at the opening of a hat and that uncle jared is very similar that is also a crier. so the fact i didn't cry after my cancer diagnosis is something i'm just realising years later at nearly nineteen years old and that's insane to me. completely insane because at eighteen, nearly nineteen, i'm still the crybaby that i was until my cancer diagnosis.

right now, i was hanging out with my younger sister maison. she was only three, an actual toddler, when i was going through the cancer and it's something that she genuinely does not remember well whereas our brother, west, who was four, has some lingers of memories here and there. i have been told though that there are times that she does have vague memories and it makes her really upset and panicky. but what makes her upset and panicky is because she can't remember everything about it, only small little pieces of it. since then, mom and dad did try for another baby but, unfortunately they weren't able to and they miscarried so it's still just me, westy and maison but that's okay. but, going back to hanging out with maison, we were literally just getting ready to head out for a surf since i could drive and had my own car now. and, because of that, i could drive us down since both mom and dad were at work, nan (dad's mum) taking care of west for the day. everything was completely fine and happy as maison and i got ready separately (not so obviously as we usually do except for when we're getting ready for the beach) but, as i was taking a bit longer, maison had knocked on my door to check in on me. i was no longer fine and happy. as i slipped on my bikini and reached up to grab my wetsuit, i had caught a glimpse of all my scars and my porthole where i would get my chemo put in. it was really the first time i had seen it since i had been named in remission and by every technicality, cancer-free. and i hadn't realised how traumatising and ugly the scars and porthole actually was until this moment. the moment which i actually took a moment to stop and look at it after actively avoiding my glance from it for so many years.

and i cried.

i cried my eyes out nearly nine whole years after my initial diagnosis.

i hadn't cried this much or this hard i don't think since i had told aunty danneel, uncle jensen's wife, that i thought i was going to die during the first convention in new york of supernatural's season ten convention circuit. and obviously, hearing maison knock on my door meant that she had heard me break down into tears. and usually, similar to dad and mom, but especialy dad, i'd usually try to hide it in front of my brother and sister, especially maison. but, this time, i just couldn't. not because i couldn't control my tears but because i needed to stop hiding my emotions from my younger siblings.

after her knock, i heard her voice and it made me smile, "...you okay willow?" she asked as i tearfully giggled, wiping my hand underneath my nose

"you can come in if that's what you're asking maison, my door's unlocked," i tearfully chuckled as i turned away slightly from the door and looked back at myself in my full-length mirror

i then heard my door slightly creek open as maison walked in. she then noticed me in the mirror and her face fell as she saw my tear-stained face. immediately, she rushed over and pulled me in for a hug as she quickly noticed what it was that i was staring at in my reflection. my porthole and other scars being the first thing that started maison's memories of me having cancer whilst she was a toddler.

and then, the next thing she said was the utmost sweetest thing in the world and made me cry even more, "don't let those scars upset you anymore, willow. because they're the reason why i can hug my older sister every day! you may think it's ugly but, i don't. i see them as the reason why you're still alive and got to watch me and westy grow up ! if it's making you so upset to look at it in your bikini, which i think you great in by the way willow, we don't have to go surfing today if it's making you feel a bit icky to do so. we could just instead go for a walk along the beach and go surfing over the weekend with mom, dad and west?" maison sincerely asked as she didn't let me go out of her hug as i smiled, shocked at how this little kid, my little sister was so emotionally intelligent

pulling back out of the hug, tears still streaming down my cheeks but for happier reasons this time, i nodded my head, "that sounds perfect maison, thank you, baby girl! you are such a sweetheart and i love you so much, sweetheart. of course, we can go for a walk on the beach and then go surfing with the family over the weekend. i'll just throw some clothes over the top of my bikini and then we can hit the road, that sound okay maison?" i asked after thanking my sister as she nodded her head, swiftly leaving my room without another question as i then threw on a pair of linen pants and a halter crochet top before grabbing my phone

meeting maison downstairs as she handed me a pair of flip flops, my car keys and handbag, we said farewell to our nan and west. we then got into my car and we drove down to secret beach.

flashback | willow's pov

it was the first of five conventions in different states for supernatural's season ten convention circuit and they were in new york when i thought i'd not wake up the next day. it was during the day that aunty danneel was looking after me when i genuinely thought my life support machine and my body was going to go awol and that i wasn't going to wake up the next morning. i was aboslutely terrified to close my eyes, worried that if i did, i wouldn't wake up tomorrow. suddenly remembering all the other times i was tired and knowing that i'd wake up the next morning. however, more recently, falling asleep and just closing my eyes has been scary for me.

shaking with worry, i reached over to grab aunty danneel's hand which she immediately grabbed, "what's wrong, love?" she asked without hesitation as i tried to calm down as best as i could

"i...i'm so scared to fall asleep, dee. what...what if i don't wake up tomorrow morning?" i whispered fearfully as aunty danneel softened as she held my hand, squeezing it tightly

"oh, darling. don't be scared, i'll stay here, awake with you all night and make sure nothing bad happens to you throughout the night. you are safe sweetpea, aunty danneel's got you!" she whispered as i nodded my head but still didn't want to close my eyes

however, with some more encouragement from aunty danneel and her singing my favourite radio company album, we managed to get me to close my eyes and fall asleep. just hoping, praying, that i was going to be able to open my eyes the next morning.

and i did. i opened my eyes the next morning.

and i cried out for my dad, enough though i knew he wasn't here in austin.

and in a flurry of her own emotions, aunty danneel rushed to grab her phone and ring him.

and i just knew he was ready to drop everything, thinking the worst. ready to leave new york's auditorium when he heard the one voice i think he also thought, imagined, he wouldn't hear again.

i was still alive.

present time | 2022

finally, after what felt like forever, and the hell that was the coronavirus pandemic and constant lockdowns, supernatural was finally able to finish filming and it had aired and conventions were finally safe enough again to do at full capacity. so, here the entire supernatural family were at the dallas auditorium in dallas, texas and it was an emotional moment, that's for sure. and it wasn't just because we were finally able to have conventions again. but because i was eighteen, an age that no one thought i'd be able to reach because of the cancer that i was now in complete remission from. and, it was also actually the anniversary of my first diagnosis back when i was eight years old and i was now eighteen. so, i just knew that at some point in the convention, most likely before or during his panel with uncles jared and jensen that dad was going to talk about it. and then get very emotional over it which would then get me emotional over it all over again.

and, who would've though, i was correct? however, i did not think it would have my dad inviting me up on stage before his panel with uncle jared and jensen but, in all honesty, i didn't care. i grew up with the supernatural fans so i wasn't uncomfortable on the stage so, i went along with it.

smiling, i walked on stage and over to my dad, sitting in the middle of him and uncle jared. getting smooshed into a j2m sandwich has honestly always been my favourite thing about having my dad as part of the cast. even at the age of eighteen, i still enjoyed all the hugs the same way i did when i was a little kid.

dad then grabbed my hand, grabbing the attention of the entire audience. still giving me a shock at how easily he and my supernatural uncles could control the audience. he then introduced his speech before the next question.

"...hey dallas, we still have y'alls attention?!" dad queries, making me giggle as the audience cheer at his question

giving me a smile, he then continues as the fans waiting for the q&a and to ask them wait patiently, "so, as everyone possibly already knows, this is my eldest daughter, willow, who is eighteen years old..." he trails off as shock ripples through the crowd which makes us all laugh

and that included me too. because, i truly also sometimes forget that i am eighteen.

"...i know, it's crazy to say i have an eighteen-year-old too so, don't worry, it's just as shocking for me as it is for you guys! but umm, that's not the reason why i invited her on stage. the reason why i invited willow on the stage with us for our panel is that, on this very day when she was eight years old, we were told that willow had cancer..." he trailed off as i smiled softly and squeezed his hand tighter as he smiled back, uncle jensen, uncle jared and uncle rob moving closer by as well

taking a deep breath, dad continued, "...and for a while, we didn't think willow would make it through the very beginning, the first convention of our five conventions throughout new york, chicago, hawaii, houston and right here in dallas during our season ten convention circuit back in 2014 after she had turned nine. because, during this time, it seemed as though willow's chemo was not effective anymore. it was during this first convention in new york 2014/15 that she thought she wasn't going to wake up the next morning. i remember because like i already mentioned, we were doing the first of five conventions starting in new york for the celebration of season ten and i got a phone call from danneel, jensen's wife. and immediately, i thought she'd be on the other line in absolute hysterics telling me that willow had died but, she hadn't. she had rung me up because willow had woken up and had cried out for me. hearing my daughter's voice that day, just as i was ready to drop everything and leave new york for my daughter. to then hear that she was okay and that she was still alive was all i needed to know that she was getting better. and that maybe, just maybe, she'd recover and be okay again..." dad once again trailed off as it started to get way too emotional as i smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed as the crowd stayed in utter silence

which is probably why i felt a little bit uncomfortable at the same time. since, they are usually never, the supernatural fans, this quiet when my dad and uncles are on stage.

"...so, for the rest of this panel, willow will remain on stage and if you have any questions for her, feel free to ask them," dad finished explaining and he only had a couple tears streaming down his cheeks as we had a group hug before the questions and panel formally started

like dad already mentioned, i stayed on stage for the rest of the panel and got to get asked and answer some fan questions which was super cool. and it felt magical and so surreal to be on this side of the stage since i was almost always in the audience when mom and i were at conventions. having the privilege to even be alive and be in complete remission from my cancer.

then, after i answered a fans question, dad raised his microphone to his mouth and spoke up again. revealing some news that we had only just found out this very morning to the point that, i don't even think he had told uncle jensen, uncle jared and uncle rob or the rest of the attending cast.

dad smiled brightly as he got everyone's attention as he announced the news, "...this morning, we found out the best news in regards to willow and her cancer. we got told this morning that she is finally in complete remission and has been said to be cancer-free!" he smiled tearfully as i turned around in my chair to see how uncle jensen, uncle jared and uncle rob reacted and it made me teary-eyed

giving me the answer that this was the first time they had been told as well. uncle jared, uncle jensen and uncle rob then hopped off their seats and pulled us in for a group hug in which i started to cry. in pure joy that i was healthy again, my cancer is finally gone and i didn't have to be constantly in the hospital anymore.

the panel then finished and rob and the rest of louden swain began singing the exit song, singing it directly towards me. we then all rushed off so the next actors could come up and do their panel.

°∘❉∘°

the convention had finally finished for the day and as we relaxed and enjoyed each other's company, i got a notification saying that dad had posted to his instagram. and i just knew instantly what it was he had posted about. he had been saying all day that he had wanted to also make an instagram post, announcing that i was officially in complete remission and cancer-free. so, he did.

liked by willowcollins, elouisacollins, jaredpadalecki jensenackles, ruthie_connell, alexandercalvert and 777k others

misha when willow was eight-years-old, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the uncertainty of her survival. however, all these years later and i have an eighteen-year-old, nearly nineteen, who i got to see reach all of her special milestones. like her tenth birthday, her high school graduation, her eighteenth and soon her nineteenth. she also got to see her brother west and sister maison birthdays, all of their births and will be healthy enough to watch them grow up even more and watch them reach their special milestones. my daughter stayed and it is the biggest joy to say that willow is now in complete remission and cancer-free! i love you so much, willow storm collins. and if i had to watch you go through cancer all over again, i would do it. because it reminded me of truly how special and irreplaceable you are. you were me and mommy's first baby and our first daughter. you know we would do everything and anything to make sure you were your happiest, your healthiest and your best. and i truly do believe that this next season in your life, with you cancer-free and no longer in hospitals constantly, you'll be truly successful in every single thing you wish to do with your life! you are such a strong girl and even though you always say it was me, mom, west and maison as the reasons why you stayed, i truly believe that it was you that made yourself stay. and that it was you that gave you the strength to push through. dad loves you willow, thank you for staying 🤍

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willowcollins i love you so much, daddy! i am truly so grateful to be cancer-free! and don't thank me for staying, of course i'd stay 🤍

misha willowcollins i love you more baby girl and i know you're grateful and so am i 🤍

elouisacollins these photos of our little girl! i cannot believe she's nearly nineteen 🤍

misha elouisacollins i know right? it makes me feel so old, like, we nearly have a nineteen-year-old!

jaredpadalecki i swear to god, we need to stop telling each other things for the first time during conventions! but, in all seriousness, it brings me so much happiness that willow is cancer-free!

misha jaredpadalecki lol, we really do! and it brings me so much happiness as well, getting that phone call from dr phelps was like a dream come true!

jensenackles still in shock that willow's cancer free!

misha jensenackles i'm still in shock too

ruthie_connell best news ever, misha! hearing that willow's cancer-free was truly the highlight of the entire evening!

misha ruthie_connell i agree! i had moments where i just wanted to scream it out way earlier in the panel but i knew i couldn't!

alexandercalvert this is great news misha and elouisa! i'm so glad that willow is finally cancer-free! it seems as though that time from eight years old to eighteen/nineteen has been a whirlwind for you all but also somewhat of a fever dream!

misha alexandercalvert i know! so am i, it's been a long, windy road but, i'm glad we've finally reached the end of it!

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willowcollins life since being cancer-free 🤍

being a survivor of childhood cancer, amongst other things throughout my life, i knew i wanted to stay and stay alive the moment i was told i had the "big c". since entering complete remission and getting labelled cancer-free, i've graduated high school, i've travelled back and forth between the states and canada. i've turned eighteen, i've gone on nights out with my parents and supernatural uncles and aunties (only to drink mocktails, please, i'm not twenty-one yet). i've gone to concerts and conventions with my cousins and i've surfed. i've been able to live my life in ways that i hadn't been able to do in years and i didn't have to worry about the scars, i didn't have to worry about being tired, i didn't have to worry about the fear of simply closing my eyes and if they'd open the next morning. i've been able to take care of and hang out with my brother and sister west and maison, i've seen them grow up, from when west was four and when maison was three when i was first diagnosed to when cousins of mine came along later on when i was recovering, to their handsome and gorgeous selves now. when i was battling cancer, i couldn't do the things i can do now. i couldn't surf, i couldn't drink (i mean, that was because i was underage the majority of the time and still am), i couldn't go into physical school and had to do it all online when i wasn't violently ill, i couldn't travel back and forth between the states and canada. i couldn't have an extravagant ninth or tenth for that matter, and i couldn't go to conventions with my supernatural cousins. when i had cancer, i was constantly riddled with the fear and anxiety of not being able to live another day because of how tired, sore and exhausted i was. having to see but also hear your parents, most especially your dad, cry and not being able to help them other than offer a hand or a soft smile for comfort was agonising. the number of times i watched my dad cry as he sat in the same hospital chair over and over again just to make sure i was still breathing through the night is no longer countable since he had done it so many times. the number of times i had to watch my uncles and aunties cry as they also sat and watched to make sure i was still alive throughout the day is immeasurable. thankfully, i didn't have to see my brother and sister or cousins cry a lot, especially because west and maison three and four at the beginning and the other cousins weren't around then. but, at the same token, it makes me feel sick to think about the times when the other cousins were around that they did cry during my cancer battle and i wasn't there to tell them that everything was going to be okay. but now, whenever they do cry or they are upset, i can be there for them straight away. and it was all because i stayed alive and i didn't let myself have my family go through the agony of having to live without me. because i couldn't do that to them, no way.

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misha i love you, more than words can describe willow! you strong, brave girl!

willowcollins misha i love you most daddy! and i'm only strong because of you and mom

elouisacollins crying my eyes out reading this!

willowcollins elouisacollins i cried writing this, believe it or not!

danneelackles512 hearing your dad announce during the panel that you're finally cancer-free after completing complete remission is the best news to hear!

willowcollins danneelackles512 i genuinely had no idea that he hadn't told you guys yet! so seeing how everyone all reacted made me cry!

genpadalecki i'm still screaming over the news that you're finally cancer-free!

willowcollins genpadalecki so am i aunty gen! it's the best feeling ever!

robenedict i am so beyond relieved that you are cancer-free, sweet willow! i remember when i first met you when you were just a little baby and now you're a glowing eighteen-year-old

willowcollins robenedict aw, thank you stormy! i am relieved too and thank you again!

dicksp8jr i'm so glad you're cancer-free willow!

willowcollins dicksp8jr so am i! i cannot believe it sometimes!

- - -

this was so much fun to write and i am so glad i got to give it a happy ending when the original was so depressing and yes, i know i fucked up the timeline when i originally wrote it on wattpad but, i don't care cause what if this is the one i'm calling canon and the original is the alternate ending? nah jokes, i didn't realise i fucked up the timeline until about halfway through and decided to stick with the changed timeline until i fixed it over here on tumblr!

ok ily bye xx

wc; 5551

#misha collins #you stayed alt ending #happy ending #supernatural cast

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