I do agree that staying home and seeing no one is hard on me. I am triple vaccinated. I have N95 masks. People like to think that makes you "safe." Those measures improve your odds of avoiding COVID. There is no such thing as "safe." I expect that the prevalence of COVID will have plummeted greatly by Easter. It seems to me I should stay ultra-careful until then. But, yes, it is dispiriting. A friend that I normally do things with refuses to get the booster. So I am unwilling to hang out with her. We talk on the phone every few days with no hard feelings. She has a right to her choice. But I won't be around someone who takes COVID less seriously than I do. She goes to beauty salons and for massages. I won't take those chances for at least a few more weeks.

So, maybe, I just have to tough it out. Not that I'm showing much toughness. I read recently that getting COVID can activate latent TB. Like a lot of people who worked in nursing homes in the '70s and '80s, I test positive on the TB skin test. So I have concern about that. My last chest xray didn't look completely normal either, possibly due to some residual change caused by pneumonia I had quite a few years ago.

My provider is a PA, not an MD. She's smart and caring, but I don't think I have the confidence in her I might have in a doctor. I did have access to a psychiatrist where I get my healthcare. I stopped seeing him back in 2020. After my boyfriend died, I contacted him because of worsening depression. He told me there was nothing wrong with me mentally. I ended up in a psych hospital for a week. So I would never want to see him again. He showed not even the common decency of saying "I'm sorry for your loss." He more or less told me I was imposing on him. So I have the feeling of being very unsupported.

I do realize there's not a lot anyone can do for me. I have to push myself to keep up with things like housework and getting exercise, or I'll just go downhill.

Spring is coming. I'll be glad of that.