Stories During Corona Virus 2

[Howl]

People believing that drinking their own urine is healthful and a cure for covid is honestly the absolutely best self own ever in the history of ever.  Salud! 

and this: 

 

[Cartmann99]

Spoiler

 

[Dandruff]

4 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

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I shouldn't be laughing, but imagine having bubonic plague and being advised that your best odds are to whip yourself, smear yourself with feces, bathe in vinegar, drink your pus, drink your urine, drink a ground emerald, and eat snakeskin and bone from the heart of a stag.  As if your situation wasn't bad enough.

OTOH, here we are in 2022 with vaccines, masks, modern medicines...and new uses for bleach and Ivermectin.

We should provide the Covidiots with the plague treatment list and see what happens.  I'd leave out the bone from the heart of a stag, though (for the stags' sake).

[Alisamer]

11 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

 

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Well, technically speaking, some of those remedies are essentially primitive versions of what we have today - vaccination, cleanliness, and quarantine.

"Drinking the pus of lanced buboes" might work as a sort of inoculation if you don't have the plague yet. "Bathing should not be avoided" was very good advice for the Middle Ages - I think I've seen some stats that primarily Jewish areas survived the plague far better because they bathed more regularly as part of their religious observances. Probably don't want to bathe in your own urine, but putting some vinegar or rosewater in the bathwater wouldn't likely hurt anything. Today we'd tell people to drink plenty of water, but in times when water wasn't super safe, drinking beer morning and night was a way to get some amount of hydration. 

Today we say "get vaccinated, be vigilant about handwashing, and isolate yourself if you're exposed" - they didn't know the science behind it yet, but recommending bathing and quarantine were solid helpful ideas for the time. I wonder if there were anti-bath protesters back then?

[CTRLZero]

I took an online course on the bubonic plague a couple summers ago.  Sometimes the uses of herbs were just because everything smelled so bad.  Those beak-like plague masks (you’ve probably seen pictures of them) had aromatic herbs in the beak to fend off the horrible stench.  I can’t even imagine living in those conditions. Unfortunately, due to superstition, there were a lot of anti-science movements then, too.  We humans tend to take strides forward, then steps back.

Silly thing I just read - “If you have to drink your own pee, urine trouble.” 🙃

[Howl]

I don't think we've covered the late Kelly "No jabby-jabby for me" Canon:  

The actual cause of death was covid-related pneumonia. 

Conservative Activist Dies of COVID Complications After Attending Anti-Vax ‘Symposium’  Kelly Canon had celebrated her vaccine exemption a few weeks before she fell ill with the virus and wound up on a ventilator.

Quote

A well-known conservative activist in Arlington, Texas, who peddled COVID-19 vaccine misinformation has died of complications caused by the virus—just a few weeks after attending a “symposium” against the shots.

The headline is somewhat misleading.  She became sick several weeks after attending an event, so she would not have contracted covid there. But yes, it's ironic that she became ill and died after celebrating being granted a vaccine exemption. 

She did one good thing.  Tx Rep. Joe Barton sent her unsolicited, offensive and extremely suggestive face book messages and she made them public.  There's also Joe Barton's dick pic issues, but anyway, he decided not to run again. 

Bizarrely, people offering condolences congratulated her for being a warrior for freedom, helping irony itself die another death. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by Howl

[Dandruff]

4 hours ago, Howl said:

I don't think we've covered the late Kelly "No jabby-jabby for me" Canon:  

The actual cause of death was covid-related pneumonia.

These folks seem to have a problem understanding cause and effect.  For the rest of us, it no longer matters whether Kelly is vaccinated.

[Howl]

I'm at the point where, "Whew! Made it one more day with no omicron! We'll see what tomorrow brings!" 

[Alisamer]

11 hours ago, Howl said:

I'm at the point where, "Whew! Made it one more day with no omicron! We'll see what tomorrow brings!" 

Same. Boss has it now. His daughter had it last week. Luckily, despite feeling totally fine and being bored (he's vaxxed and boosted), boss is staying home. He doesn't want to, but he is as long as he's testing positive. 

I have one home test left, and I'm waiting for actual symptoms before using it. I am in the "is this my Zyrtec not kicking in yet or congestion?" and "is this headache Omicron or dehydration?" camp, but so far I haven't had any unusual symptoms that I might not have on a random day anyway. Boss's daughter is back at work (testing negative) and wearing a mask as a precaution. Luckily our building is large, we rarely spend more than a few minutes near each other through the day, and ventilation is pretty good. If it wasn't freezing outside we'd have the roll-up doors open for even more ventilation. We are all wearing masks around customers and visitors to the shop. 

The testing site I drive by spent the first week of the new year lined up for miles with 5+ hour waits for tests (they test for flu, Covid, and also are doing vaccines). The last 2 days it's had a line and been busy, but nothing like that first week. I'm really hoping that means the virus surge is waning. 

[Howl]

Glen Beck is going through some things.  He's anti vax and has covid for the second time.

Quote

“It’s starting to go into my lungs today and a little disturbing. I’m on all the medications and treatments and everything else, so...it’s all good,” Beck said. 

All the medications includes Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. 

On 1/11/2022 at 10:46 AM, Alisamer said:

"Drinking the pus of lanced buboes" might work as a sort of inoculation if you don't have the plague yet.

Reading about how George Washington's troops were required to be "innoculated" against small pox is grim.  IIRC, it involved scratching the skin with a pox infected instrument and hoping that it resulted in a mild, survivable case.  

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by Howl

[Ozlsn]

4 hours ago, Howl said:

Reading about how George Washington's troops were required to be "innoculated" against small pox is grim.  IIRC, it involved scratching the skin with a pox infected instrument and hoping that it resulted in a mild, survivable case

Variolation is indicative of how utterly terrifying smallpox was. To be willing to take the risk that you or your child might get sick and die in the hope that it would be a mild case and lead to protective immunity... well, you have to be pretty aware that the alternative of getting the pox in a plague year would likely be so much worse. 

So much of this "wellness" and "natural" movement is based pretty solidly on an unmentioned foundation of an assumption that modern medicine, antibiotics, vaccines etc. didn't have a major impact on our ability to survive to adulthood and not drop like flies durimg plague years.

[church_of_dog]

4 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Variolation is indicative of how utterly terrifying smallpox was. To be willing to take the risk that you or your child might get sick and die in the hope that it would be a mild case and lead to protective immunity... well, you have to be pretty aware that the alternative of getting the pox in a plague year would likely be so much worse. 

So much of this "wellness" and "natural" movement is based pretty solidly on an unmentioned foundation of an assumption that modern medicine, antibiotics, vaccines etc. didn't have a major impact on our ability to survive to adulthood and not drop like flies durimg plague years.

More and more lately I've been thinking about the distinction between the experience of a pandemic on a society vs on an individual.  A given pandemic might not threaten the existence of humankind but that doesn't mean it's not a serious threat to specific individuals.  Humans aren't fungible.

 

[Ozlsn]

First person piece from The Guardian about rationing healthcare.

The pieces fall together instantly. With intensive care at capacity, I am being asked to move my patient to make room for another. “After all, your patient does have incurable cancer.”

My bile rises. And even as I know it’s a petty question, I can’t help asking: “Is the Covid patient vaccinated?”

“No,” he says wearily. “That’s why he is so sick.”

[47of74]

On 1/13/2022 at 8:53 PM, Ozlsn said:

First person piece from The Guardian about rationing healthcare.

The pieces fall together instantly. With intensive care at capacity, I am being asked to move my patient to make room for another. “After all, your patient does have incurable cancer.”

My bile rises. And even as I know it’s a petty question, I can’t help asking: “Is the Covid patient vaccinated?”

“No,” he says wearily. “That’s why he is so sick.”

I'm at the point where if my doctor said I had cancer or a serious illness I'd have to think long and hard about getting treatment or just being asked to be made comfortable.  I wouldn't just let my doctor go and start wanting to treat it but actually talk through it all with the family first.  I don't have a spouse or children to worry about. 

Back when the pandemic started I sent a message to both local hospitals saying if it ever got to the point where they had to decide between saving me or someone else save the other person and just make me as comfortable as possible.  Especially if the other person had a spouse and/or children.  I talked to a nurse at one of those hospitals who thought that was really generous of me to offer to do that. 

If I was a health care provider I'd tell that guy to stick his non-vaccinated patient where the sun doesn't shine and not give a shit how it looks to either hospital administration or the fucking state.  If nothing else, the pandemic cured me of having an asshole tolerance.

[Ozlsn]

40 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

If I was a health care provider I'd tell that guy to stick his non-vaccinated patient where the sun doesn't shine and not give a shit how it looks to either hospital administration or the fucking state. 

From the article:

Spoiler

Recriminations flood my mind, but this is no time for argument. I have deep regard for an old colleague who feels ethically conflicted and is asking for my help. I am torn between respecting his predicament and honouring my patient.

He agrees that absent a pandemic, if I had suggested withdrawing care, he would have counselled hanging on a little longer. And he concedes that while many of my patients die prematurely, it is important for the family to know that we did all we could. To change course merely hours after our bedside conversation would multiply this family’s grief. In turn, I understand that for a chance at survival, the Covid patient needs a ventilator.

..

Keeping my voice steady, I say: “If you are asking for my permission to withdraw care tonight, I can’t give it. My patient may have cancer, but she deserves a chance.”

As I worry about alienating him, his voice breaks.

“I hope that if asked, my parents’ oncologist would make the exact same decision.”

There are no easy decisions at the pointy end, and I feel for the people there. When my husband was hospitalised briefly in March 2020 with potential covid (he tested negative to everything, we still don't know what it was, or whether it was covid but the test was so late he'd cleared it) they asked him if he wanted a DNR. To be fair it was prefaced with "given your age I'm guessing not, but if things go in this direction...". He didn't tell me this for several weeks afterward.

I am angry that these decisions have to be made anyway, that we under-resource so that even a bad flu season brings the network to the edge, but I am angrier still at the politicans, leaders, "influencers" and "religious" leaders who should know better but who are making this so much worse for political and/or monetary reasons. It did not have to be this bad - Italy in 2020, NYC in 2020 were less preventable, but London, Sydney, etc in 2022? We could have done ao much better.

 

[Howl]

On 1/11/2022 at 10:02 PM, Howl said:

I'm at the point where, "Whew! Made it one more day with no omicron! We'll see what tomorrow brings!" 

Well, darn.  Hubs came down with some serious Dire Rear this morning and was generally feeling a bit blah.  I just re-checked the list of covid symptoms, and yup, the very last one at the end of a long list was diarrhea. We can't think of anything that he ate that would be causing this.  Fingers crossed.  We'll be checking temps this evening and tomorrow.  We'll be on the phone to the doc STAT if there are any upper respiratory symptoms manifesting tomorrow.  

Found out via facebook that hub's niece and husband (vaxxed and boosted and pretty cautious) had easy 3-day covid, and are doing well.  Hubs other niece (don't know her well) has it, is unvaxxed and very sick (not in the hospital, though).  All these folks are in their late 50s - early 60s. 

Next door neighbors -- teachers, had/have it.  They teach at different schools. We found out she had covid over Christmas and is still recovering, and now he has it, but is pretty much over it except for a runny nose. They are both vaxxed and (I assume) boosted.  He was out walking his dog yesterday and didn't seem tired.    

[Howl]

Update, hubs is fine this morning, no worries!  Phew! 

This is somewhat of a crossover from politics: 

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Ted Cruz wear the iconic brown Carhartt work jackets  (RELAXED FIT DUCK BLANKET-LINED DETROIT JACKET) over blue work shirts for campaign ads or when they want to appear as working class men of the people.  (Note: these useless skinsuits have never done a full day of manual labor in their lives.)

Carhartt has announced that they will continue to enforce their covid vaccine mandate for all employees, even though SCOTUS has ruled against Biden's mandate.  This makes sense for a company, because you don't want your workforce out/disabled because everyone has covid.   

On twitter, you'd think it was the end of the world, with enraged customers vowing to #boycottCarhartt until the end of time (or they die from covid, whichever comes first). It's going to be a boon for Duluth Trading Company as their alternate! 

And now we'll probably see the most unlikely people rocking Carhartt as a show of support.  

Countdown to Patrick and Cruz scrubbing scrubbing their social media of any events where they appear wearing Carhartt. 

[Alisamer]

Boss and his daughter are both testing negative now, and back in the office. They were both vaxxed and boosted, and boss - despite being over 70 and high risk - says he always felt basically fine the whole time. Meanwhile co-worker's daughter who put off getting the vaccine, came down with it just days before her second shot was scheduled. She's not been to the point of needing the hospital, but she and her boyfriend have both been really really terribly sick. 

Meanwhile I know TWO people now who are vaxxed and had Covid early on who have it again now. I think one was boosted and one tested positive the morning she was supposed to get her booster. 

[Audrey2]

My mom's cousin died of covid today. She thinks he was either 72 or 73. We know at least two of his brothers were vaccinated but we're not sure about him but seriously doubt it.

[FiveAcres]

16 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

My mom's cousin died of covid today. She thinks he was either 72 or 73. We know at least two of his brothers were vaccinated but we're not sure about him but seriously doubt it.

I am sorry for your loss. 

[Howl]

17 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

My mom's cousin died of covid today. She thinks he was either 72 or 73. We know at least two of his brothers were vaccinated but we're not sure about him but seriously doubt it.

I'm so very sorry to hear this and condolences to you and your mom.  There's an extra pang because I'm 73 and know there's still so much life to live and his family is surely hurting deeply from this loss. 

On another sad note:  

Czech anti-coronavirus vaccine folk singer dies after deliberately getting infected with Covid-19, son says

Her husband and son were both vaccinated but had breakthrough covid.  She was only 57, and the son wants people to know she was swayed by disinformation about covid from social influencers. 

Quote

Horká wanted to infect herself so she could be "done with Covid," her son, Jan Rek, told Prima News on Monday.

"I came here because the debate is very important and I want to warn people," said Rek, who added that both he and his father had been vaccinated.

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by Howl

[Cartmann99]

Related to @Howl's comment about Carhartt:

Um...

Spoiler

 

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[thoughtful]

Mitchell Bosch, eh? I doubt he is related to the people who manufacture machines to keep things clean. However, he may be a descendant of Heironymous!