How Much Do Your Risks Weigh?

Step up on this scale

An old friend posted this on social media 2 days ago:

>> My Covid Update (at long last):

I just returned home this evening from 2 days in ICU and another 6 in the hospital. Covid Complications: Infection, fever, BP tanked (73/40), Blood Sugar off the chart, and 2 units of blood transfused. Platelets are still low. Had both a Central line AND a PIC line installed.

You see, I never fully recovered from Covid.

I'm gonna be okay, it will simply take more time and a lot of follow-up from a home nurse. I have what I thought were bedsores, but instead are called "Covid wounds". Ugly, bleeding purple/black lesions on my leg, hip and and butt. I wouldn't wish them on anyone! Some are so deep they have to be debrided, irrigated and then packed with bandaging every day/every other day. And they caused the infection and fever that ruined my blood chemistry.

Sometimes you have no idea how sick you really are!

Thanks to all for their kind, good wishes. <<

That friend slipped and fell at home and only upon the subsequent visit to the ER discovered all that covid had done. That friend thought they were recovering from Covid contracted in February. Without that fall, the lack of full treatment could have proven deadly.

But I understand.

Some of us prefer to not make a big deal out of our illnesses and aches. I tend to be a pill-adverse person, for example. I only take aspirin for a headache if it lasts a few hours and I can’t get rid of it by hydrating or pressure-point massages. If I’m prescribed a daily medication, I have a thorough discussion with my PCP before accepting it into my daily routine.

I’ve concluded from stories from multiple friends that delay is not smart where covid is involved or where other serious symptoms arise that could define the onset of other major diseases. I have family members and friends personally dealing with current and long-hauler symptoms of covid. I have others treating patients with covid.

It’s difficult to deal with for some. It’s an excruciating way to die for others. Some are lucky to remain asymptomatic.

And a lot of people died from other health conditions because healthcare providers had their hands full of covid patients.

And most covid patients die without family at their bedside.

Don’t be one of them.

I understand that some groups of people have a logical concern that a vaccine developed with government aid might not be trustworthy because a previous version of that government tested drugs on them (their group) without their knowledge. People with developmental disabilities, US military members, temporarily incarcerated people, and members of minority groups have been victimized by governments before, including previous US governments.

Their concern is logical and understood. But it still should yield to present day circumstances. Vaccine development occurs at a faster pace because the technology to do so has evolved. The decoding of human genetics has evolved. The knowledge of similar viruses to covid has grown for over 30 years.

And the few reported occurrences of life threatening side effects from the three vaccines in use in the US mean - in relative terms - that you’re way more likely to die by choking to death on a bite of food. Should you stop eating food to protect yourself?

It is exactly that simple a choice to make. The risk is greater of dying by food even if you take smaller bites and chew longer.

Your risk of dying due to contracting covid is only about 5%. It’s more than 20 times less risky if you’ve been vaccinated.

Meanwhile the risk of contracting covid and spreading it to others - some of whom will die - is way, way higher.

The friend who wrote about their near-death covid experience lost a spouse to covid. A child contracted first and it spread to both parents. They’re tormented by guilt for unintentionally causing that. That kid almost lost both parents. They certainly didn’t intend to.

Unvaccinated people now usually don’t intend to cause the deaths of others. But there’s a way higher risk that they’ll do so nonetheless.

Math is difficult for some but it’s always a better choice when there’s a risk that 1 in 10,000 could die instead of 1 out of 20.

Enjoy your dinner. Guilt free.

Even your dinner is much safer than it used to be because of the collective outcomes of scientific discoveries.

(Note: though it’s something I write about a lot, the focus of this ongoing newsletter is not specifically about covid. My own knowledge of the disease has been ongoing daily for over a year and comes from reputable medical science sources, not from common media outlets or politicians. While raw numbers come from several covid counting sources like Johns Hopkins University, I also regularly cross check other related covid news with current and retired epidemiologists and healthcare professionals. They are not elected or appointed members of any government.)