Taken Aback – Day 634

Posted on August 7, 2020August 7, 2020 by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments

Tigger – as disgusted and taken aback as I feel Photo: L. Weikel

Taken Aback

I had a conversation late this afternoon that completely surprised me. I was so taken aback, as a matter of fact, that I did not fully comprehend what was being said to me in the moment. As a result, I failed to respond the way I think I wish I had.

Let me set the scene:

At the grocery store today, I ran into a friend whom I haven’t seen in probably two or three months. We’re both wearing masks, of course. We exchanged pleasantries and inquired about each other’s families.

As conversations are wont to go nowadays, we drifted to the pandemic and mused over whether we’ll ever really and truly get to a point where we can live entirely ‘mask-free’ again. We didn’t describe it that way. It was more a vague wondering on both our parts whether things would ever really and truly go back to the way they were. Both of us expressed a deep sadness that resigning ourselves to a new normal may be what we have to do, but it won’t be without deep sadness.

The Surprise

It was at this point that the conversation took a turn that I definitely did not see coming. She told me that her daughter had taken her five year old grandson to his pediatrician the other day for his well-checkup. It just so happened that the boy woke that day with a slight sore throat. Hmm.

They went to the doctor’s office and, sure enough, the boy was running a slight fever.

When the doctor came into the examining room, he told the boy’s mom that he was not going to test the child. She should just take him home and keep an eye on him. If he got worse, she should bring him in again.

When I asked why they didn’t test him, she told me the doctor said, “Most children and healthy adults don’t get sick with Covid. It’s nothing to worry about. The numbers are being exaggerated by too much testing and they’re being all conflated.”

I was stunned.

A pediatrician said this?

My friend concluded our conversation with, “So they came home and sure enough, the next day he felt completely fine.” As if this proved what? That the boy doesn’t have the virus? Have they not been paying any attention to the way this virus can manifest?

What I Was Thinking

My mind was boggled. In that moment, I could almost literally feel the gears in my brain getting stuck, backing up, and trying to re-engage along a completely different track. Not knowing for sure where her daughter lived, I asked if this was a local pediatrician. Sure enough, he practices in the Lehigh Valley.

I am still somewhat reeling from this revelation. This was a five year old. Why in the world would this pediatrician NOT test this kid – when he was exhibiting symptoms?! I’ve been thinking about this over and over again all evening (hence the reason why I decided to just sit down and write about it).

This kid could easily be spreading it. Who’s to say the whole family doesn’t have it and maybe most of them are asymptomatic? What if my friend, who is a few years older than I am (thus in her 60s) catches it? And I’m not even saying that the kid has it or doesn’t.

My point is: Why in the world would a physician NOT order a test, particularly when the child shows up with symptoms? This is a kid who is kindergarten age! I didn’t ask, but I do wonder whether the plan is for him to go to school whenever it starts…?

Upshot

I regret that I didn’t speak up and question the wisdom of not having the child tested. Then again – would that be my place? And what would that have accomplished? The deed was done, or rather – not done.

I wish I had defended the need for MORE testing – not LESS. I am feeling freaked out that a person I consider intelligent and practical would actually express skepticism over ‘the accuracy of the numbers.’

I definitely was taken aback by this conversation – and now I’m feeling more than a little bit of despair.

(T-477)

Full Moon Dreaming – Day 631

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Full moon in Aquarius – August 2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Full Moon Dreaming

I’m glad I managed to get some sweet shots of the very nearly almost full moon last night, because there’s not a chance it’s visible this evening. No, we’re relegated to full moon dreaming this evening – and hoping it doesn’t turn into a flash flood nightmare.

Indeed, we’re lucky we even got a two mile walk in. Only minutes after returning home tonight, my phone pinged to alert me to a meteorological prospect I’d already sussed out: we were on the verge of being hit by a severe thunderstorm. While we did receive a reasonable storm (it was nothing like what hit us last Thursday evening), the amount of rain that fell was a mere drop in the bucket to what we’re likely to experience in the early morning hours tomorrow.

It seems a bit weird that here in eastern Pennsylvania we’re getting hit with a tropical storm calling not only for up to 6” of rain falling ‘in a short period of time’ (causing flash flooding), but also winds potentially ranging between 58-73 mph and even the possibility of tornadoes.

I think I can pretty confidently say that Pennsylvanians, on the whole, did not sign up for this. Or tornadoes. Tropical storms are generally southern and mid-western state issues. What the heck is happening here? Mid-Atlantic states say, “No thank you!”

Timing

I’m sure the effects on the coastline of Tropical Storm Isaias (which I believe has regained hurricane strength as it makes landfall in the Carolinas this evening) will be exacerbated by the full moon, undoubtedly creating higher than normal storm surges and even greater erosion than usual. But beyond that, I hate to think of the suffering and risk people will endure as a direct result of the confluence of these battering storms and the unavoidable reality of the pandemic.

It seems like every day we’re bombarded with more and more stories of the precariousness of life here in the United States. Meanwhile, Congress dithers.

Something’s gotta give. And that’s usually when a full moon comes in and gives us a well-timed push.

Choices

Since the inception of 2020, all of us are facing choices day in and day out that we never imagined we would have to make. I think it may have been in this podcast that I heard that this full moon is in the fixed air sign of Aquarius, which is completing a cycle begun at the end of January, at which time we experienced a new moon in the fixed air sign of Aquarius.

I can’t help but wonder at the choices that have been made in how we viewed and dealt with Covid-19 from the earliest days of its arrival here in the U.S. (our first awareness being at the end of January) to how we’re viewing and dealing with it now (at this ‘fullness’ of the same moon as when it all began). I’d like to think that this full moon could represent the climax of the virus’s impact on our society – and had we made other, significantly different choices on how to respond to the virus’s arrival, surely wresting it under control would have been a possibility we’d be enjoying.

But sadly, this full moon could actually signify the virus just starting to hit its stride in taking us out.

Taking a Stand

This full moon could very well be challenging us to stand up to the bullying we’re enduring to have our children and teachers return to school as if the virus is contained. We must acknowledge the truth: it isn’t contained. Not even close.

And a point is going to come – soon, I sense, urged on by the pressure and illumination of this full moon – when parents are going to rise up and demand accountability. Demand testing. Demand a national strategy that will protect all of us, but especially those our government is insanely threatening us to sacrifice: our children, our teachers, those who feed, transport, and clean up after them. Our future.

The present disastrous predicament we find ourselves in did not need to happen. And as unpopular as it might be, there still exists an opportunity for us to dream another future into being. But it would entail short-term but rather draconian sacrifice. Short-term pain for long-term gain. (Something we’ve already squandered once, but hey – maybe we can still turn it around?)

In the meantime, I think Spartacus has the right idea: he’s dreaming, and possibly projecting, himself into a future featuring American humans making wiser, more compassionate choices.

Spartacus – Dreaming of Humans Making Better Choices – Photo: L.Weikel

(T-480)

Stark times – Day 486

Posted on March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment

Stark Times – Photo: L. Weikel

Stark Times

The situation we’re facing at the moment appears pretty dire. I’d say we’re facing unquestionably stark times as individuals, as families, as a country, and as global citizens.

If you don’t appreciate just how worrisome this situation is, I suggest you listen to the first 20 minutes or so of this You Tube interview. It’s chilling.

It’s chilling, yes – but it also contains essential information that we all need to hear and fully process, because hiding our heads in the sand is not going to make this situation better nor will willful ignorance help us get through it any more quickly. In fact, just the opposite.

Who’s Susceptible?

One thing I found extremely interesting (if disturbing) was that we’ve been telling ourselves that the people most at risk of succumbing to the virus are older people who have underlying respiratory issues. This is based on information gleaned from the outbreak in China.

The trouble with extrapolating from that data is the fact that so many Chinese men are smokers. Indeed, Chinese men smoke a lot more than Chinese women, which may be a significant driver as far as why older Chinese men are often those least likely to survive the virus.

What’s being discovered in the United States (with, admittedly, the limited data we have at the moment due to the dearth of test kits made available) is that smoking is not as significant a risk factor here. Rather, one of the highest risk factors in our country, besides age and respiratory underlying issues, is obesity.

Think about that! That’s a huge problem in our country. And it almost certainly makes a much larger portion of our population susceptible to less than optimal outcomes should they contract the virus.

This is huge.

It’s the Testing

There’s so much we don’t know. And man, I hate that. I hate it when I can remember when we could rely on being totally on top of our game as a nation. I love remembering how our policies were the best anyone could come up with because they were developed before a situation became a crisis.

So much of what we do not know stems from the fact that our federal government has botched our ability to test for infection. It’s been an epic fail. And sadly, we’re still not getting straight answers as far as when we can expect substantial numbers of test kits to be distributed around the country.

We need to demand accountability. We need to demand straight answers.

We need to demand THE TRUTH. And sorry, there aren’t different versions of that. The truth is the truth.

And our lives depend upon hearing it – whether we like it or not.