Rant away about COVID, the vaccine, etc.

Okay, Melbo, color me impressed that you have a favorite bartender. Haven't had one of those since about 1990. Damn, I'm old.

"The Mods said they hid the thread because they don't think the pandemic discussion is a priority on a breast cancer board."

Right. Because diagnoses of breast cancer and diagnoses of recurrences haven't been delayed because of Covid.

Because appointments, imaging, and surgeries haven't been delayed, and treatment plans haven't been altered because of Covid.

Because those in treatment aren't any more vulnerable to Covid than anyone else in the population.

Because those who need physical and/or mental health support to deal with breast cancer haven't struggled to get the support they need during Covid.

Because those who are Stage IV are still able to live their lives to the fullest despite Covid.

Because people already dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis and/or with the side effects of treatment don't feel angry and frustrated at also having to navigate their way through a global pandemic.

Sorry but that explanation boggles the mind. And I doubt it's the real reason this thread is hidden. After all, other than the potentially highly contentious political threads, are there other threads that are hidden? All the social and entertainment threads that are not hidden... are those more important than Covid?

This discussion has at times become highly contentious... hmmm, maybe that's it? However the difference versus the hidden political threads is that politics really is not relevant to breast cancer (other than healthcare policies, which are discussed in separate public threads). But for many breast cancer patients, Covid is very relevant, in different ways and for different reasons than how Covid affects those without cancer or another serious illness. BCO has acknowledged this by setting up a whole new forum specifically to discuss Covid issue. BCO members have acknowledged this by writing 21 pages of posts in a week. But it's not priority on a breast cancer discussion board. Okay.

"It's better for me to reduce my participation on this site altogether." Yup, me too.

Please don't go, Beesie. You are one of the most helpful posters on this site. You have helped me and so many others in innumerable ways.

I think rather than leaving, we should all PM the Mods with a request to put this back on the active page, perhaps without KBL's original post. It is too important a subject to be hidden.

This site has always been about correcting misinformation, especially about medical matters. Why should this be different just because some posters don't know the difference between facts and opinions. It's in everyone's best interest to get factual information out there.

Just my two cents.

Oh, KBL, I didn't want you to have to do anything. I know this thread got to be so stressful for you, so I thought you might not want to be associated with it. That was all.

We were just trying to get the Moderators to put it back on the active list, rather than having it hidden.

Trish

Elderberry, great contribution from the Bruni newsletter - he is The NY Times op Ed writer, correct?

Thank you for sharing

Alice, I found one of them accidentally by looking through the profile of someone I like who posts on the regular "non-hidden" threads. I don't know if there are others, though...

For those of you who don't know anyone who died of Covid personally, lucky lucky you.

We had a recent outbreak at our office early last week when an unvaccinated individual (mask usually half off) announced they felt ill but it was probably allergies and then a day later, oops sorry I have Covid. Quite a few coworkers had to go home because they were close contacts. Heartbreakingly, one of them who was vaccinated ended up in hospital (she had quite a few underlying conditions). Because there was no room at the hospital (full of unvaccinated muthafkers) and she was vaccinated, she waited until she was really ill. By the time she went to the ER her organs were already shutting down. She died today and left 2 young children behind. I cried, she was a lovely young woman who was walking around the office alive and well just 2 weeks ago. We are still in shock.

I don't know if I am just unlucky, but I now know 3 people personally who have died. This is the first young person (30s).

To add insult to injury, I just got a call from my son's school and was told he is a close contact of a student who tested positive (unvaccinated). My son was vaccinated, but he and I have to go and get tested. Thank God my husband (high risk) has gone to see his father (did I mention his mother died of Covid earlier this year?) for the first time since her death, so I don't have to worry about him. My immune system has never quite recovered from chemo so although I am vaccinated, I am terrified to go near my 15 year old son. Maybe I am being ridiculous, but I remember H walking around the office 2 weeks ago, and now she is dead.

What more can I say? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion yadda yadda yadda... And while you are debating it and downplaying it or just thinking "oh well, shit happens", people YOU may not know nor care about are going to die. Well I know them. And they didn't have to die if we all just sucked it up and got vaccinated (I am not including those who can't).

Oh my God I am so tired of this.

I'm so very sorry for your loss, trinigirl.

My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. Because of COVID limiting access, it took months to get her lumpectomy. This year my other sister has to wait 2 months to get hers for the same reason. It frustrates me that a cancer support forum would hide such facts and the harm it cause patients in all phases of cancer treatment.

trinigirl50, I am so, so sorry for the losses and fears of loss you have lived, and I am furious that you have to endure people downplaying your experience and those lost lives.

The burying of threads like this brings back my anger and frustration when I had endometrial cancer and joined HysterSisters. It was a great online community, and since I didn't have anyone else to talk to about any of it, being a member there really helped. But the moderators were sometimes clueless. I was feeling really down one day and posted about feeling like I had been neutered. The moderators deleted that post and sent me a message that negative words like "neutered" weren't used in that community. Well, what the fluck good is a forum like that (or this) if we can't post our fears and frustrations? Even if a topic on here doesn't deal directly with breast cancer, ANYTHING that impacts our health is cancer-adjacent, physically and mentally, and should be up for discussion.

You know illimae, I have thought about that myself. As she died yesterday there hasn't been anything expressed in the office but shock and grief.

Next week now, I wonder. I personally don't know how to feel about the person who originally was positive. You have to wonder if it really was that person who passed it to her or if she got it elsewhere, from her kids etc. This community is rife with the unvaccinated, unmasked (defiantly so), so it would be a reasonable question. The thing is, there were a couple of coworkers who were angry at being put at risk, but were unvaccinated themselves, and I often see them without their masks, not social distancing. It could have been any of then who might have originated it, to my way of thinking.

The person who was sniffling, the likely spreader, I know her a little. I think that she must be devastated. I know I would be, hence my mask firmly in place when I go out to visits and am told "you're fine, you don't need the mask, I don't care" etc etc. I always respond with "I have no intention of accidentally killing anyone or getting them sick".

How did we get here? How did a freaking virus turn into a political statement (it certainly is in this community).

And yes I am afraid, not so much of dying from Covid (that fear is more for my husband, misguided as that might be; my fear of dying is still reserved for stinking breast cancer), but I am afraid for this world of ours where the hatred/fear of the other is officially no longer something to try to overcome but instead is paraded around defiantly and proudly. That is quite frankly terrifying.

Trinigirl. yes 100% to your last post. I am so sorry your coworker was killed by covid.

Thank you, AlwaysMeC!

There are a lot of misinformation on other social media platforms regarding immunocompromised people. Someone once told me that I am not immunocompromised since I was able to get the covid vaccine, and it is all in my head. I was like Whattttttt., hmm, sure I wish it was just a bad dream and mBC never happened.

That subtle part at the end of the segment about talking to your doctor if you're thinking about taking an over the counter medicine was a pretty smart move on the part of that anchor. Literally, their doctors will likely say NOPE don't do it. I can't believe people are doing this...... Well I can. I guess I am disappointed with humans lately.