How has the Pandemic affected you as a cancer patient/survivor

Serenity,

I needed that laugh! However, it did bring back memories of my mom and the rectal thermometer 🥺.

Even if the delivery driver is wearing a mask properly when you see him, it doesn't mean that it was on 10 seconds earlier. We were out on a walk a few weeks ago and passed by a delivery truck parked at the curb - I think it was Amazon but am not sure. The driver was by the open doors at the back of the truck, sorting through parcels. His mask was on his chin. He let out a massive sneeze, not covering his mouth or nose, spreading his germs all over all the packages in his vicinity. I know that they now say that Covid doesn't transfer through surfaces but that sure didn't make me feel good about all the delivery packages we receive.

wrenn....And how precious few actually understand even a basic level of science and anatomy. It is shocking for sure.

This is why I wash my hands after handling a delivery package.

Before the pandemic I avoided touching door handles, elevator buttons, and escalator rails. Taking public transit is gross. After the pandemic I'm keeping my masks.

Tomorrow I'm taking the commuter train for the first time since first lockdown. 🥺

It's terrifying to learn that years of medical experience doesn't mean that much in COVID times.

I'll be ready if the ombudsman claims the employee is exempt because of a little Plexiglass. He's not completely behind Plexiglass if it's possible for me to drop a balance ball on his head. I could probably get his chair with a bank shot.

ETA: Not bringing an actual balance ball. Maybe just my cousin's friend who got vaccinated. 😉

Serenity, shots that leave our shores but don't end up in foreign arms might as well be flushed down the toilet. I know it's ideal to vaccinate the world to prevent the pandemic from worsening (and possibly allow it to begin to subside), but the sad truth is that more often than not, the ideal is the enemy of the achievable--the corollary of "the perfect is the enemy of the good." Must we sacrifice our must vulnerable on the altar of "well, our hearts were in the right place?"

ChiSandy - Please stop saying that other countries in need are too incompetent or corrupt given that we can find the same people here. Also, no one is calling for the vulnerable to be sacrificed. You keep coming up with different phrases, but enough with the drama.

Things are so very different here in Chicago!

My husband & I have re-entered most of life, but with proper precautions--even before getting our boosters. We never stopped wearing masks indoors, regardless of signs saying (it seems, in retrospect, like all of five minutes) it was "optional for vaccinated individuals." We keep them on in restaurants until we actively begin eating or drinking--and put them on (indoors or outdoors) when interacting with servers. We figure if they have to wear them we should return the courtesy. We have begun using public transit to places we can't drive, much less park.* We have been to a football and three baseballl games--all outdoors, of course, wearing our masks everywhere but at our seats (and sometimes even there--we wore our Bears masks between sips of beer). We wash our hands everytime we get home (and sanitize them upon entering & exiting stores and restaurants). We obey social-distancing floor markers & flow-direction arrows in stores. We have not canceled medical or dental appointments. Little Co. of Mary's physician dinner-dance this coming Sat, is going forward: all attendees must show proof of full vaccinations (negative test results are not an acceptable substitute). Cocktail reception is in an outdoor tent; and masks will be required indoors for dining. I get my manis and pedis--but only at the studio where everyone is masked and unmasked customers who won't don an offered mask are firmly shown the door.

We're not throwing all caution to the winds, though. We have postponed vacations, and walk out of businesses where masking is the exception rather than the rule. But Bob has to work at hospitals & clinics every day, and we are now triple-vaccinated. Also not getting my hair done--my roots are not all that visible (and if they were, it'd be fashionable); and though doing my own blowout is labor-intensive, it's not worth going to Drybar where I don't know the vaccination status of the stylist i'd be assigned. Were I on chemo or immunotherapy, or once again actively being irradiated, we (or at least I) might once again retreat to our own four walls & backyard, though.

In most cancer cases, spurning in-person imaging is truly playing Russian roulette--the risk of letting tumors spread unchecked is greater than that of catching COVID if patients & staff are properly-masked, and far greater if patients & staff are vaccinated. Virtual phone or even video consults cannot substitute for manual exams, bloodwork & scans. (How can your dermatologist do a full-skin exam via even Zoom or Doximity? No phone or webcam, however good the wi-fi or cell signal, is adequate--especially in only 2 dimensions).

Serendipity, I really feel for those of you in southern IL, especially those of you who got vaccinated and follow all mitigations but still have the majority of your fellow residents be anti-vaxer maskhole COVIDiots who value their alleged "freedom" over the health of others using up all the ICU beds in 22 counties. I can't imagine what it must be like to essentially have to keep quarantining--avoiding even outdoor dining!--due to the ignorant inconsiderate. As of today, Chicago has a 3.1 positivity level (down from last week's 3.8, and IL's 4.6 last week). I also can't imagine encountering health care workers not properly masking now (though they probably aren't divulging their vaccination status). Every

CA Gov. Newsom' kids were too young to be vaccinated, and it might have been likely that their schools were not enforcing employee vaccination mandates nor masking for everyone. But Pfizer today announced that the results of its Phase III trial of pediatric-strength vaccines showed they were safe & effective for 5-11 yr. olds; data on 2-4 yr. olds and infants 6-23 mos. old are expected in coming weeks.

*(We went to Soldier Field by train yesterday because of rolling downtown street closures--requiring proof of residence or job in the area--caused by the weeklong+ Mexican Independence Day mostly-car-based celebrations; had we been able to park & take a shuttle, were the Loop. once again clogged by cars honking horns, ignoring traffic lanes/signals/one-way signs, and revelers tossing firecrackers, we'd have had to leave our car overnight and get stuck with a huge bill this morning to pick it up--and have had to take the train for the trip home yesterday anyway).

Beesie, do we have any information on how COVAX distribution is going so far and how many nations are participating and keeping their commitments? You have been a strong advocate for worldwide shots in arms so I thought you might have some idea I’m not asking for sources, etc. Your ballpark assessment is most welcome. Thanks.

Serenity, I'm not saying those Third World countries are too corrupt incompetent, or dictatorial--I'm saying that the majority of their leaders are. Until the W.H.O. and wealthy nations can figure out how to get doses past those leaders and into the arms of the people who need them, it's the functional equivalent of flushing them down the toilet while saying "oh, well, we tried." We can't sacrifice practicality on the altar of soul-satisfying but unfeasible idealism. It's taken me half a century to develop that (reluctantly disillusioned) pragmatism.

Remember when I said that the language barrier (and incompetent translation) is in large part responsible for Latinx vaccine skepticism/denial? Well, it's even more far-reaching than that. I was watching MSNBC's Alicia Menendez on her show American Voices last night and she had VICE journalist Paola Ramos as a guest. Latinx people, especially women, make up a plurality of U.S. vaccine-skeptical/resisting/hestitant people. Ramos interviewed dozens, asking them why they believed social media more than they did experts on TV news, especially Dr. Fauci. The most common responses she got was "who's Dr. Fauci?" and "never heard of him."

Why? Because the majority of Latinx people get their news solely from social media and "the grapevine" of friends & family. And they get that "news" not on computers or TV sets but on their phones. A higher percentage of Latinx Americans own smartphones than do all other ethnic groups in America. The phones are their lifelines--especially with family members south of our border with Mexico and Mexico's with Central America. In many localities, broadcast signal depends on cable or satellite, which are costly. Even a good over-the-air signal may not be possible if one lives in multi-family housing without connection to a rooftop antenna. And those who are essential workers &/or have family members (especially multigenerational) to care for simply lack the luxury of enough time to plop down in front of a TV set.

Moreover, social media are much less likely to ban or otherwise censor COVID disinformation if it's in Spanish than if it's in English. Ony 29% of that disinformation in English makes it though Twitter's/FB's/Instagram's/What'sApp's/TikTok's content surveillance, but a staggering 70% of Spanish-language disinformation does! (Potential ad revenue, not just being "asleep at the switch," may be to blame).

Ramos suggested that Spanish-speaking (especially Latinx) scientists and physicians have a major responsibility to reach non-Anglophones via social media if that's what it takes. People tend to respect, relate, and therefore listen more, to those who look and sound like them.

Note that the above information comes not from me but from Menendez & Ramos.

Why you choose to lump all these countries together is beyond me. Guess I wasn't clear I was talking about the leadership being incompetent and corrupt, but I was. You mentioned you had them in Illinois.

"People tend to respect, relate, and therefore listen more, to those who look and sound like them." - ChiSandy

Clearly you do.

I really, really, really wish that what I have learned in my 65 years always lead me in the direction of optimism. While my experiences have opened my eyes to the world in a many good ways they have also exposed me to some things that were heartbreaking but on balance gave me a much more realistic and pragmatic world view. My rose tinted glasses have darkened a bit but I needed that in many ways.

I was chatting with an Afghan friend recently. We discussed all the latest and I gave her my opinion on the current situation. She made an interesting comment after I asked her if things had changed much in the years since I lived there. She commented that although many things had changed superficially, that nothing had really changed at all. I asked if she thought that my assessment of the current situation reflected how things actually were. She simply repeated that nothing had changed and she wasn’t too optimistic that much would. Normally I would say that my pre-revolutionary experience in Afghanistan 🇦🇫 was too long ago to have much bearing on how things are today but they’re not. It’s hard for most of us to even conceive of what my poor beleaguered second country is like

Ok, Boomer.

So the assumption is that except for wealthy countries, in other corners of the world health care system is non existant? You understand Covid is not the first vaccine in the world? Or you think WHO and wealthy countries are finding ways to administre childhood vaccines around the world?

I have friends from Afghanistan who have a different take. Trump shouting "look at my black friend over there" wasn't proof of him understanding BLM.

Overuse of labels can get divisive and might be a symptom of seeing too much 'other'ness and making assumptions or thinking stereotypically?