Saying "it's just a mask" is dismissive and condescending to people who have protested the whole affair for the past 2+ years. Saying this 75+ year olds is far worse.
Wonderful article, as usual. As I speak with my patients who are 70+ and just received their 5th booster (or are we on to 6 now? I don’t remember), are wearing a tight KN95 which is permanently damaging their outer ear and likely compressing their ear canal (but hey, I’m sure their hearing is perfect anyway), and talking to me about safety, I’m thinking “what are you saving yourself from?” They drive to the appointment in their car (are they not also fearful of a car accident?) they ate breakfast (are they not also fearful of choking?) they used a public restroom, they did so many things that could possibly end their lives. But did so without consideration, without fear. What are they so afraid of with Covid? We have medicines, we have knowledge about the disease and how to best treat it, the hospitals aren’t full to capacity.
As a fellow healthcare provider, one who also works with the elderly, we (as a society) have neglected these people and treat them with such a lack of respect it’s sad. They are our history, full of wisdom and knowledge. They should be revered. What an honor to work with them. I feel privileged to work with them.
At nearly 70 years old here - although most days I feel like I'm still 21 (well, in my mind, anyway) - all of my friends are in the "elderly" age group. There's not a one of us who is wearing a mask, not a one of us who is fearful of Covid. No one I know, of any age, is any longer fearful. We are all questioning the "wisdom" of the "experts" these days.
I blame the media, health authorities and politicians. Our elderly are victims of a huge psyop which has made them intensely and uniquely afraid of one specific pathogen. It's awful to witness and I doubt it will be reversed since many of these individuals don't have long left.
as usual, beautifully written, you could contemplate to write a book on the subject which will include your experience with covid, masks, social distancing, etc... and then tackle your field of medecine that is the least glamorous and paid for all the obvious reasons (youth obsession, productivity rationale, fear of death or rather the dying, including self denial and a genuine human reluctance to want to come to terms with our own decay. I would be happy to help. Thank you for your work.
My 88 year old mother--who still lives alone, drives and gets her own groceries, hates the masks. She has some COPD and is hard of hearing. She finds that rebreathing her own CO2 makes her more short of breath than usual. She finds it embarrassing when, in spite of wearing her hearing aids, she can't hear people who are hiding behind plexiglass and an N95. When our region had mask mandates, she went out less and was starting to get depressed. Now that they've been dropped she is more active again. She is well aware that her age puts her at high risk from COVID (although she's already had it once and recovered uneventfully) but she would rather live out whatever time she has left with a good quality of life than hide away for the sake of "safety."
Many people foolishly believe and say, “covid is over, everything is back to normal!” and they are utterly misinformed. The charade continues in all sorts of settings, diminishing the lives and health of our brothers and sisters. smh
That’s an enormous pet peeve of mine, when the eager-to-move-on supporters of lockdowns & mandates say “life is back to normal now, what are you complaining about” I want to smack the shit out of them tbh
Thank you doc, you nailed it as usual. As the clinical nutritionist in these LTC facilities I rail against the restrictive diets the hospitals send them out out on. It’s not “just a diet” it’s arguably the largest part of their day-the food. Is a 2gm NA low cholesterol diet going to o do anything? Denying them their bacon in the am isnt going to add years to life. People who don’t work with LTC elderly just don’t get how saying it’s “just” anything affects this population. Masking is horrific and pulling the mask down to talk with them results in a spark back in their eyes and smiles on their faces. They were told “vax to get to normal” and they’d ere LIED to.
Wonderful article, as usual. As I speak with my patients who are 70+ and just received their 5th booster (or are we on to 6 now? I don’t remember), are wearing a tight KN95 which is permanently damaging their outer ear and likely compressing their ear canal (but hey, I’m sure their hearing is perfect anyway), and talking to me about safety, I’m thinking “what are you saving yourself from?” They drive to the appointment in their car (are they not also fearful of a car accident?) they ate breakfast (are they not also fearful of choking?) they used a public restroom, they did so many things that could possibly end their lives. But did so without consideration, without fear. What are they so afraid of with Covid? We have medicines, we have knowledge about the disease and how to best treat it, the hospitals aren’t full to capacity.
As a fellow healthcare provider, one who also works with the elderly, we (as a society) have neglected these people and treat them with such a lack of respect it’s sad. They are our history, full of wisdom and knowledge. They should be revered. What an honor to work with them. I feel privileged to work with them.
At nearly 70 years old here - although most days I feel like I'm still 21 (well, in my mind, anyway) - all of my friends are in the "elderly" age group. There's not a one of us who is wearing a mask, not a one of us who is fearful of Covid. No one I know, of any age, is any longer fearful. We are all questioning the "wisdom" of the "experts" these days.
I blame the media, health authorities and politicians. Our elderly are victims of a huge psyop which has made them intensely and uniquely afraid of one specific pathogen. It's awful to witness and I doubt it will be reversed since many of these individuals don't have long left.
as usual, beautifully written, you could contemplate to write a book on the subject which will include your experience with covid, masks, social distancing, etc... and then tackle your field of medecine that is the least glamorous and paid for all the obvious reasons (youth obsession, productivity rationale, fear of death or rather the dying, including self denial and a genuine human reluctance to want to come to terms with our own decay. I would be happy to help. Thank you for your work.
My 88 year old mother--who still lives alone, drives and gets her own groceries, hates the masks. She has some COPD and is hard of hearing. She finds that rebreathing her own CO2 makes her more short of breath than usual. She finds it embarrassing when, in spite of wearing her hearing aids, she can't hear people who are hiding behind plexiglass and an N95. When our region had mask mandates, she went out less and was starting to get depressed. Now that they've been dropped she is more active again. She is well aware that her age puts her at high risk from COVID (although she's already had it once and recovered uneventfully) but she would rather live out whatever time she has left with a good quality of life than hide away for the sake of "safety."
Many people foolishly believe and say, “covid is over, everything is back to normal!” and they are utterly misinformed. The charade continues in all sorts of settings, diminishing the lives and health of our brothers and sisters. smh
That’s an enormous pet peeve of mine, when the eager-to-move-on supporters of lockdowns & mandates say “life is back to normal now, what are you complaining about” I want to smack the shit out of them tbh
Thank you doc, you nailed it as usual. As the clinical nutritionist in these LTC facilities I rail against the restrictive diets the hospitals send them out out on. It’s not “just a diet” it’s arguably the largest part of their day-the food. Is a 2gm NA low cholesterol diet going to o do anything? Denying them their bacon in the am isnt going to add years to life. People who don’t work with LTC elderly just don’t get how saying it’s “just” anything affects this population. Masking is horrific and pulling the mask down to talk with them results in a spark back in their eyes and smiles on their faces. They were told “vax to get to normal” and they’d ere LIED to.