General Wellness

Today is the Winter Solstice, the official start of Winter and the shortest day of sunlight in the year. It’s cold, dark and the mood is more gloomy than normal for obvious reasons. The flip side is that the days will start getting longer tomorrow, and although we will be celebrating things differently this year, the Holidays are upon us. We also have hope for treating and possibly eradicating SARS-Cov-2, the virus which causes Covid-19 in the form of 2 vaccines, now approved for use in the US and a few more likely on the way in 2021.

I am grateful and fortunate enough to have received my Covid-19 vaccine shot today at The Chester County Hospital, one of the hospitals where I work.

My shot went fine. I didn’t pass out (I am a wimp and can’t stand the sight of my own blood, admittedly odd for a surgeon). It was a little more painful than the flu shot I got back in October. I will post about my experience over the next few days. Two of my partners, and many other medical and front-line colleagues have received their shots already and have had no issues.

I know there are many misgivings about the vaccine out there and quite honestly, a lot of misinformation and outright lies being spewed by conspiracy theorists and the anti-vaccination community. I also suspect that a lot of this misinformation is from agents outside our country. I’ve posted about these inaccuracies before. The latest concern has to do with an apparent “blank” vaccination given to a nurse on camera. SEE, it’s a government conspiracy! They just want to track us!!! As someone who knows what it is like to perform in front of an audience (I’ve repaired my share of facial lacerations on kids under the watchful eyes of anxious parents), I can attest to increased nerves and “performance anxiety”. The poor nurse giving the shot probably was flustered by all the cameras and scrutiny. Do accidents happen? Sure. Every day. Every office. Every hospital. That doesn’t mean someone is out to get you. There is a reason surgeons do a “time-out” before being handed the scalpel. Make sure you are doing the right procedure, on the right patient and the correct side. This was a simple mishap, caught on camera and quickly remedied. 

I urge everyone to get vaccinated as soon as it is available to you. It really is the only way we will get past this with any hope of eradication. There are very few instances in which the vaccine MAY need to be avoided, but they are uncommon. Known allergy to a component anda previous anaphylactic reaction to a vaccine are a few, but that is about it. In my research for specific patients, including ones with immunocompromising conditions or autoimmune conditions, their doctors all reported that they should still get the vaccine. 

Vaccination is not just something to protect you as an individual. It is a societal issue.  It is a means of protecting everybody. It’s an indication that you care about others.

I will post about my post-vaccine status over the Holidays but will otherwise be taking a “blog hiatus”. I’m sure some crazy issue or question will come up which I will feel compelled to respond to but I will do my best to keep the TV off the news, turn off my cell phone notifications and enjoy my family. You should all do the same.

If you must go out, or must be in close contact with people outside your household, please continue to do the basics. Once more for the holidays:

MASK UP! Wear a good one. Wear it correctly covering your nose.

DISTANCE.

WASH YOUR HANDS.

DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE.

PROTECT YOUR EYES WHEN APPROPRIATE.

VENTILATE.

VACCINATE. 

GET HEALTHY.

Happy Holidays. 

Stay safe and be well. 

AC

This is just such an insane theory that I was not even going to address it until a very intelligent patient of mine, whose wife and sister in law are nurses, asked me about it when we were discussing the vaccine’s safety.

There is this crazy theory floating around out there that the vaccine is really a plot to inject us with something that binds to DNA and somehow “they” will be able to track us. I’m not sure of the specifics but it’s a waste of my time looking it up.

This can be grouped along with the flat Earth, fake moon landing, demon semen and Democrats drinking baby blood theories. My grandmother, who is still alive and doing great up in Toronto at 97, once told me how there were 6 foot chickens found in the area around Chernobyl after the nuclear power plant melt down. She read it in the “World News” magazine so it MUST have been true. 🐔 

I’m not sure what else to say about this other than if you are worried about being tracked, you should throw away your cell phone, Alexa, Google, computer and you might as well stop driving your car or take public transportation since all those devices are listening and/or have GPS tracking devices embedded in them. Even if you have a phone landline, if you say the word “bomb” or some other trigger word, you are being tracked. You also might as well never go out into city streets since there are video cameras everywhere. Don’t drive outside the city since there are cameras at toll booths……

As far as being tracked is concerned, don’t do or say stupid stuff and you have nothing to worry about. I personally don’t care who is watching or listening. I still do stupid stuff, but that’s just me. 😉 

As far as the VACCINE is concerned, in the short term, it IS safe and effective and it IS our best chance of definitively and permanently beating this virus. BUT it will take everyone’s cooperation. The long term effects and protection is still to be determined but unless you want to continue to live the way we are, and are willing to sacrifice all the lives lost and affected, there is no other option.

I’m getting mine Monday.

Stay safe and be well. 

AC