Pardon me while I engage in a momentary hissy fit.
How is it “harmless” for a 60-something-year-old woman to sustain 103-degree body temps – sometimes higher—for 14 straight days? In Week Three, she is “enjoying” a more normal body temperature of 102. Also, outstanding is a hacking cough and three weeks of labored breathing so that a five-minute phone conversation is too much to sustain. Is there a level-headed, relatively sane human being among us who is exclaiming, “I can’t wait to experience Covid-19 symptoms for myself.” Even for the thrill seekers among us, this virus has no place on anyone’s Bucket List.
In a second situation, my extremely health-conscious friend (a New York City school teacher) who devours a pound of steamed broccoli at a single seating and calls that “a meal,” contracted the virus in the classroom in March. To date, she has yet to regain her sense of taste and sense of smell. Should you doubt the significance of this loss, consider that not tasting one’s food might lead to serious depression and extreme weight loss. After all, why continue to consume three meals a day if you don’t derive some pleasure from your food intake? What if your favorite snack suddenly tasted like cardboard? Or had the appeal of plain boiling water?
When my friend was in full virus-mode, nausea and dizziness for six straight weeks was responsible for a 15-pound weight loss she could ill afford. You might find her lying flat on the floor of her apartment when the virus was at its worst. Sixteen weeks from the onset, lingering symptoms remain, including balance issues. Believing the virus to be behind her, she finds herself stumbling and losing her footing when she least expects it. Still, she remains grateful for having a mild case that kept her out of the E.R.
One Long Island woman who prides herself on a disciplined organic lifestyle, contracted the virus and continues to suffer with on-going symptoms that mimic multiple sclerosis. She goes to bed at night frightened that the lingering neurological symptoms (alternating numbness and tingling in both her arms and legs) may worsen or become chronic and permanent. Countless Americans go to bed each night frightened for symptoms they don’t understand and their physicians don’t fully understand either.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, on Wednesday, July 8, CNN announced “Coronavirus Pandemic could cause a wave of brain damage.” This news comes as a result of a study by British researchers at University College of London and published in the Journal, “Brain.” The findings express concern for complications post-Coronavirus such as stroke, nerve damage and potentially fatal brain inflammation — even among patients who had a mild form of the virus. Patients studied ranged in age from 16-85.
If only we could wish away the worry, but it’s not that simple. Regardless of whether or not you acknowledge G-D, Buddha, humanism or atheism, why not be grateful for the one bright light in the midst of this medical madness. There already exists a low-cost, proven winner capable of combatting Covid-19. It comes in a variety of colors, materials and price points. Visitors to the popular website “Etsy” are no doubt familiar with the distinctive options in fabric face coverings. There are endless smile-worthy options.
Query any Emergency Room or ICU patient and they’ll tell you 103-degree daily temps are best suited for the tropics — not for human body temperatures. So listen up, Long Island, the personal responsibility you demonstrate today may mean the difference between life and death or lingering illness tomorrow.
Be bold, be brash, but please protect yourself with a face mask. Finally, please remember to fully cover your nose and your mouth. The war against Covid-19 won’t be won with peek-a-boo nostrils showing or a downward sliding face covering.
Judy Shore Rosenthal
Great Neck
