long letter but very good NLR Doctor Wants His People and the Rest of Us to Act Human Hospitalist at Baptist Health Medical Center, North Little Rock, AR. Listen to him. Gregory Scott Harrington I have not posted anything on facebook for many years. I rarely even look at it. But I am posting something today. Full disclosure, it’s a long read, so bail now if you don't want to hear about covid from a hospital doctor. I probably wont post again anytime soon, as this has been hard to do. I am sick of Covid too. Spoiler It has ruined businesses, relationships, crippled our economy, further divided our country and killed over 600 K in our country. While I can not validate all of the deaths of the over 6000 Arkansans, I certainly can attest to the hundreds that we have lost in our small 250 bed community hospital. They really died of covid. It really happened and it still is every day. And no, we aren't falsifying death certificates to inflate numbers or because we “are paid more for them”. (We are not) As many of you know, I am a hospitalist physician so I have a different perspective than most. My only job is to care for hospitalized patients, including the crushing wave of sick and dying covid patients so I can speak directly to what is really going on behind the doors of our hospital, and in hallways of hospitals across the country. This current surge is the worst mass casualty event I have ever seen in my 30 + year career that includes being a physician in the US Army for many years before entering civilian practice. Covid is spreading like wildfire in our community and across the south, is overwhelming our ER and hospital and we don't seem to notice or care. It doesn't seem to have affected behavior at all. Despite only 30-40 % of use being vaccinated, we no longer wear masks, congregate closely in large groups, and don't stop to think that we are spreading it. Just because we don't see it at Kroger or Walmart, doesn't mean it's not there. I am an Arkansan who was so proud of my state early in the pandemic. We were doing so much better than almost every other state in rate of infection. Certainly better than on the coasts. All that is behind us now as we have assumed our usual position of leading the nation, this time in something other than teenage pregnancy; our rate of infection per capita. Our hospitalizations are up several hundred % in just a few weeks. And while some believe that you can fake covid numbers, you can not fake hospitalizations or deaths. Disturbingly, in North Little Rock, we reached the same number of hospitalized covid patients in only 3 weeks that took us 3 months to reach during our winter surge. Yesterday we surpassed the highest total we have ever had during the pandemic. 66 patients. And the demographics have changed. We didn't have 20-50 year olds during the winter surge, but they make up the majority of our patients now. All unvaccinated. The few vaccinated patients we have are frail elderly, and while they made up the majority of our patients for the first many months, I have not admitted a single person from a nursing home or assisted living during this surge. 13 of the 35 patients I saw last Saturday had covid. None were vaccinnated. And make no mistake, regardless of what you hear and read, these patients are NOT admitted for a vaccine reaction, we are admitting the unvaccinated because they have covid pneumonia and can't breathe. It is an unexplainably horrible, gut wrenching and heartbreaking experience to watch your patient smother to death, or to have to make the agonizing decision with a family to “compassionately extubate” their loved one who is dying on the ventilator. Something I have had to do dozens of times over the last year and half, and our hospital team has had to do hundreds of times, more and more each day. Thankfully many allow us to medicate them so they don’t suffer. I am sick of having to talk to my older patients about advanced directives on the first day they come into the hospital. "I am that bad?" “Not yet sir and I'm praying that it doesn't come to that but I need to know while you can still tell me." We talk to them then because they can still think and breathe enough to answer, because if they don't decide against it, most will be tortured with resuscitation protocols that won't work and they will not survive. I am sick of our hospital being so full of covid patients that we don't have room for others that are sick. I am tired of being angry at many of my patients. That is a first. Granted most often it's after they get angry with me for asking them about vaccination status. (a critical prognostic indicator and key historical bit of information to track, because 99 + % of our deaths occur in the unvaccinated so far) I am sick of telling the families of patients who are 43, 27, 33, 21, 27, 28 years old and so many others that their loved one may not make it no matter what we do. (some of whom have already had covid and recovered so thought they were immune- you are not, even if it's only been a few months, and probably not at all protected from the delta variant). Or even worse, they didn't make it. In fact, many of them won't or won't be the same even if they do. I am sick of hearing “my immune system is good so I'll take my chances'' or “I’ve had covid and it wasn't that bad”. Good for you. But we know that if you have had covid, you probably spread it to at least 2-3 (alpha variant) or 4-5 (delta variant) other people. Many of whom did not do so well. We hate to make you “feel bad”, but you may have actually caused the hospitalization or death of someone else. Some of you know exactly the pain that I am talking about and it is hard to deal with. I am sick of hearing “My body, My choice” whether it’s shouted by an abortion rights advocate to justify killing an unborn child or by my fellow conservative Christians to justify their unwillingness to get vaccinated or even wear a mask. Neither is willing any longer to even consider that it isn't just about them and their "rights". It's about those who can not protect themselves. The weak, the infirmed, the vulnerable. Ones that we, particularly as believers, are compelled to protect. I am tired of people who have NO IDEA of what they are talking about, who have NEVER watched someone die of this, openly discourage others from protecting themselves or those around them and are proud of it. Everyone is entitled to make an informed choice, but please don't fill others with disinformation. Trust me, as all of my immediate family has, even if you don't trust the government or the health care authorities including Fauci. Please trust the physicians you have trusted with the health of your families for decades, rather than the unvetted firehose of “vaccine research” or treatments you “learn” about on facebook or youtube. I am sick of the irrational fear of the vaccine, and not a realistic enough fear of the virus and how it spreads and what it can do to you or your loved one. I am sympathetic to the people that are vaccine hesitant. It's new, it's different. It has the word “mRNA” in it. But it is overwhelmingly proven and can not alter your DNA. Many of our own nurses were hesitant for various reasons, most out of the totally unsubstantiated fear of infertility, but they are now putting aside their own fears and getting vaccinated in large numbers after seeing what the delta variant is doing in our hospital to patients from NLR. It's time to get over it. Over 340 million doses of the vaccine have been given in the US alone, 2.4 million in Arkansas and believe me, I would know if your risk is greater from the vaccine or the virus. The vaccines aren't perfect, no one is claiming that they are, but trust me, you would rather run the risk of feeling crappy for a few days or develop some other rare side effect than to be hospitalized or die and they are the only way we can come out of this mess without enumerable more variants and deaths. Whatever the risks of vaccination are, the risks from the disease are FAR worse to you and those around you. We are all sick of the politicization of the worst health crisis in over 100 years, one that should have united us but instead has divided us further. We are worn out. We are heartbroken for the families and saddened by the tragedies that occur on a daily basis and yet angered and embittered that this wave could have been avoided. I am sick of the people who were thanking us, flashing their lights and honking in the parking lots for our efforts earlier in the pandemic when we only had a few patients, who are now sticking their heads in the sand, ignoring what is happening with some even have becoming suspicious that the medical community is now partner to a nationwide government conspiracy to inflate those horrible and unthinkable, and and as some ignorantly believe- “grossly inflated” numbers. We are spent. I am sick of death. I am sick of grieving with families, even my own, as my father passed away during the pandemic too. And we didn’t get to memorialize and honor the incredible man that he was the way he deserved as a result of it. So don't be shocked or offended when the medical team who will be taking care of you or your loved one isn't able to effuse care or compassion after 18 long months of dealing with this. We were finally starting to feel hopeful. Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, hoping to get our lives back too, hoping to go to a Razorback football game, on vacation, to go back to church, or even being comfortable in a restaurant again and for our kids to go to school and not be sent home. But instead we are dealing with this bullshit all over again and there is NO end in sight. So what is my point? Help us. Put a mask on when you are in a store. Or a restaurant. Maintain social distance as much as possible. Don’t be an ass when someone who is scared and vunerable asks you to. And step back and give them some room. Voluntarily allow yourself to be slightly inconvenienced rather than allowing this chain reaction to continue to boil out of control until your hospital has no room for you. I am sick of wearing a mask too, every day, all day, but I do. Not only to protect myself, but to protect those around me, even though I am fully vaccinated and have been since early January. My colleagues and I were lined up to be among the first in our state/nation to be vaccinated. And we would take a booster today if it was offered to us. (By the way, only a few of our 100+ physicians got covid during the pandemic, because we wear masks all day. And if you don't believe masks protect by now, then there's no convincing you. Get vaccinated. Even if you have already had covid. Please. It's not just about you. Your decision against is a decision to make someone else sick. It's about all of us pulling together and overcoming this mess, getting back to our lives without further disruptions to life and business that at the current rate, are coming again soon. Even if you believe that the vaccine has smart dust, nanotechnology, is part of some huge governmental plot to herd their citizens, or has the ability to track you far better than google or apple can with your phone, step up. Think. We can't afford for you to wait any longer. Believe me, once vaccinated you do feel some relief from the fear of catching it, and you know that even if you do you are less likely to be hospitalized and at this point, you are choosing whether you will get the vaccine or some variant of the virus. It will happen. There is no "herd immunity" until that happens, regardless of what you want to believe. I am thankful that so many have finally started their vaccination series in recent days, but even if everyone in our state started their vaccine series tomorrow, it will still be weeks before this avalanche starts to slow down. We need business to stay open. We need people to be able to work, but we need to slow this onslaught of new cases. In order to do that, we need people to start taking some basic precautions again. And finally and most importantly, please pray for us. Daily. We are in a war. I am on call today and will be inundated with new cases in the coming hours. 3 of my first 4 admissions so far. I would ask you to stop for a moment and pray and reflect. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and speak to you as only he can do. I am asking Him to do the same for me. And I have to continually pray against the spirit of bitterness and anger I have right now, it isn't helpful and it's not from Him. Get out of your own head for a minute and get on your knees. Pray and intercede for your health care workers. We need encouragement and a fresh anointing every day. As well as do the first responders, our country and world. And for peace and reconciliation. PLEASE don’t respond to this post. Forward it if you want, but Don't like or Dislike it, or comment on it. This is not for debate or rebuttal, amen or screw you. Just my plea and perspective. Scott
neutralizing antibodies directly into my dickhole please https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02096-3
Asked the Walgreens pharmacist about this and she said no, the 3rd shot will be the booster once its approved by FDA and distributed. Will be different from previous two shots.
So don't be shocked or offended when the medical team who will be taking care of you or your loved one isn't able to effuse care or compassion after 18 long months of dealing with this. We were finally starting to feel hopeful. Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, hoping to get our lives back too, hoping to go to a Razorback football game, on vacation, to go back to church, or even being comfortable in a restaurant again and for our kids to go to school and not be sent home. But instead we are dealing with this bullshit all over again and there is NO end in sight.
The same people who didn’t want masks, now don’t want the vaccine and prefer to keep wearing masks. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
They don’t want anything. They are fucking idiots and I can’t take it. I want to have information so I can make smart decisions but I can’t do that without seeing news about dipshits in the south just talking mad shit about things that they read on Facebook. I dare anybody to get a rivals membership and read the Auburn board. It’s fucking unbelievable.
I am wishing for a shutdown of the NFL due to Covid with my whole heart. Let’s see if not getting paid millions makes not get a simple vaccination worth it.
Covid is such a divisive issue and shouldn’t be, but here we are. Just never thought a virus would be one of the biggest divisive issues. People’s reactions to mask request, vaccines, etc blows my mind. Probably shouldn’t surprise me, but it does
Unfortunately the most incompetent man in the United States was leading us at the time and he has a cult
Unfortunately this is going to become a partisan issue as well where the blue governors fall in line and do it and the red governors who need shots in arms much more than the blue states won’t do it because it’s a biden thing.
Will the $100 be given when the shot is done, or is it going to be something where you have to sit around and wait for the govt to send it? If it's sit around and wait, idk how effective it will be. If it's show up and get $100 cash money, it might help with young
If Trump had come out and said only tough guys get vaccines, these assholes would be mocking people for only getting the shot once. This is Trumps biggest failure and that isnt hyperbole.
Which is wild considering writing a blank check on the other end was far and away his biggest success. Just completely sabotaged.
It’s a mixed bag. We’re still screwed but had Trump swallowed his ego at the beginning he’s still he POTUS. Thank god the worst person ever to hold office (suck is Andrew Jackson) was also stupid and narrow minded.
Yeah saw where a Louisiana hospital is doing this. Good news is those that have been to lazy to get it or may be indifferent may go get it now. Bad news is the antivax crowd will run with this as some sort of conspiracy or proof that it’s sketchy since you get paid to take it.
We had the same fucking idiots using the same fucking arguments against mitigation efforts during the Spanish flu. The internet + a dipshit President that uses divisiveness as a strategy on everything has amplified it and extended the pain for everyone.
member when nancy mace was gonna be the reasonable republican because she told trump to get off of Twitter and did a normal interview on npr?
Fuck it, offer them their choice of a few boxes of AR-15 ammo, some crystal meth, or an hour with a toothless hooker.
I mean the Alabama governor offered a lap around talladega. If that didn’t work I’m not sure $100 will but I would at least hope that they offer it. Maybe that does move the needle for some. There seems to be a big chunk of people that don’t have the vaccine but aren’t anti-vaccine. They’re just lazy, dumb, or just so uninformed and out of touch with society that they don’t really understand what’s going on. Also groups of very low income people barely living paycheck to paycheck that are afraid they will be fired if they get a little sick which the vaccine can cause so they risk it. Might not make sense to us but these people exist. Hard for me to understand but I’ve never lived in their shoes. The $100 to those people may make the difference.
$100 will absolutely be more motivating for a lot of non-white NASCAR inbreds in Alabama, but I agree that it should be way more.
I'm honestly surprised employers aren't handing out cash for this. If a worker is making $15/hr it's probably worth thousands to significantly decrease their chances of being out for weeks on quarantine. Particularly when we've all heard about how hard it is to find people willing to work.
We addressed this yesterday, they are team Fox News not Bama or Auburn Saban came out and told everyone to get it and it didn’t move the needle
Is there any data on college educated vaccine rates? Especially college educated/republican vaccine rates? I know we have seen a lot of party line vaccine rate data but I haven’t seen anything on taking that data and breaking it down to education level. I’d be curious to see what that data looks like.
there is so much evidence that it’s factors beyond anti-vaccine idiots holding us back from herd immunity of 70% or so. We can get there without convincing these morons or bending over backwards to try and get through to them. The focus needs to be on groups like this who don’t trust that it’s free. Who are afraid to give out information. They need to market some sort of way to get the vaccine anonymously perhaps? They’re likely afraid that there will be a bill later. Hard to create trust in a group that the trust has completely been eroded for real reasons.
yeah I was typing that before I saw that but still no data on college education split within the republican group that I’ve seen. Curious what that looks like. We know that college educated democrats are heavily vaccinated. I guess you could extrapolate that data and make a guess that it’s close to 65-70% in the Republican group.
Pretty sure its every rivals board, fwiw. I have no idea how that place attracts so many alt-righters.
i got a $40 bill for a covid test. because of my various riches and my super busy posting schedule, i just paid it instead of fighting it. i can see why people think they'll get billed for it because uhh people are getting billed for it "accidentally"
Was the test ever supposed to be free? The post you’re replying to was referencing free vaccination, which should absolutely be the case.