1/19/21 Update From A Hospital Somewhere in Hell
I have a few moments of privacy due to enough time to walk to a solid cell connection (using hospital wifi to post to Tumblr isn't remotely prudent for a submissive kinky woman).
I have this opportunity because of death. At the moment, our census isn't as full or as unstable because the first wave of the December admissions have died.
I don't know when I'll get my second dose of Moderna. It's being held until we know more about the San Diego episodes.
I have had some relief because the National Guard has been sending us medical staff. We saw many more come rolling in this weekend. But were stunned to learn these extras are "force protection." The National Guard had to send armed soldiers to protect their own uniformed medical units. I cannot begin to process that.
We are overrun by dead bodies that cannot be claimed fast enough because the morgues and funeral homes are overrun now too. It's truly unimaginable.
Please, do the math. Scroll through my blog. Get educated. I wrote multiple pieces warning months ago about this predictable outcome and how to stay safe.
60% of COVID-19 cases in the United States happened AFTER THE ELECTION!
One simply cannot escape exponential growth. Math is math.
Thank you @gentlemenspreference @instructor144 and everyone else for your PMs. I cannot respond as I would wish, but do manage to see them briefly. They are appreciated.
The only way to ensure your survival is to not share air. DO NOT SHARE AIR! You must have layered, tight fitting masks and still be physically distanced by 9, yes NINE, feet. If your mask has gaps, make it 12.
IF YOU ARE HIGH RISK WITH SYMPTOMS, DEMAND THE POLYCLONAL ANTIBODIES. THEY MUST BE INFUSED EARLY TO PREVENT SEVERE DISEASE. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE HOSPITALIZED TO RECEIVE AN INFUSION. THE MAJORITY OF DOSES ARE GOING UNUSED. THEY ARE OF LITTLE VALUE ONCE YOU'RE IN AN ICU.
There's now multiple variants on the ground here. All are more infectious. Some are more concerning, like L452R. Remember I said previously I suspected a new variant was at work here? Sadly I was correct. We have confirmed both L452R and B.1 1.7 here.
@instructor144 watch for L452R. It's mutation is likely to diminish the vaccines' effectiveness as well as diminish acquired immunity from a previous COVID-19 infection. We don't have the data yet, but the modeling is highly suggestive.
This is another consequence of "letting it rip." We have rolled the evolutionary dice with SARS-COV-2 too many times.
I shouldn't be here. I should be in a lab working to solve how SARS-COV-2 destroys the body so we can develop treatment. Patients deserve better than a lab rat as their physician. But I'm what you're going to get, or worse.
I am physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Some of our staff are quitting. Some are leaving the profession all together. There's a deep sense of abandonment after almost a year. I guess I'm seeing my eventual future if we continue to choose this path.
But for now I must get back to work.
Before I go I want to take an aggressive rhetorical stand.
This is a passive genocide. The majority of patients that die are not White. They are Brown, Black and Native. The majority of those refusing to wear masks and follow the guidelines are White. Our current government has allowed this to happen knowing this data.
If you refuse to wear a mask or tolerate those who do -- you are participating in an act of genocide.
60% of my patients are not White. That is not reflective of the demographics of the population here.
The reasons for these numbers are not relevant in this discussion at the moment. It is enough to know the basic facts.
Wear the damned mask. If you don't, you're a walking gas chamber.
May the odds ever be in your favor.















