1. Adventure I had this week…
My son and I headed to Colorado for a quick trip for some spring skiing. We flew out late last Thursday night to ski Friday and Saturday, and possibly some skiing early Sunday before flying back home. Well… a huge storm hit. Our flights were cancelled, the highway down the mountain was closed, and we were stuck. By stuck, I guess I mean that we had some incredible powder skiing on Sunday. Days like that are what skiers dream of. The craziness of being stuck in our vehicle for over twelve hours when the highway closed, the treacherous drive down the mountain once the highway opened, multiple cancelled flights (it was only the third time the runways were closed in 30 years at Denver International Airport), two trips to the airport, and a second drive up and then back down the mountain, was all worth the epic skiing, incredible snowmobiling (we had to kill time somehow), great food, unbelievable scenery, and most of all, an experience with my son that neither of us will ever forget. The saying… turn lemons into lemonade… kept popping up in my head the whole trip. And that’s exactly what we did.
2. A lesson, and reminder, I got this week…
As I was standing at the ticketing counter (the first time) trying get us out of Denver, realizing it probably wasn’t going to happen, and feeling myself getting frustrated and angry, an older woman next to me, trying to do the same, caught my attention. Without giving all the details, I’ll just say that she was so understanding, pleasant, and grateful that she was still able to fly out the next morning. And she was very kind to the ticketing agent. “So, I will not be getting on the plane today,” she asked, “but you were able to get me on the plane tomorrow?” The agent said yes. And the woman responded, “Wow, thank you. You are so helpful. Because I really can’t wait to get to see my family in Charlotte. And I don’t live far from here, and my son will be happy to come pick me up now, and bring me back in the morning.” I was stunned… amazed… but mostly inspired. My attitude and state immediately changed. As the woman walked away, her agent, my agent, and I all shook our heads and laughed, as I asked, “I bet you wish we all would be like that.” There are several take-aways from this story… understanding, gratitude, and kindness, but my biggest take-away from this experience was that our behavior directly, and often immediately, impacts the behavior of those around us. I wanted to catch up to that woman and thank her for her impact on me at that moment, but I unfortunately couldn’t. Which made me realize something else… we often never know the impact that we have on others.
In the words of the great Mahatma Gandhi… “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
3. Something I have been encouraging patients to do this week…
As more people get the vaccine, I am hearing more and more about the adverse effects people are experiencing. One HUGE problem… many people are not sharing those side effects with their doctors. These vaccines are experimental. This means that we need ANY and ALL information we can gather during this process. In a typical experimental process, animals would be used. With animals, they could then be exposed to the virus to see how they respond. This would help determine the effectiveness of the vaccines. In humans, we cannot do that. Another thing that would happen is that at some point, the animals would be killed and fully inspected to see what adverse issues may be related to the vaccines. This would allow researchers to inspect each organ and tissue, allowing them to gather pertinent information to determine the true safety of the vaccines. Again, this is not possible in these human trials. Another benefit of gathering more information would be to help healthcare providers to determine who might be at risk with these vaccines. It could help determine if there are select groups of people, or select sets of conditions, that would make someone high-risk for receiving these vaccines. So… if the doctors and researchers are not hearing about the side effects that are occurring from these vaccines (and they are happening), then we will never have a clear, scientific, and safe understanding of these vaccines. If you have ANY adverse effects, they need to be reported to the doctors or healthcare providers. These adverse events should be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). This is where data can be collected to better understand any dangers associated with these vaccines. CAUTION… I have had numerous patients who were told by their doctors that what they were experiencing was “normal” or “a coincidence.” It has been estimated that only 1% of adverse vaccine events actually get reported for VAERS. That’s scary! So, if you decide to get the vaccine, PLEASE commit to reporting any side effects that you experience afterward. You are able to submit a report to VAERS yourself as well (https://vaers.hhs.gov/). Remember… when you repeatedly hear words like “safe” and “effective,” the fact is that we do not have long-term data yet. And phrases like “trust the science” require the science, which is dependent on the data collected as this experimental process continues to roll out. The more data we have, the better we will know the risks and benefits. And I know most people want a solution so badly that they will often overlook the fact that something is potentially dangerous or ineffective. It has happened with numerous drugs and procedures in the past (look up Fen-Phen, Thalidomide, Diethylstilbestrol… to name a few). As I continue to say… I am not giving medical advice. I am not telling you whether or not to get it. I am not telling you it is good or it is bad. I am merely providing information to help you make the best decision possible. And to encourage you to think. Doing something this significant simply because your friends are pressuring you, your boss is pushing you, or you feel social pressure to do so, is far from scientific. If you do choose to get the vaccine, please report ANY adverse reactions you have following the vaccine to your doctor and VAERS (https://vaers.hhs.gov/). The CDC promises on its website that “these vaccines will undergo the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history.” That depends on the test subjects getting the vaccine properly reporting possible adverse reactions. And there is a reason we have this adverse event reporting system in place. Below is a screen shot from the VAERS website…
