I Prefer My Corona With Lime. Tis the season for Gratitude but if you’re anything like me, that’s a state of mind strived toward every day, all year long as a means to survive. Including but not limited to recently when my time here on earth was directly threatened by COVID-19, I am thankful to be alive.
My life has been intractably painful since the age of 10 years old– to attempt in alleviating this, I’d get shots directly injected into my head every few months, take countless medications multiple times a day that numbed me more than helped and regularly claw my way out from the depths that is incurable grief, get up from repeated blows in form of devastating losses + coexist with the fragility in lacking any quality throughout my days- but yet none of that could have adequately prepared me for the Corona virus…
I was fortunate enough to evade the sickness for many months. Countless weeks blurred together as I committed to self-quarantine up until the death of Mr. Floyd, which led me to answer a call to the streets- I remember being handed a megaphone and asked what brought me out: my response was that I’d rather die from catching this illness than idlily accept the blatant diseases that are brutality and racism– that stance still holds true, and it always will.
It was a quiet night at home when sudden cold-like symptoms presented… It didn’t take long for this to evolve into more like a flu– fever, chills and inability to keep anything inside my body. I’d attempted to sweat it out and trust my natural defenses to rid us of this invader but without the ability to maintain hydration or nourishment, it was impossible to break the heightened temperature on my own so finally with much reluctance and after being told I was already “half dead,” I ventured to the emergency room.
Bracing myself, I expected the visit to be a nightmare– long wait and essentially begging to be taken seriously/believed as per usual but this time was different- I requested immediate fluids and was privileged enough to not only got in right away but was provided a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory to assist in bringing my heightened head discomfort down which is something I ordinarily must PLEAD for… Proper tests were performed and the results came back positive.. I had already figured as much because despite all I’ve gone through, never had I ever felt *this* way before so as much as I’m aware of the toll COVID has taken on the heroes who are medical professionals, my hope is that all this has aided in the bigger picture perspective or at least presents the potential to revise our approach from operative judgement to instead re-committing to provide proper patient-centered care and adequate, inclusive access.
It is a gift to report my condition has improved despite myself along with others I know of, still living with the aftermath of such violence against our immune system– it’s unclear how long this impact will last and it is disheartening to embrace this as potentially being the new way we must navigate how to live but each breath is not to be taken for granted and sudden changes are the only constant thing about life.
As we all know, ‘health care’ has become political enough as it is, thus I choose not to entertain the first question on most people’s mind: regarding vaccination(s) or lack thereof- it has become a method of division and seems to either contribute to conspiracy theories, where those who’ve followed through on the suggestion are considered ‘sheep’ -or- serves as an excuse for others to lack empathy if the choice was to desist…
Some who got every shot, still died and many who refrained, remain unaffected but one thing I will say: is that I am someone who had ALREADY experienced previous travesty as a result of a “bad batch” of medicine, I can begin to understand hesitancy… Not to mention the fact that the Tuskegee experiments were not only very real but also FDA approved, thereby, a distrust in our present-day systems is justified as well as to be expected- I do not bring these points up to accuse any hidden malice or less than wholesome motives, just simply to point out that as The People, we’ve already fallen victim to questionable conduct– look no further than the opioid epidemic.
It is important to do your “own research” but equally vital to understand: there’s only so much that anybody truly *knows* about any of it at this point and imperative to realize– even existing information is ever-evolving- ultimately, I stand in defense of pro-choice and feel that’s applicable here just as much as any other individual decision to draw a personal conclusion and it is my belief it’s unethical to force a body to do anything against its will…
Though it stands as being up to each establishment’s discretion, the concept of a vaccination card could be viewed as problematic at best: with such stringent laws surrounding patient confidentiality, does it make ethical sense to be forced to provide proof of records that must be presented to anyone/at any time? Some would argue the mere attempt or thought is unconstitutional.
Personally, my preference would be to skip the politics and invest those energies/resources to provide support to ‘long-haulers’ as well as the family, friends and loved ones of lost lives… Each of us have been impacted in some way by all this- for those living with the complications, you are not alone.. We’re still here, let’s make it count for something and use the gained strength to face inevitable challenges to come.
Author: M. Mays
Columnist: https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/staff
Creator: https://peace-love.life/
Founder: https://keepinourheadsup.com/
Practitioner: https://www.bewellcommunitycollective.com/member-directory
Publisher: International Pain Foundation, iPain Blog
