When Worlds Collide Revisit
Claudewell S. Thomas, MD, MPH, DLFAPA, is an established psychiatrist who is currently retired ,, He received his medical degree in 1956 at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and specializes in social psychiatry, public health psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. Dr. Thomas was board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry... more
It's difficult for John and Jane Q Public to resist the call of faraway places as they hopefully say goodbye to the Tripledemic. But the recent pandemics are not gone and Malaria is sweeping esoteric sites where flooding and deforestation with widespread loss of life have led to a proliferation of Aedes Egyptian and other strains of disease-carrying mosquitoes as well as ticks, mites, etc. to fall upon and sicken or kill the unwary The recent pandemics are still raging. Stay home and shelter in place.
Last week I distressed my oncologist by declining a proffered and recommended total body scan. I am at 15% risk of developing multiple myeloma because of race. I am also 90 years old and the disease would unfold and compromise the kidney, heart, or brain in 5 to 15 years. The odds of dying of something else are much higher. Nevertheless, I sympathize with my 38-year-old oncologist who I'm forcing away from protocol. But exposure to an environment where covid and its variants also have no superflu for diagnosis that can be obtained if needed makes little sense. I don't think I am joining the army of those armed with internet protocols, who self-prescribe and make life difficult for overstressed physicians and caregivers.
