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All on Mon Apr 20 00:17:44 2020
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The Corona pandemic is real
Ward Dossche - 2:292/854
There are now tens of thousands of Corona stories worldwide ... a
bunch ended bad, others have ended good. This is mine, one of so many
...
How do you contract a Corona infection? I can't say, it just happened
to me I think. It has been a very slow process. Somehow, just in the
wrong place at the wrong time...
Mid March I felt a bit unusual, sometimes slightly flu-like.
Temperature that fluctuated from 38C + to below 36C. For no apparent
reason. So it is probably not all that bad you think.
At the doctor's front door there was a note saying there are no
consultations, you can call for an interview to see if a screening
can be arranged in a hospital, but it turned out to be a very tedious
process, as if they did not want to treat you.
The common explanation was "Fever? Take some paracetamol and stay
inside. It will improve.".
The only question is "how long" you can wait while your body
starts to give more and more signals of "The minister of Health
does not know what she is talking about"
It is starting to become a bit of the story of the Belgian TV program
"This will never happen to me"... with the understanding that you are increasingly taking into account that it was exactly happening to
you. You just don't look deathly ill and you can't get to a doctor.
I was able to reach my daughter Nele on 23/3 and her conclusion was
razor sharp "It is with you guys who's sicker than the other" (my
wife was also a cough machine in the meantime). The doctor was called
and 2 days later (Wednesday 25/3) we were scheduled to be screened.
Note "sick to death" but still wait 48 hours.
Then the next fate strikes... that night my daughter Anneleen
miscarries at 15 weeks, presumably unrelated, and goes to the
hospital at 4am. Suddenly my wife and I are reclassified from a
possible Corona patient to a caring grandparent, against all advice,
against all logic. The reality is a strange thing and the hospital
visit cannot happen.
We can get a new appointment Monday 30/4... 5 more days to go...
"stay inside" as the minister would call it... meanwhile you will
continue to cough the lungs out of your chest, get a temperature,
swallow Ibuprofen and / or Dafalgan... stay in your room.
It is Friday 27/3. With a bucket between my legs to catch the coughed
up mucus, unstoppable. I signal to Anneleen "It is no longer
possible, I can not keep this up" and ask to reach Nele. We get her
at work in the hospital and I ask if she can go to the emergency /
triage of a hospital with me. Somewhere. Anywhere... as long as
it's a hospital ... Her superior understands the need and Nele is
allowed to leave her service, take a shower and pick me up.
I get a mouth mask from her, and breathing through such a mask while
you continue to function is incredibly difficult. We leave for the
hospital, it becomes GZA St. Augustinus. Very well known in Antwerp.
When she arrived at the emergency / triage Nele got out and pushed a
button there. Two electronic doors opened and she said, "Step
inside now. You are there".
Suddenly you get a feeling of "I'm on my own, no one holding my hand,
all alone". The doors closed. "Hello Nele. Will I ever see you again?
" "Fiene and Steff, the grandchildren... are we ever going to be
able to pull some more mischief that grandma will hate?" ... I
didn't think so.
A voice: "Yes, what is it for?" as if that was not clear.
I looked down a dimly lit hall and only saw a black hole. A kind of
dragon head during the Chinese New Year that danced around and was
going to devour me. Hell. I was going to die, was convinced, and
there was no shit I could do about it.
But the hospital staff didn't put me near the dirt bin... "Someone
aged 69?" ... However, the feeling that I was going to die alone in a
small green room on my own was very real...
Within 15 minutes I had an oxygen mask, an EKG was taken, rotated
through a lung scanner, lung radiography... And with such a rod in my
nose to detect Covid19 of which it was said "It is soooo unpleasant".
Sorry, it was the best thing that was going to happen that day, they
were dealing with me. I was not given up by the system. I was not
expecting that.
The monster was swinging in the hallway, but I might be able to whack
it on the head.
To a waiting room for the night, to get some sleep. The next day the
verdict fell... double Covid19 pneumonia... that was the condition of
which De Block said "Grab some Paracetamol and stay inside". Had
I done that, I was already lying between four boards. Thank you Mrs.
De Block, we will never know how much unnecessary deaths you have on
your conscience because of that... and then we will keep silent about
the reduction of hospital beds during the various savings rounds...
we get the bill of the stupid savings policy "now". But at the
end of the ride, the top politicians walk around like a proud peacock
claiming someone else's merits
The treatments were started and the first days it is horrible. The
number of liters of slime and snot was hard to imagine. Difficult
nights because you go to the monitor every 2 hours, but we get it. I
lie at the front of the wing and literally at 7:20 am you are kicked
out of bed. But I understand that too; logistics are in order, making
beds, mopping rooms, disinfecting rooms and then eating. Drawing
blood, injecting penicyline in an IV, medication... you are being
drilled.
Your day sometimes gets better, your night gets quieter.... Am I
going to make it?
You never see the care-givers. Always completely wrapped up, mouth
masks, headgear, splash shield for the eyes ... I don't know a single
name. The jokes about nurses start pouring in, but you really have no
use for that, and over time you start to recognize the voices. A
mythical bond grows, your struggle also becomes their struggle.
First you are an old man, then they see you working on a laptop and
the respect grows, mutual respect.
You get serious medication that is linked to malaria, antibiotics in
pills but also intravenous, an IV with more stuff, an oxygen mask ...
and I do not have to go to the intensive care.
Plus it has to be said, hospital meals of the highest quality. Lunch
was the time of day to look forward to.
Every day all bed linen replaced, the room completely mopped with
some product, toilet sink bed window sill table chair ... everything
is disinfected at least once a day. And over time, Corona also starts
to have his / her (is it a boy or a girl?) scent ... the scent of
Dettol and other products have been linked to Corona for me forever.
Eventually you will be pricked from all sides with needles, but I can
handle that well. Syringes against flebites in the abdomen.
And then the medication is reduced, suddenly no more Plaquenil, no
antibiotics in pill form, only intravenous and you start to get it
... we are winning this battle. "We" that is the hospital staff
and myself.
In the end, everything stops and you just hang on to the oxygen hose
... and then it gets disconnected as well and it turns out that your
oxygen level in the blood remains stable ...
"You can go home tomorrow"... Almost disappointment because I am
going to miss these wonderful people. Can I continue without them?
At home we were able to shield an apartment to be completely
quarantined. Not that it is really imposed, but we have the
opportunity and we can do it. So why not.
And then the moment of the dismissal arrives, I have the papers and
they come to pick me up. "Can you walk by yourself to the exit?" ...
I almost answer with "Of course, I'm not sick" But I see the
entire staff of my Covid19 ward standing there and they start
applauding when I pass. It is getting too much for me and I have to
cry while addressing the girls and some of the gentlemen... "I came
in here 11 days ago thinking I was done. You have judged it
differently and have given me a second chance at life. Someone who
did not experience it does not understand this, I will never forget
you. I can still see my grandchildren grow up, an unlikely gift
"... the push of a button and the electronic doors opened again. No
Chinese monster this time, just a yellow line to the elevators and to
the exit... I had knocked the monster flat on its face.
And there Wouter (my son) was waiting to take me home to the next
phase of my life.
Is this the end? Is it done now?
Certainly not.
You have a lot of time to think and consider life practically.
Society before Corona is no longer there, switching to "business as
usual" would be a serious mistake. Everything changes.
Whoever believes that there will be Olympic Games in Japan in 2021 is
probably a citizen of Disneyland, fairytales are common there. Corona
is and remains there. Professional sports are going to be hit hard,
event supply companies are going through a difficult time, will Rock
Werchter ever continue? Tomorrow Land? Business as usual will be a
totally wrong approach.
There are also "special" sides to the Corona pandemic. We get our
daily dose of entertainment from Donald Trump, if now only my
American friends would care to see what a dangerous and irresponsible
madman this is.
We should not be annoyed with Eurosong, it is canceled.
The European Football Championship? Possibly something like the OS
that it cannot be organized.
Maybe we should start deliberating on mega events. Can humanity still
handle it?
The Olympics may have to return to the starting concept where not
everything will be spread out in 10-12 days but only a few
disciplines took place at a time. Disciplines such as shooting live
pigeons (OS 1920 Antwerp) do not have to return... Belgium won the
gold by the way.
The European Football Championship with a final round of 4 teams as
in 1972 when Belgium finished 3rd. Away from the megalomaniac
approach.
Everything is going to be different, and what ever was won't come
back.
What I found annoying during the time in the hospital was that there
was very little entertainment on TV for people who were hospitalized.
Dozens of home video programs but it all had to remain "LOL".
Only the TV news remained with numbers of deaths, hospitalized people
and endless bullshit about statistics and journalists who are
constantly trying to make news by putting words in their guests
mouths. High days also for politicians who have ample opportunity to
find their best angle to get on TV.
You lie there sick and it is of no use to you. You want to know "how
does this work for me" and "do I survive this?" Those answers don't
come.
A second annoying thing is / was that when you try to find
information that is of use to you in an electronic newspaper, a
number of publications do not hesitate to offer you the bill first
and let you pay from your sick bed ... Was it really impossible to
make the electronic newspaper non-paying for a while?
What I would like to draw extra attention to is the staff in the
hospitals. You can applaud as much as you like at 8pm, but there is
little point. These people have been doing a gigantic and undermanned
job for 40-50 years. Only that is now at risk for one's own life....
It has become my family. Those people know things about me that
nobody knows.
For them, I hope that the recognition continues when this is behind
us, that their profession is finally recognized as "heavy" and
that the recognition is not stopped because of interests in another
sector.
5 more days of quarantine when I write this ...
Special thanks to my children who organized a phenomenal return. You
are the best ... I love you more than you will ever know
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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From
Lee Lofaso@2:203/2 to
All on Mon Apr 20 03:35:54 2020
The Corona pandemic is real
Ward Dossche - 2:292/854
A survivor.
H.P. Lovecraft wrote horror fiction.
But everybody who read his works knew it was fiction.
What Ward D. wrote is horror, not fiction.
A horror no person should ever have to experience.
The governor of Florida just re-opened the beaches.
Thousands of Florida morons then flocked to the beaches.
In the very near future those same Florida morons will
be visiting hospitals, and dying.
I take it Ward D. did not catch the novel coronavirus by
going to the beach in Belgium. But maybe he took to sailing
without ever having to actually set foot on the beach.
Nah. That would be missing all the fun of being on the beach.
No matter how careful one is, one can never be careful enough.
If the novel coronavirus finds you, it is going to get you.
There are now tens of thousands of Corona stories worldwide ... a
bunch ended bad, others have ended good. This is mine, one of so many
Welcome back. Wishing you and all to be well always.
--Lee
--
Everybody Loves Our Buns
--- MesNews/1.08.05.00-gb
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From
Lee Lofaso@2:203/2 to
Janis Kracht on Sat Apr 25 03:43:36 2020
Hello Janis,
Sadder still are the idiots who "drink the koolaid"... :(
True. Jim Jones' spirit lives on... :(
People like my sister who are Trump followers are very much like Jim
Jones'
people... though Jim Jones intended to kill all those people rather than be jailed.
Jim Jones thought he could get away with it. Had his bags all
packed and ready to go. But somebody shot him dead before he could
make it out of the jungle.
Ditto with David Koresh. No Kool-Aid for him, either. Just a single
shot of lead, right between the eyes.
None of these death cult leaders ever makes the ultimate sacrifice
themselves. So why do folks keep listening and obeying their every
command?
I do not believe Donald Trump intends to kill anyone. He is just
a grifter. Nothing more. A two-bit grifter. Same with his son in
law and idiot children.
I do not place my trust in folks like that. But many people
have been bamboozled to believe in him as if he is their lord
and savior. A true cult figure to love and behold.
I see Trump (think it was last night) suggested injecting bleach or Lysol (household cleaner) would be useful to kill Covid.. uncanny.
Trump was being serious when he made those remarks. Nothing
"sarcastic" about anything he said. He honestly believes what
he says in public is the gospel truth. And his followers eat
it all up, believing every word he says.
While I found his remarks goofball for a president to say,
not everyone was caught off-guard.
The Onion magazine predicted it almost a month ago, on 3/25/2020.
I posted the excerpt in an earlier message.
I hope the American people have sense enough to elect somebody
who is competent this coming November.
--Lee
--
Get Her Wet Here
--- MesNews/1.08.05.00-gb
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From
mark lewis@1:3634/12 to
Björn Felten on Sat Apr 25 16:17:44 2020
Re: FidoNews 37:16 [02/08]: General Articles
By: Bj”rn Felten to Janis Kracht on Sat Apr 25 2020 08:38:30
"Stupid is as stupid does." Gump rhymes with Trump... 8-)
ever looked up the etymology of the word "trump"? the 2nd verb usage is telling
;)
trump (n.1)
"playing card of a suit ranking above others," 1520s, alteration of triumph (n.), which also was the name of a card game.
trump (n.2)
"trumpet," c. 1300, from Old French trompe "long, tube-like musical wind instrument" (12c.), cognate with Provençal tromba, Italian tromba, all probably from a Germanic source (compare Old High German trumpa, Old Norse trumba "trumpet"), of imitative origin.
trump (v.1)
"surpass, beat," 1580s, from trump (n.). Related: Trumped; trumping.
trump (v.2)
"fabricate, devise," 1690s, from trump "deceive, cheat" (1510s), from Middle English trumpen (late 14c.), from Old French tromper "to deceive," of uncertain
origin. Apparently from se tromper de "to mock," from Old French tromper "to blow a trumpet." Brachet explains this as "to play the horn, alluding to quacks
and mountebanks, who attracted the public by blowing a horn, and then cheated them into buying ...." The Hindley Old French dictionary has baillier la trompe
"blow the trumpet" as "act the fool," and Donkin connects it rather to trombe "waterspout," on the notion of turning (someone) around. Connection with triumph also has been proposed. Related: Trumped; trumping. Trumped up "false, concocted" first recorded 1728.
)\/(ark
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