HJBR May/Jun 2021

“I FIND IT UNFORTUNATE THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE POSTPONED ROUTINE MEDICAL CARE THAT MAY RESULT IN SERIOUS PROBLEMS BEING MISSED OR IGNORED.” malignancy being turned away for their treatments because of cold or cough symptoms, forcing the patient to obtain a PCR test for COVID-19, which can take 48 to 72 hours to receive the results. Such postponement of care can have life-threatening effects. Screening tests can give a result within a few minutes, allowing patients to proceed with essential and perhaps lifesaving treatments. In summary, COVID-19 is a horrible virus. Vaccines will help us achieve herd immunity and hopefully allow a return to pre-COVID normalcy. We can learn from the benefits of extra hygiene, which can help reduce other infections as well. Overzealous politicians and people of authority have made a bad situation of patients who have survived the COVID virus, the number of positive cases in my practice has gone down dramatically. I find it unfortunate that many people have postponed routine medical care that may result in serious problems being missed or ignored. In late January of 2020, I underwent a routine physical, and after having a screening neck and abdominal ultrasound, a renal mass was found on my left side. It was malignant, and gratefully, my left kidney with cancer was removed uneventfully. Had COVID hit two months earlier, I’m afraid I would have not discovered my cancerous kidney. So please, do not ignore basic healthcare for fear of COVID. I’ve also heard of patients being treated for life-threatening worse. We now have some states opening totally, and there is some data that shows no worse or even better results than those areas that are closed down completely. Unfortunately, this deadly disease has become political, and the public has suffered immeasurably. We cannot “hide” from viruses, but diligence and sensible measures do help protect us. I’ve lost dear friends from this virus. Elderly persons, particularly those with extra health risks should always practice more isolation and preventive management measures than others. I hope this will give you another opinion and real-life experience with this disease. We are still learning about it every day. n HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  MAY / JUN 2021 27