My Day: Stuck With Hope
My Day
By Dr. J. Ester Davis
So. . . does the Corona Virus (COVID-19) have you with your glass half full or half empty? What is your theories ‘gossip’ hot line talking about? What conspiracy? Well, on point– we see first hand what happens when an inexperienced appointee, who is trying to impress the boss, cuts an essential 80% of the CDC Budget on managing infectious diseases.
In 2015, I was asked to visit a homebound fan. I decided to go. This gentleman and his caregiver lived in the Love Field area. Arriving at the assigned address, someone greeted me at my car and guided me into the fenced in corner driveway. Upon entering the living room quarters, I immediately scanned the ‘antiques roadshow’and wall paper. About in the next instant my eyes affixed on a huge machine I did not recognize that was clearly the ‘elephant-in-the-room’. The kind caregiver immediately explained, “. . . it is an iron lung”. Fortunately, I was old enough to recognize the name. The patient, my television fan, was now looking up at me from a mirror placed over the top of the iron lung. He was about sixty(60)years old, beautiful blue eyes, silver haired and I could only see him from the neck up. He wore glasses with a genuine smile. “Do you play chess”. . . because by this time, I backed into an obvious game of chess in process on a small table. “I am in the minor leagues at chess”, I replied. The hour planned for my visit stretched into two.
The visit turned into one of the most informative memorable event of my media career. I was fully educated on polio survivors and the fact that his parents did not give him the vaccine in time. At that time, my ‘fan’ was not the only Texan with an iron lung on board. I was informed of how many were in Texas, how they were maintained and the medical staff that took care of them. He was highly conplimentary of the CDC. The conversation drifted into the number of years he had been confined and his lessons learned. “But”, he said . . . words I shall never forget. . . “I am not stuck without hope”.
This country is no stranger to viruses. Between 1832 and 1866, the United States had Cholera. Yellow Fever came in the late 18th Century and was considered the most dangerous disease ever claiming deaths of over 20,000. The Spanish Influenza killed over 500,000 Americans. Around the 1950’, polio came in with a vengeance, an outbreak that reached immense proportions. I remember taking a “sugar cube” vaccine for polio in the gym at our all colored school some where in the 50’s. Now, according to my research, polio has not existed in this country since the late 1970’s. Back to ‘my fan’ and his iron lung, he was left with a disabling paralysis that required a portion of his day to be in his iron lung.
Now. . . here we are again. Three(3)pharmaceutical companies have this week launched the first human trial. The first human clinical trials. My reservation surrounds the urgency to develop a safe and effective vaccine. . . with no aftermath lingering in our society the next twenty(20)years. Scientist have been working feverishly creating a ‘possible’ cure to curtail this rapidly running disease. Everyday, I remind people that call, that the paramount issue is we have no cure. We know very little about this global beast. Until such time as a cure is in view. . . we all follow the rules without hesitation, doubt or attitudes. We are definitely in the safest place in the world.
iHeart Radio. CFN Network.
214.376.9000
