Covid and Kids
โ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐, ๐๐๐ ๐โ๐ข ๐จ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐จ๐๐. ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ช๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ช๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ช๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ช๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐๐ช๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐.
Hereโs the reality: ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ . ๐๐จ๐ง-๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ. Thatโs not an exaggerationโI counted. And it gets worse. My daughter's opponent arrived late, visibly unwell, and admitted to vomiting twice before the match. Throughout their game, she dry heaved repeatedly and even appeared to throw up into a bag on the court. Shockingly, thereโs no @usta rule addressing this, but in @ibjjf, vomiting is an instant disqualificationโitโs a primal โIโm tapping outโ signal from the body.
The first round was outside. The second and third? Indoors. My wife, daughter and I wore respirators, bracing ourselves for judgmental looks. And they came. When she pointed out kids staring at her, I turned around just in time to see one of those kids cough directly into her dadโs face.
The most haunting part? The parents. ๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ, ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ญ. Apathy in the midst of a germ storm.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ โ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ข๐ญโ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ, ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฌ' ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง?โ
โCogIt started when my brain gave out on me in algebra class one January day in 2022. I couldnโt figure out a simple math problem; all I saw were numbers and symbols. My eyelids drooped, my head hurt, I could barely stay awake. Something wasnโt right. I hadnโt felt like myself since getting COVID-19 a couple weeks earlier. Simple tasks like reading a text or standing up were draining. But what happened in that classroom scared me. At age 14, my life became a state of constant exhaustion, punctuated by doctorsโ visits that, months later, would lead to a Long COVID diagnosis.โ
A little boy caught Covid in 2022 and never recovered, with his mother fighting in vain for care in upstate NY, repeatedly dismissed by uninformed American doctors in top notch Albany hospital.
the doctor told them that he had Covid, and, while the fever went away after a week, the toddler never fully bounced back. His mother watched the pulse in his neck, drumming against the skinโฆ
โฆMicahโs primary-care doctor told Keri-Sue the elevated pulse was nothing to worry about, just swollen glands, a vestige of Covid. But Micah, who had grown out of napping, had begun to doze off during the day. He didnโt have the energy to return to his local playgroupโฆ
โฆโI said we need to be more thorough, and went down a long list. And every single one of them, he was just like, โNo, no, thatโs not whatโs happening. Kids are not getting long Covid. No, itโs not anything with his heart, or his fingers would be blue. No, itโs not his liver.โ When we left, I had been given a prescription for an allergy medicine.โโฆ
โฆEventually, the doctors confirmed Micah had an enlarged heart and blood clots on his liver. From her earlier Googling, Keri-Sue knew straight away he needed blood thinners, but the clinicians said they wanted to do more tests and start treatment in the morning. At this point, it was early evening, and the family, who had been at the hospital all day, worried about letting another night slip by. They were reassured: โWe have a whole team of doctors that are working on this, and this is really treatable stuff and heโs very stable right now.โโฆ
โฆA blood clot had travelled to Micahโs lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism. His heart had stopped beating and they couldnโt revive him. Nothing could be done. They put Micah in his motherโs arms and started counting. One, two, three โฆ when they reached 60 they declared him dead.โ
โEarlier that summer, my daughter tested positive for Covid-19 and had developed a high fever, shortness of breath, shivers, and chest pains. She initially regained her energy and by the time school started, I thought she had recovered. I was wrong. That night I found her lying on the couch was the beginning of my daughterโs difficult journey with Long Covid โ a journey that transformed her life, and mine as a single mother.โ
โMy 7 year old niece, who contracted Covid 4x during the last school year, no longer knows her cousin (my daughter) nor her Granddad.
A few days before her last infection she told my Mom how much she misses Granddad and how he would give her everything!
The week before her last infection she Facetime my daughter and I to recite her Bible verse for the week.
Then she got Covid, started losing things, has problems with word finding, and obvious memory loss.
This happened in May.
My SIL canโt get her in to see a Neurologist until November because all appointments are taken.
Is this the government AND the citizens of this country have decided is ok?โ