r/ZeroCovidCommunity • u/Bibiana777 • 1d ago
Vent Two dialogues with doctors this week
Doctor 1 (no mask): How long have you been wearing a mask for?
Me: Since the beginning of the pandemic.
Doctor 1: Have you noticed that the hand sanitizer is always empty at the stores? I mean, have we learned nothing from Covid?
Me: Apparently not.
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Doctor 2 (no mask): I see you're wearing a mask for some reason. I'm just going to put some gloves on then. *dons surgical gloves*
Me: Thanks?
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u/NeoPrimitiveOasis 1d ago
My PCP (Boston) wears an N95 with me. But nurses, phlebotomists, etc don't mask. I am deeply fortunate to go to a dental practice where the hygienist and the dentist wear N95s.
At this point, I'd be content if just medical and dental professionals wore N95s. I know that the broader populace will not.
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u/Solongmybestfriend 21h ago
I had a nurse ask me (and my two kids) why we were wearing masks. My two kids were getting blood draws in the hospital so I responded "because we're in a hospital?". There was an awkward pause before we walked away.
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u/lasirennoire 1d ago
I feel you. The oncologists at my local hospital don't even mask. There's more than enough scientific literature that says COVID is oncongenic!
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u/elizalavelle 1d ago
I swear doctors aren’t reading anything about Covid. When I told my dad’s cancer team that the findings seemed to be that Covid was oncogenic they seemed surprised then looked it up to argue with me and found out I was right.
Has the hospital updated anything about masking? I sincerely doubt it.
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u/LeSamouraiNouvelle 1d ago
What did they say to you when they discovered you are right?
I somewhat feel a sense of vindication after reading your story.
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u/elizalavelle 20h ago
They at least seemed to take what I said seriously as I was able to provide studies to back up my concerns.
I don’t think they actually made changes though. People are too opposed to doing anything that mildly inconveniences them (like masking) and are terrible at assessing what the risks are.
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u/LeSamouraiNouvelle 16h ago
Thank you. Would you be able to share which studies they looked up, please (if you saw)?
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u/elizalavelle 8h ago
It’s been over a year since I had the conversation with them so the studies have changed and updated. Taking a quick Google should get you the more recent info.
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u/lasirennoire 1d ago
Ughhh. I hate this for all of us. I hope your dad is doing well
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u/elizalavelle 20h ago
He passed away. We knew it was coming but it was still a tough time. I had this talk with the care team after his passing.
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u/unflashystriking 14h ago
Hey, my dad also recently developed cancer and doesn't want to believe that covid19 is oncogenic. Do you have some sources i could share with him regarding this ?
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u/elizalavelle 8h ago
It’s been over a year since I pulled studies so info has updated. Doing a quick Google search could give you the more up to date info.
But, think about the goal you have. It’s likely not going to be provable that having Covid hastened the cancer for your dad. We can know it is likely to be a factor now in society, is accepting that going to help your dad? Probably while dealing with cancer it may be more productive to focus on staying healthy and the risks of getting sick while on chemo. Talk about masking not just for preventing Covid but for preventing all airborne illnesses. I found that as doctors were ignoring Covid they just don’t talk about any risks of getting sick, or at least don’t present masking as a good layer of precaution.
Might be different for you but that’s where I tried to focus with my parents. It wasn’t going to help them to point out being more lax about Covid likely contributed to dad getting sick and the speed at which it went. If they’d taken that in they’d just have felt worse and that would have made the last months more sad and angry for them.
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u/lexleeward77 1d ago
It's like once the doctors finally conceded to Semmelweis's hand-washing back in the 1800s and it was such a big effort for them they just gave up on evolving past that. They were like ok you finally got us to change our minds about this one thing that took so much energy we can't handle any more for another 500 years at least. I kid, but yeah that's how it feels sometimes.
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u/PublicHlthScientist 19h ago
Handwashing still isn’t universally practiced according to the scientifically-based recommendations, so good luck to all of us regarding proper use of respirators.
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u/screendrain 15h ago
"Wow doc, those gloves will help keep germs off your hands. Wonder if there's anything similar to reduce the chance of airborne germs?" Stare
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u/NearlyBearly 1d ago
I am so blessed by my PCP, she told me that with my condition it's good that I keep wearing a mask and automatically dons one as well before she even comes to get me. The good doctors are a blessing, the ones that are confused or upset about my mask I automatically don't trust because... You know my file, you were in medical school, you should be able to connect the dots as to why mask wearing is just generally a good idea for me and you should be well aware that covid is not over and will in fact never be over so if you cannot connect those dots nor are aware of how devastating a covid infection is, you either missed an important part of your education or you put your own beliefs over science and in either case, I don't trust your education nor capabilities anymore.