I've been through chemo, radiation, and multiple surgeries. It's fairly horrible stuff but I'd guess that most people go through it. I've chatted with many that have survived stage 4 through treatment and some of the new treatments are basically miracles.
See for me, I would rather die than go through all that. I'm not afraid of death, just don't want to go in a particularly painful way (too many panic attacks have made me quite fearful of dying from a heart attack, for example). I don't have the normal will to live that most people who don't struggle with anxiety and depression have though. Congratulations on winning those battles, that's awesome.
I have an above-average understanding and do more than just read on WebMD or whatever. I spend a lot of time perusing the studied posted on NIH and elsewhere. One thing I've learned is that doctors don't know everything either. I'm tapering off of 17 years of prescription anxiety meds right now and my psychiatrist has no idea how any of these meds actually work because pharmacology is not a big part of what they're taught in school. I have found out the same thing with previous psychiatrists. In fact they're all quite intimidated about the fact I can spew off terms like muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist and GABA-A receptor agonist when I'm trying to explain to them why I will and won't take certain medications or lately why I refuse to take any of them.A family I know had their son in terrible pain and asked our minister what they should do. He said that it was up to them and to use medical help if they thought it best. Most of the people in this group do not have a science background and haven't taken courses in biology, chemistry and physics. So they believe a lot of things or assume understanding that may or may not be correct.
They took him to the hospital, diagnosed as kidney stones and blasted them with a machine.
Lots of people question doctors, modern medicine, vaccines; but they run to the hospital when they get very sick.
In my cancer communities, some try natural remedies. They all wind up in the obituary section.
I don't claim to be an expert but I have shown time and time again to have a deeper understanding of how drugs work than the doctors I see do which makes me question how much they know about vaccine science as well.
Regardless, it was never a question of IF I would get the vaccine but rather when. I knew from the start of the pandemic that it was not going to go away. We already have 4 endemic coronaviruses and RNA viruses mutate rapidly so the best case scenario is for it to continue to mutate until it stops being lethal. I wanted to wait until cases ramped up in the fall but since I'm going to be going to the eye doctor to get treatments for dry eye over the coming months, I decided it was time. Mainly what I was waiting for was the inevitable emergence of a strain that evaded vaccines and needed a new vaccine so I could just get it all done at once. When you have agoraphobia, you try to leave the house as little as humanly possible. 🤷♂️
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