Just to illustrate a real-life example of the sort of risk-weighing that Ranger was alluding to - although this one is predominantly an exercise of balancing medical risks - let me recount for y'all what happened this morning, when I took MrsSope to a midtown Atlanta doctor's office for an appointment. But first some background . . .
I think I've mentioned before that MrsSope has a medical condition called Crohn's Disease. It is an autoimmune disorder where the body for some unknown reason attacks itself where the colon connects with the small intestine. MrsSope developed this condition in her late 20s, and has undergone 3 surgeries associated with it. One was when a doctor punctured her colon when doing the first colonoscopy in the initial diagnosis process; she had to have her colon repaired. Two years later at the end of her pregnancy with SopeJr#2 her intestines closed down completely and she was hospitalized for 3 1/2 weeks trying to hold off contractions until SopeJr#2 could be born prematurely, but without need of incubation . . . when she got pregnant with #2 she weighed 119 pounds, and when she delivered #2 she weighed 113 pounds
with the baby. 6 weeks after the delivery the docs performed a resection - removing the infected/closed portion of the intestines and then reconnecting what remained of them. The third surgery was years later, to remove scar tissue from the earlier surgeries.
Other than those episodes she has led a highly active life, raising two boys to young men, getting a third college degree, earning a black belt in a form of karate, running daily at speeds and distances most people wouldn't dream about attempting, being a featured soloist in performances in front of audiences of several hundred people, being valued a member of several choruses, and holding down a full-time teaching career in a Title I school while accruing well over 100 unused sick days . . . not to mention putting up with the likes of me (76-1, you just
think I'm a horse's ass . . . MrsSope has the stories to prove the fact of it . . . .) All of this was without need of any medication . . . . In short, she's been productive her entire life despite having Crohn's Disease. All that is aside from the fact that she is the love of my life . . . but I digress . . . .
So last October she had her every-ten-years colonoscopy, and the pics taken of her intestines revealed that she has an opening the size of the ball of a ball point pen for all of her food to pass through. After some disappointing attempts to work with one gastroenterologist, we arranged for a visit with a highly respected gastroenterologist in mid-town Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. He'd look at her, look at the picture, look at her, inquire of the status of her symptoms (virtually none), then look at the picture . . . after a while it became clear that he couldn't believe she was functioning at all, much less functioning at a relatively high level . . . without any medications. It was pretty clear to us that his go-to move when a patient presents with her condition would be some form of surgery . . . but he wasn't sure since she appeared perfectly healthy, and acknowledged virtually no symptoms. So he sent us to see a colorectal surgeon in the same building . . . today . . .
. . . two weeks ago we pulled into the Piedmont Hospital complex to visit the gastroenterologist after driving through intense Atlanta traffic, then we parked in the parking deck designated for the doc's building and went to his office together. No one was wearing a face mask.
Today we drove down a half-empty I-75 at the end of the morning rush hour, arriving 45 minutes early. The parking deck for the doc's building was closed due to the corona virus . . . so we parked in the hospital parking deck . . . the doc's building's doors were locked due to corona virus concerns . . . we had to go to another building's entrance where access to the doc's building via an over-street walkway was available, and upon entering those doors we came to a table of medical professionals in surgical masks who were screening for those eligible to enter the building and those who weren't. MrsSope identified herself, her destination and her business, and they medical professionals gave her a name tag that sufficed as a hall pass. They sent me back to the car in the hospital parking deck . . . (Thanks Rock for the Playing for Change videos . . . they helped pass the time . . . .).
The colorectal surgeon had the same reaction to MrsSope that the gastroenterologist had: "Have you seen the pictures?" was his first statement to MrsSope. He kept looking at the pics, then at her and marveled that she was functioning relatively normally . . .
. . . but then the expected news came: there are 3 options, (a) do nothing until her intestines close completely and then do emergency surgery, (b) do a colonoscopy and add an intestines version of an angioplasty, using a balloon to open the closed portion and put her on some meds to help, or (c) do another resection and put her on some meds.
The considerations in front of us are many, including whether to risk infection with the corona virus - or something else - by having surgery at all, how long not having surgery might last for her, her current state of health and the relative health she might have if she waits, whether to use a hospital bed for her surgery when it might be needed for a corona virus patient, whether to have it during this school year (while the school is online at best) or wait until summer, whether to retire now or try another year of teaching . . . the factors are many, the risks relatively clear but still a bit imponderable . . .
. . . having surgery means a whole bunch of people will have to work during the corona virus outbreak. Not having surgery could lead to an intestinal blockage . . . managing these risks are just one couple's issues among millions of couples and individuals who have their own imponderables - medical, economic, social, family, cognitive, special needs and so on . . . .
The good news for us is that we're among the lucky ones . . . we have good insurance, good doctors, good savings accounts and the potential for real retirement options if it comes to that. How to manage these risks isn't that tough comparatively, as imponderable as the risks seem to be . . .
. . . how to manage these types of risks, the risks to the economic well-being of many people who live paycheck to paycheck, and the risks posed by one group going about their imponderables on another group going about
their imponderables is the task before our government . . . for those on both sides of the political aisle. I think that's what Ranger and twenty were trying to get at. And I appreciate their efforts, no matter how cold and unempathetic they are . . . .
I guess the only thing I would ask for anyone reading this whole thing is to remember that most people are just trying to do the best they can with what they have on their plate.
