On the first of July, my father died. He was 55. He was not well: a blood clot in the lungs, pneumonia and, we were to find out, the swine flu. But although he was not well, the doctors seem to feel that he should have recovered . . . if it was not for the swine flu.
As I write this post, I am filled with grief and anger and several other emotions that I simply cannot comprehend yet . . . its been too soon. But there is a reason I write today, and that is the overall story of my dad's case of the swine flu.
It starts in San Francisco where he and his new wife (yes, my mom died at 54 and we all hope that my sister and I have a better prognosis) was visiting her father. While there, he got sick - very sick. He went to a local hospital where where they tested him for the swine flu but, apparently, lost the test and did not send it out to be tested. In the interim, they released my pop and gave him permission to fly. He flew from San Francisco, Ca. to Jacksonville, FL. When he got off the plane, he had a 104 temperature, had driven from the JAX airport to his condo where he had to ask his neighbor to take him to the ER. Once at the hospital, they diagnosed him with the blood clot and pneumonia. Sadly he could not breath and was put on a respirator soon after. By the time I got there from Seattle, he could not respond to me. I never said "goodbye" in person. Either did my sister. They had to chemically paralyze him and we knew intuitively that that was it. 2 days before he died, the hospital took another test for the swine flu.
Quickly things went "south" (pardon the pun) and one thing led to the next and he was on dialysis, no oxygen in his blood, and then only machines kept him alive. After 5 days on the machines, we turned them off and he was gone. A few days after his death, we learned he also had the swine flu - this, we are to understand, is why he could not recover. In the end, it is what killed him . . . but what disturbs me is this: it will not be reported on his death certificate - only the blood clot and complication from pneumonia. No mention of the swine flu - how should we view this? Is this ethical? Responsible?
Several things went wrong here including the fact that the first swine flu test was "lost" and it took too long to get a second test. Next, that there is soo much silence, not to mention misinformation about the swine flu that it boggles the mind trying to figure it all out.
The first time this country dealt with the swine flu "pandemic" was in 1976 when President Ford ordered a national inoculation against the swine flu. Although it is a different "virus" than today, there must be enough similarities between the two, besides the name. But the question is this: are we handling things any better today?
1970s commercial urging the public to get the swine flu inoculation:
Sadly, from what I can tell, this shot did little to help things out and many people had bad reactions because of it. For example, a 1979 60 Minutes report stated: "Well 46 million of us obediently took the shot, and now 4,000 Americans are claiming damages from Uncle Sam amounting to three and a half billion dollars because of what happened when they took that shot. By far the greatest number of the claims - two thirds of them are for neurological damage, or even death, allegedly triggered by the flu shot" (CBS, 60 MINUTES, 1979).
See the Video Here:
Now I have been hearing a lot about how the current pandemic is BS, how the numbers have been overdone, and how "martial law" will be issued to make us all take new and improved vaccinations. I cannot speak to any of this, but I am cautious of all the rhetoric from one side or the other. Seriously, who can we all trust anymore, anyway?
What I do know is this: my dad died of complications of the swine flu. The test should not have been "lost," and we (the public) need to know (transparency) how many deaths have been caused by complication of the swine flu.
Indeed, we need more truthful information. One thing that was quietly told to me during all of this was that the amount of deaths as a result of swine flu complications were under-reported, and that the press was encouraged NOT to advertise the problem because when it was first reported, everyone with a sniffle ran to their doctor asking for the test - tests that they did not have, and still do not have.
I also know that my father likely had the swine flu in San Francisco, flew to Jacksonville with the blessings and a signed doctor's letter saying it was ok. This is NOT OK! Not only did this make his embolism worse, it likely spread the effen swine flu. Lovely!
So with all my lack of conclusion regarding the swine flu, why write this post? Because, we need to start learning some of the truth before winter sets in, people get sick, and before an alarm is sounded. Each of us need to educate ourselves on the swine flu and potential issues. We need to understand that a "vaccine" for a virus is not likely--since this is not a bacterial infection after all. We need more transparency as to the swine flu, not the act of changing its name to either: 1) save the pork industry and the horrible practice of factory farming, or 2) divert our attention from what happened in 1976.
I have been personally affected by this. My wish for you is that you won't be.
R
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
My Dad's Death, Grief, Anger and Understanding the Swine Flu
On the first of July, my father died. He was 55. He was not well: a blood clot in the lungs, pneumonia and, we were to find out, the swine flu. But although he was not well, the doctors seem to feel that he should have recovered . . . if it was not for the swine flu.
As I write this post, I am filled with grief and anger and several other emotions that I simply cannot comprehend yet . . . its been too soon. But there is a reason I write today, and that is the overall story of my dad's case of the swine flu.
It starts in San Francisco where he and his new wife (yes, my mom died at 54 and we all hope that my sister and I have a better prognosis) was visiting her father. While there, he got sick - very sick. He went to a local hospital where where they tested him for the swine flu but, apparently, lost the test and did not send it out to be tested. In the interim, they released my pop and gave him permission to fly. He flew from San Francisco, Ca. to Jacksonville, FL. When he got off the plane, he had a 104 temperature, had driven from the JAX airport to his condo where he had to ask his neighbor to take him to the ER. Once at the hospital, they diagnosed him with the blood clot and pneumonia. Sadly he could not breath and was put on a respirator soon after. By the time I got there from Seattle, he could not respond to me. I never said "goodbye" in person. Either did my sister. They had to chemically paralyze him and we knew intuitively that that was it. 2 days before he died, the hospital took another test for the swine flu.
Quickly things went "south" (pardon the pun) and one thing led to the next and he was on dialysis, no oxygen in his blood, and then only machines kept him alive. After 5 days on the machines, we turned them off and he was gone. A few days after his death, we learned he also had the swine flu - this, we are to understand, is why he could not recover. In the end, it is what killed him . . . but what disturbs me is this: it will not be reported on his death certificate - only the blood clot and complication from pneumonia. No mention of the swine flu - how should we view this? Is this ethical? Responsible?
Several things went wrong here including the fact that the first swine flu test was "lost" and it took too long to get a second test. Next, that there is soo much silence, not to mention misinformation about the swine flu that it boggles the mind trying to figure it all out.
The first time this country dealt with the swine flu "pandemic" was in 1976 when President Ford ordered a national inoculation against the swine flu. Although it is a different "virus" than today, there must be enough similarities between the two, besides the name. But the question is this: are we handling things any better today?
1970s commercial urging the public to get the swine flu inoculation:
Sadly, from what I can tell, this shot did little to help things out and many people had bad reactions because of it. For example, a 1979 60 Minutes report stated: "Well 46 million of us obediently took the shot, and now 4,000 Americans are claiming damages from Uncle Sam amounting to three and a half billion dollars because of what happened when they took that shot. By far the greatest number of the claims - two thirds of them are for neurological damage, or even death, allegedly triggered by the flu shot" (CBS, 60 MINUTES, 1979).
See the Video Here:
Now I have been hearing a lot about how the current pandemic is BS, how the numbers have been overdone, and how "martial law" will be issued to make us all take new and improved vaccinations. I cannot speak to any of this, but I am cautious of all the rhetoric from one side or the other. Seriously, who can we all trust anymore, anyway?
What I do know is this: my dad died of complications of the swine flu. The test should not have been "lost," and we (the public) need to know (transparency) how many deaths have been caused by complication of the swine flu.
Indeed, we need more truthful information. One thing that was quietly told to me during all of this was that the amount of deaths as a result of swine flu complications were under-reported, and that the press was encouraged NOT to advertise the problem because when it was first reported, everyone with a sniffle ran to their doctor asking for the test - tests that they did not have, and still do not have.
I also know that my father likely had the swine flu in San Francisco, flew to Jacksonville with the blessings and a signed doctor's letter saying it was ok. This is NOT OK! Not only did this make his embolism worse, it likely spread the effen swine flu. Lovely!
So with all my lack of conclusion regarding the swine flu, why write this post? Because, we need to start learning some of the truth before winter sets in, people get sick, and before an alarm is sounded. Each of us need to educate ourselves on the swine flu and potential issues. We need to understand that a "vaccine" for a virus is not likely--since this is not a bacterial infection after all. We need more transparency as to the swine flu, not the act of changing its name to either: 1) save the pork industry and the horrible practice of factory farming, or 2) divert our attention from what happened in 1976.
I have been personally affected by this. My wish for you is that you won't be.
R
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