I was all excited about an appointment this Thursday to get the J&J vaccine...

[Ms. Toad]

24. Well, I have refused medical care when doctors were being idiots

(their idiocy was confirmed, by tests I insisted they run before I would consent to further treatment - their half-life calculations were not accurate for my body, I was dangerously over-heparinized, and they had refused to test before restarting heparin). I informed my daughter's gastroenterologist what rare disease I was pretty sure she had (PSC) and badgered him until he ran the appropriate test to confirm it (GGT, followed by an MRCP). And, more recently, I was persistent enough in following up with a suspicious spot that was first biopsied in 2014 (after I fired a doctor who initially refused to biopsy it, then later refused to provide a complete pathology report. The full pathology report (which I obtained by speaking directy with the pathologist) indicated the lesion fell into a very small class of presumptively benign lesions that are only masquerading as benign. On the 5th excision in the same location I was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Since soft tissue sarcomas are not usually considered until the tumor is golf-ball sized, it was only my persistence that resutled in it being diagnosed when it was kidney-bean sized. Just to name a few times being an active participant in my medical care - including challenging doctors - has been critical for me or members of my family.

So I take making informed medical decisions about my health care very seriously - and, as to the most serious health matters, each time I have disagreed with the doctors I have been ultimately been proven to be correct.

EVERYONE needs to make informed decisions, and to actively participate in their medical care rather than being a passive consumer. As to COVID vaccines that means deciding whether you care, evaluating which vaccine is appropriate for you (if you do care), and actively seeking out an appointment.

You want to be a medical sheep - fine. Be a sheep. I'd rather be actively involved and alive - and I'm only alive with two fully functional arms because I think for myself, and for my family.

And - FWIW - feel free to search my posts for the last year and see how accurate I've been as to COVID, specifically. I've been ahead of the curve as to predictions of exponential growth (made January 2020) - as well as to specific predictions for hitting milestome numbers masks (I was making and wearing masks when Fauci was still saying not to), main mode of transmission, frequency of Moderna side effects v. Pfizer, and the recent studies that demonstrate that the vaccines not only prevent severity of disease, but also prevent transmission.