New stuff I’m learning about living dying what matters most - Thu, Jan 14 2021

Los Angeles Times – Fumiko Chino – Aug 11, 2019, 3:00 AM

A young widow who lost her husband to cancer nearly drowned in grief and medical debt. Now Fumiko Chino is a cancer doctor who sees her own tragedy play out in other patients. Too often people are underinsured and financially burdened by the cost…

Jeff Cohn Too often the conversations about medical (especially cancer) diagnosis and treatment are one-sided, not exploring alternatives, including no Rx. Describing scenarios (best case, worst case, most likely) can help more people make decisions right for them

Most Americans who are due for a colon cancer screening will receive a postcard or a call — or prompting during a doctor's visit — to remind them that it's time to schedule a colonoscopy. But at big health care systems like Kaiser…

Jeff Cohn I'm thinking that when I'm next due (at age 70) I may opt for this approach and, if it's negative/normal, continue annually until I/my doc decide to stop (by 80 at latest)

Oh, hello, nice to see you, have a seat — let's stress-eat some chips together. Let's turn ourselves, briefly, into dusty-​fingered junk-food receptacles. This will force us to stop looking, for a few minutes, at the bramble of tabs…

Jeff Cohn I love this concept- something one can do that is relatively mindless that provides a respite from the complex/tiring work of life. When I was working in a leadership role in the hospital I called this 'grunt work'- like filling in #s into excel sheets..

The Washington Post – Rebecca Tan – Jan 13, 5:37 AM

The footage captured by HuffPost political reporter Igor Bobic has gone viral in the past week, spurring people across the world to hail the officer as a hero. The U.S. Capitol Police has not publicly identified him, but three of his friends told…

Jeff Cohn As opposed to the ludicrous collection of 'honorees' Trump has awarded medals to recently, here's a true deserving hero. “My job is to protect and serve,” he told co-workers after the video of him went viral. “And on that day, I was protecting.”

The Washington Post – Bonnie Watson Coleman – Jan 12, 12:24 PM

Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat, represents New Jersey's 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Over the past day, a lot of people have asked me how I feel. They are usually referring to my covid-19 diagnosis and my…

Jeff Cohn I'm hoping the start of the Biden term begins to bring back the view that facts matter, that there is not a reason to give airplay to a perspective that is pure B/S, or, worse, outright lies..

As millions are inoculated against the coronavirus, and the pandemic's end finally seems to glimmer into view, scientists are envisioning what a post-vaccine world might look like — and what they see is comforting. The coronavirus is here to…

Jeff Cohn Isn't this a nice image to carry with you? Very much hoping it is true..

Initial data from Israel's vaccination campaign shows that Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine curbs infections by some 50 percent 14 days after the first of two shots is administered, a top Health Ministry official said Tuesday, as the country's serious…

Jeff Cohn This is in keeping with what the curves displaying infection rates showed during the research- those receiving vaccines had their infection rates drop around 2 weeks after the 1st vaccine dose compared with the placebo group..

Football coaches do it. President-elects do it. Even science-savvy senators do it. As cases of the coronavirus continue to surge on a global scale, some of the nation's most prominent people have begun to double up on masks — a move that…

Jeff Cohn Unless you have a high-quality mask, going double masked, especially with surgical mask on bottom and looser cloth mask on top, in high-risk situations (working indoors for extended periods) makes sense until fully vaccinated

The Washington Post – Emily Yahr – Jan 12, 3:00 AM

“Had I attended the festival in-person, I know I would have had a great time. But I don't know that I would have put myself out there to the degree that I did on social media,” said Locke, who after that weekend saw lots of new…

Jeff Cohn Not sure if I'm ready to substitute virtual for live theater yet- and I do look forward to seeing certain types of films at the movies again- but other events (concerts, dance, even museums) I might be more apt to do virtually than in person, IMO