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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   31959 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 5, 2022

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It might, but there's no reason for it, unless someone wants to criticise high-pressure work expectations. Reading a news report on this, he himself said:

On Monday, Mr Wahl wrote on his website: "My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you. What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.

I didn't have Covid (I test regularly here), but I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I'm already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno.''

So he was under a lot of stress from work, got sick, and collapsed. Until we get a cause of death, there's no reason to see anything more sinister in this.

I didn't have Covid (I test regularly here), but I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I'm already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno.''

There's something about this that is... well, not humorous, that's a bit too dark considering he just died. But certainly odd. Wahl was repeatedly tested for something relatively benign that he didn't have, while actually being ravaged by something that was a "probably" which wasn't further investigated.

Then again, I keep hearing something along the lines of "I'm ill, but don't worry, I tested myself for covid and don't have that, so it might be -something worse- instead" and whenever I do I can hear the thin rope of restraint in my brain grow ever-more taut as it begins to fray. We (collective, not me personally) seem to be stuck in some pointless doomloop of covid testing where tests are done for little apparent reason, as if the test itself is the treatment.

A few weeks ago I got sick and stayed home for a few days. So many of my friends asked me if my covid test was positive - just assuming I'd been testing. They were appalled when I said I hadn't bothered, and that in fact I have never tested myself for covid. If the diagnostic result does not change/inform treatment, then what use is it? If I were sick enough to need hospitalization, they'd test me for various things at that point and treat accordingly. If I'm not sick enough to be hospitalized, what good does knowing exactly what bug I have do? We know Paxlovid has only ever been tested in unvaccinated individuals and appears to have no value in vaccinated people (and perhaps a downside of helping covid evolve to escape it when over-used in those who do not need it). So I did what we all did pre-covid, I stayed home and rested until I felt better. Maybe I had covid. Maybe I didn't. I don't really care.

I think you're right that people have begun to view the test as some kind of treatment, or at least somehow a responsibility as if the knowledge of which bug is making them slightly ill is of grave importance to society.

Sounds like a Pulmonary Embolism to me. Not a doctor

I was thinking the same thing, some kind of clot that got loose and caused a fatal stroke. We'll have to wait for the autopsy, though.

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