Community Chat

[Kachina624]

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@Susan in California wrote:

@Kachina624 

Hi Kachina624--I had the Moh's surgery for Squamous cell carcinoma last Nov.  It was more of an ordeal than expected, 16 stitches, a lot of bruising around the eye (the carcinoma was on the left temple).  I am glad it's over, but it took about 6 weeks to look

normal.  But the Dr.'s comment was, "it took a long time to heal..."

I hope you are continuting to improve.

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@Susan in California   That's what I've had, a Moh's procedure.  Sure is more than I expected.  After a day of carving, I have to go back in 3 weeks for the second half of a skin graft.  The discoloration is gone and a lot of the swelling.  Mine was right on my nose.

[Stray]

@pitdakota those masks were brutal and that’s correct men with beards have difficulty with fit but can be fitted. If you are claustrophobic, they are a nightmare. I know there were mask shortages after 9/11. All surgical supply companies deferred gloves and masks to Ground Zero so medical practices could not get them readily.

[Stray]

I think people are panicking and worried about masks & not worrying about the simple steps one can take. If you are not in an area where the virus is active, you’ve not been in contact with someone with the virus, you don’t need a mask.

Also, I think one of the most dangerous and disgusting things that I see is politicizing the disease. The CDC has plans already developed in the case of influenza, Ebola, anthrax or any other communicable diseases. They just change the name. Having had expats in China during SARS, Mexico during H1N1 & employees exposed to Anthrax in NYC/Washington DC, I worked with the CDC very closely. It is one of the government agencies that do work and very independently from the White House. Get your information from their website cdc.gov. Not from these idiotic talk shows. I don’t care what your political affiliation is, get your information from people who know what they are doing and follow the clusters & source of the contact.

That’s the most dangerous thing right now is panic because of misinformation and political spew. Politics should be put aside by politicians, the media and Individuals & let’s work together for a solution and containment.

[Lipstickdiva]

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@sidsmom wrote:

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@patbz wrote:

Per WSJ: Medical personnel in Europe are being instructed to reuse disposable masks because that's all they have and there are no more in the pipeline!

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They need to contact Marge in Wichita.

Heard she has a stockpile in her basement jUsT iN cASe

[sarcasm]

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@sidsmom, okay that was funny.  And I don't want anyone to think I'm taking this lightly but this is why some people are trying to reiterate the fact that these masks are not recommended or even helpful in most situations but then as I said elsewhere, you get the response that the healthcare industry isn't buying their masks from Amazon or Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. SMH

[stuyvesant]

Here's a study on just this issue - N95 respirators v. medical masks.  it was printed in JAMA.  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2749214

The conclusion of the abstract was there's no statistical difference between the two. To quote: Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

The title of the article for Googling purposes is "N95 Respirators vs Medical Masks for Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Personnel" (sorry for the font size.)

ETA:  This virus is new, so studies for influenze may not be applicable to it,  but it's what we have to work with for the time being.

[lovesrecess]

I have seen so many different, dire warnings on tv today.....masks are a must, don’t wear a mask, etc. A CDC person said don’t stock up on surgical masks and surgical gloves because drs need them. I think he is too late since most retailers have sold out of them now anyway.

[lovesrecess]

The masks are very uncomfortable to wear; hot and annoying. I think they are overkill since the only thing they are now saying on the news is that none of the masks help anyway. If that’s the case, one less thing to freak out about not having! I am not one to panic easily...it’s a shame the media seems to be trying to to whip people up to a frenzy.

[lovesrecess]

You have a special need for the masks since your husband has COPD. I would think he would be more vulnerable. They are now saying even the N95 mask won’t prevent the coronavirus, but if I had a condition involving the lungs, I would take whatever precautions available.

[lovesrecess]

The ones I saw on Amazon were only available in mega-packs. Guess the smaller packs or individual ones sold out first. I just don’t need hundreds of them.