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So, I Finally Got COVID
Townhall.com ^ | January 5, 2022 | Michael Brown

Posted on 01/05/2022 6:01:52 AM PST by Kaslin

As happened to many other Americans during the Christmas break, both my wife and I came down with COVID, marking the first time either of us contracted it. (I write this article on day 9, and we are on the mend, albeit slowly.)

Both of us have been far sicker at other times in our lives, and compared to how others have suffered over these last two years, our cases appear to be fairly mild. At the same time, this is the longest I have been sick since 2014 (when I made a radical lifestyle change), and there’s something about this virus that feels “demonic.” If you’ve had it yourself, you probably agree.

Here, then, are some practical thoughts and reflections.

As I write, a close family friend since the 1980s is fighting for his life (he is in his mid-50s, married with children). We are believing for a miracle on his behalf, with limited options remaining for the doctors.

But as I have issued prayer calls on social media, I have read some stirring reports – downright miraculous reports – with people literally raised up from their death beds after months in the hospital. That’s what we pray for on behalf our friend. May the Lord do it again!

Others, sadly, have already left us, including (in just the last week or two) a pastor in his mid-60s, the daughter of an old colleague (she was about 50), and a Christian musician (in his early 40s). The hemorrhaging continues. Have we seen anything like this in our lifetimes?

And having enjoyed such vibrant, personal health for these last 7+ years, my heart truly breaks for the many who suffer long-term, debilitating, painful, draining illnesses. I commend them for their courage, their faith, and their perseverance in the midst of such ongoing trials. May they find relief and healing and mercy! Their faith in the midst of suffering puts many of us to shame.

As for COVID specifically, one of the things that makes this condition so unique is the fear associated with it.

Again, speaking personally, I am one of the least fearful people you will ever meet, living with almost ridiculous optimism and overflowing expectation every day of my life.

Yet on the second night with COVID, after waking up from a nap, for some odd reason, I could not breathe for a split second. Immediately, a flood of thoughts hit my brain: “This is where it starts. This is how it happens. Next thing you’ll be in the hospital, fighting for your life. It’s going to get very dark very quickly!” How crazy is that?

In years past, I had bad colds that were far worse than this present sickness (in terms of severity of symptoms, not length), let alone some severe cases of flu that were absolutely miserable. Yet no sooner did I come down with an apparently minor case of COVID than this wave of fearful thoughts flooded my mind.

Of course, the thoughts were gone as quickly as they came, and my oxygen levels have remained strong throughout. But it was just another reminder: COVID and fear go hand in hand, and that fear can lead to all kinds of irrational thinking.

On a more practical note, my personal doctor, Mark Stengler, who in October 2020 was given the “Doctor of the Decade” award by the International Association of Top Professionals, wanted me to have Ivermectin on hand in case I came down with COVID.

So, he wrote a prescription for me, but I could not get it filled in North Carolina. That’s because Dr. Stengler is a naturopathic doctor, and by law in NC, pharmacies do not fill prescriptions written by naturopaths. Talk about being behind the times.

As the International Association of Top Professionals noted, “Dr. Stengler’s impressive repertoire of roles have included his activities as a medical expert on several television shows as well as his own weekly television show. Dr. Stengler was the host of a PBS educational and fundraising show, ‘A to Z Guide to Healing Yourself.’ He was also the host of the highly successful ‘Beyond Chemo’ documentary. Dr. Stengler also served on a medical advisory committee for the Yale University Complementary Medicine Outcomes Research Project.”

Yet he cannot write a simple prescription in North Carolina. Wow.

He then had a traditional MD on his team write me the prescription, but none of the major pharmacies would fill it because it was Ivermectin. Instead, I had to go to a compounding pharmacy to get it filled. This is how politicized everything has become.

On another note, since I was too tired to do much of anything for the better part of a week, I watched a lot of football on TV. (It happened to be the time of the year for the college bowl games.)

And that means that I watched a lot of commercials too, including a seemingly endless stream of Pizza Hut commercials, featuring both their specialty pizzas and their decadent desserts.

This, in turn, made me wonder: What on earth are we doing? How can we possibly promote so much unhealthy food? In the words of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, whose nutritional guidelines helped transform my life, we are “digging our own graves with forks and knives.”

To be clear, as a lifelong chocoholic until the age of 59, along with being an extreme consumer of pizza over those decades, I am not throwing stones or judging others. I know how hard it can be to break the stronghold of food.

But, in the midst of the longest sickness I have experienced since 2014, when I’m even more acutely aware of the importance of healthy eating and having a strong immune system, I am struck afresh at the depth of unhealthiness in our decadent culture.

I can assure you that the long-term, wonderful benefits of healthy eating infinitely outweigh the temporary pleasures of a decadent meal. I am living proof!

May we all learn to be even better stewards of our bodies in 2022.

May we live life to the full, recognizing just how fragile it can be.

May the politicizing of COVID (from all sides) finally come to an end.

And may we turn to the Lord as our only sure foundation as we leave 2021 behind and journey into 2022.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: covid19; horsepasterescue; ivermectin; michaelbrown; pandemic; virus
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1 posted on 01/05/2022 6:01:52 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

My brother has been struggling for 12 days and his doctor is doing NOTHING


2 posted on 01/05/2022 6:06:14 AM PST by SMARTY (Republics decline into democracies & democracies degenerate into despotisms. Aristotle)
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To: Kaslin
I could not breathe for a split second. Immediately, a flood of thoughts hit my brain: “This is where it starts. This is how it happens. Next thing you’ll be in the hospital, fighting for your life. It’s going to get very dark very quickly!” How crazy is that?

It's crazy, however the media and the Dems and Frankenstein Fauci have made fear their primary goal so they can manipulate.

3 posted on 01/05/2022 6:09:29 AM PST by 1Old Pro (Let's make crime illegal again!)
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To: Kaslin
Dr. Stengler is a naturopathic doctor, and by law in NC, pharmacies do not fill prescriptions written by naturopaths.

Doctor must be aware of that, yet he wrote a prescription. Logically, he must know the prescription can be filled somewhere. I'd be asking him where.

4 posted on 01/05/2022 6:10:30 AM PST by Buttons12 ( )
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To: Kaslin

Gosh, one would think the media would be celebrating this like they do with AIDS sharing parties. It’s called “gifting” or something like that.


5 posted on 01/05/2022 6:11:37 AM PST by glorgau
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To: Kaslin

“COVID and fear go hand in hand, and that fear can lead to all kinds of irrational thinking.“

-thanks to the government and media campaign.

Until THEY got “involved”, NOBODY was afraid of this virus; it was just another of many we’ve always lived with.


6 posted on 01/05/2022 6:12:11 AM PST by joethedrummer (We can’t vote our way out of this, folks..)
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To: Kaslin
Again. Mike Brown got COVID again. Likely the OMICRON variant this year. Coronaviruses have been around for thousands of years and will be around for thousands more.

COVID-1984 has been around for more than TWO YEARS. Does anyone really believe it hasn't spread to every human being on the planet in a matter of weeks? It even made it's way into isolate research stations. It's also found in animal populations, including wild deer.

7 posted on 01/05/2022 6:13:11 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: Kaslin
there’s something about this virus that feels “demonic.” If you’ve had it yourself, you probably agree.

My wife might agree, but we all had it a month before the COVID Fear Porn began, I was the wierd one that only got a mild head cold for 2 days, My Wife, Daughter and her Husband were all pretty sick for 2 weeks. We started taking Zinc/Quercetin Daily a year ago to help prevent a reinfection, even though the chances are minute. We also ordered Ivermectin a year ago and have it just in case. we always had the Horse Paste, because we have Horses, but I wanted the pills, so I got them online. I wasn't worried before and am not worried now.
8 posted on 01/05/2022 6:15:46 AM PST by eyeamok (founded in cynicism, wrapped in sarcasm)
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To: Kaslin

And that FEAR that you say goes hand in hand is because you have been FED IT! That’s the entire purpose of the last 2 years is to instill fear, not reason or rational thought.

NO there is no reason for the average person to FEAR covid.

Yes its real, yes you can die from it, but reality is, odds you will have a bad outcome, vaccinated or not, are low, and always have been.

That FEAR exists because they have lied to you and beaten you in every way possible for 2 years to think Covid is a death sentence... and for the overwhelming majority it is not... For the majority its not even an event, but since you are now instilled with FEAR, manipulation is far easier to achieve.

Simple facts are as follows, and NOTHING has changed about any of this since DAY 1.

1). You will be exposed, nothing you do, can prevent this, masks won’t stop, vaccines won’t stop it, various other things won’t stop this from happening.

2) You may or may not get sick once you are exposed

3) Odds are you illness will be benign to mild.. the majority won’t even know they have it.

4) Sadly a small percentage of those who do get it will get a very bad case.

5) Sadly a small percentage of them, will not recover.

That’s the facts.

Vaccines, lessen the odds you will reach number 5, but that’s all they do, they do not prevent you from getting it, they don’t prevent you from passing it along, and no, they are not guaranteed to prevent you from dying from it. You still can wind up being the person who dies even if fully vaccinated (whatever that means this week).

That’s the long and short of this, has been true from day one, anyone telling you ANYTHING other than that, is flat out LYING TO YOU.

The fact they HAVE BEEN LYING TO EVERYONE FOR YEARS is the HEART of that “FEAR” response.. they have done everything they can to condition folks to respond with fear to this, and its repugnant.

The overwhelming probability is, you will get it and likely not even know you have it.... The next likely probability is you will get it, and only reason you know you have it and not just a cold is because they will test you for it.

All other outcomes, are insanely low probabilities... yes, they do and can happen, but especially if you are under 70, the odds are very very very low, you are going to have a bad outcome. No its not zero, never will be, but this is not EBOLA... its not SMALLPOX, this isn’t a disease with a 90% fatality rate... never was, and should never have been treated like it was.


9 posted on 01/05/2022 6:17:12 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: SMARTY

“My brother has been struggling for 12 days and his doctor is doing NOTHING”

Something happened to my brother, he and his wife were down for four weeks. The doctor only meets over Apple facetime and gave him some basic drugs for the symptoms.

At one point we might need a trip to the hospital. I had him use his CPAP machine to help over this phase, since he did not want any hospital service.

I provided then C, Zinc, D, and B. My brother believes the fresh cut fruit I provided helped turn them around.

Not sure if the doctor knew about Monoclonal treatment. The doctor was upset with them for not having the vaccine. Both are living today with natural immunity now from having Delta.


10 posted on 01/05/2022 6:18:25 AM PST by DEPcom (Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules)
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To: SMARTY

My daughter is probably one of the most experienced COVID nurses in America as so many of her co workers refused to come to work when this started she and one other nurse in her hospital had to cover most of the cases. She will tell you if you have any issues breathing lay on your stomach. No matter how uncomfortable you are lay on your stomach. Get more oxygen deep into your lungs and helps you cough up any phlegm. At least two friends that were denied medical care were basically saved by doing this more than anything else.


11 posted on 01/05/2022 6:20:04 AM PST by mikesmad
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To: SMARTY
...and his doctor is doing NOTHING

What the doctor is doing is protecting his own ass. Dump him and move on.

12 posted on 01/05/2022 6:20:27 AM PST by glorgau
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To: Kaslin
And that means that I watched a lot of commercials too, including a seemingly endless stream of Pizza Hut commercials, featuring both their specialty pizzas and their decadent desserts. This, in turn, made me wonder: What on earth are we doing? How can we possibly promote so much unhealthy food?

I was watching something on the Food Channel, like Unwrapped or Food: Facto or Fiction. They mentioned how often Americans eat pizza. I don't remember how much, but it was a remarkable figure. I think people tend to have it every week. It occurred to me that pizza alone may be responsible for America's obesity epidemic. It's full of carbs and full of fat. As if that was not enough, they make pizzas where the outer crust is stuffed with cheese, amping up the fat (and carbs because without the cheese, people seldom eat the "pizza bones").

13 posted on 01/05/2022 6:22:54 AM PST by Sans-Culotte (11/3-11/4/2020 - The USA became a banana republic.)
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To: DEPcom

“...The doctor was upset with them for not having the vaccine.
...”

Same with my brother and we both suspect the doctor is failing his duties because of THAT

Anyway-my brother is Az and I’m in OH..so it’s scary!

He has a girlfriend and his son who also live out there and provide for him.... but they don’t enter the house.


14 posted on 01/05/2022 6:23:12 AM PST by SMARTY (Republics decline into democracies & democracies degenerate into despotisms. Aristotle)
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To: joethedrummer

thanks to the government and media campaign.

Until THEY got “involved”, NOBODY was afraid of this virus; it was just another of many we’ve always lived with

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

I think back and give credit to Trump as he tried to actually steer us away from Fear and towards hope.


15 posted on 01/05/2022 6:23:31 AM PST by bramps (It's the Islam, stupid!I )
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To: mikesmad

I’ll tell him


16 posted on 01/05/2022 6:26:11 AM PST by SMARTY (Republics decline into democracies & democracies degenerate into despotisms. Aristotle)
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To: Kaslin

Here are some resources to get supplies of ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine and other medications to assist in recovery:

How to Get Ivermectin
https://covid19criticalcare.com/ivermectin-in-covid-19/covid-19-care-providers/

How to Get Ivermectin / Pharmacies
https://covid19criticalcare.com/pharmacies/

Fusion Pharmacy
https://www.fusionspecialtypharmacy.com/contact-us/

US 24/7 Pharmacy
https://247americanpharmacy.com/

Push Health
https://www.pushhealth.com/patient


17 posted on 01/05/2022 6:26:13 AM PST by gspurlock (http://www.backyardfence.wordpress.com)
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To: T.B. Yoits

“Does anyone really believe it hasn’t spread to every human being on the planet in a matter of weeks? ”

I do. Perhaps I’m misinterpreting your meaning. But, no I don’t think every human on the planet has been infected. So far as I understand it, there’s never been a virus that infected EVERYONE. It’s estimated that only about 25% of the population came down with the Spanish Flu. Just the other day there was an article here about scientists studying what appears to be immune individuals.

If you mean the virus has contacted everyone but some just don’t get sick or even test positive for antibodies that’s possible I suppose.


18 posted on 01/05/2022 6:28:38 AM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Kaslin

Several family and friends have gotten covid in my case. In every single situation it was mild or they were sick for a day or two. Every period single. Case.

Of course, we avoided things like hospitals and Remdesivir like the plague. No pun intended.


19 posted on 01/05/2022 6:28:50 AM PST by cuban leaf (My prediction: Harris is Spiro Agnew. We'll soon see who becomes Gerald Ford, and our next prez.)
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To: eyeamok

My household had it a year ago. The worst-hit, my husband and me, had a couple of days of sharp headaches. The under-20 crowd had runny noses and sleepiness, which is like any other January. (I’ve spent so many years trying to figure out whether teenagers are sick or just lazy!)

The whole point of the lockdowns and masking and distancing for almost two years was the assumption that many, many people were infected but entirely asymptomatic.

I’m sorry if Mr. Brown is feeling very ill, and I hope he makes a full recovery, but generalizing from his experience to everyone who has had Covid is just lazy writing.


20 posted on 01/05/2022 6:29:03 AM PST by Tax-chick (Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
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