American Invincibility’s Downside

I graduated from Cornell University ’61 and Cornell University Medical College (CUMC) ’65. After a rigorous surgical residency at MCV (now VCU) in Richmond, VA, I served as a trauma surgeon in Vietnam. I retired from my active surgical practice in Amsterdam, NY, in 2000. I then taught first-year medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine for fifteen years.

One would think I should have a sufficient grasp of medicine to overcome American Invincibility (AI). What?

In my psychiatry rotation at CUMC, a fictitious story introduced AI. A NY City driver on Park Avenue, listening to WPIX, was informed that a Russian bomb would explode on the City. Remarkably, 10,000 New Yorkers would survive. The driver was immediately relieved to know that he was one of the survivors. That is unadulterated AI.

We all have suffered such relapses.

My most recent retrogression was one week ago.

I began my Covid-19 immunizations in January ’21 and received the Moderna booster a month ago. I was now home free. Or was I?

A week ago, I developed typical “cold/flu” symptoms absent Covid-19 warning signs and symptoms. Oh well, just a cold. I don’t have Covid-19.

My son, Christopher, called after a most enjoyable Thanksgiving gathering at our home in Amsterdam, NY informing me that his wife, Michelle, and her parents tested positive and displayed symptoms of Covid-19. Oh shit!!!

Within the hour, I discovered my nasal swab to be positive. The second purple line appeared in Abbot’s twenty-five-dollar rapid test kit. My wife, Robin, was negative.

My culturally instilled American Invincibility had hoodwinked me and placed those around me in danger.

MY PLEA IS FOR ALL OF US NOT TO BE GUILTY OF MY FAILURE AND SEIZE UPON THE FIRST SYMPTOMS OF THE “COLD/FLU” TO POSSIBLY REPRESENT THE ONSET OF A COVID-19 ILLNESS. PLEASE, IMMEDIATELY GET TESTED, WHETHER YOU ARE PARTIALLY OR FULLY IMMUNIZED.