Patient thanks dentist for Easter procedure
COVID-19 had prevented me from racing to my dentist’s office, instead attempting to deal with a sore tooth at home. I’d been in contact with Dr. Raymond about this problem and he’d advised me to come in. I was sure I could endure this dental pain until we reached a safer time with this virus and was prescribed antibiotics.
The pain continued, each day worse than the previous. The week before Easter, I found myself on the internet searching for safe ways to pull my own tooth at home. I found several tutorials; I was going to do it Sunday. There was no way I could go through another day like this. Tom Hanks did it in Castaway, right?
Early Sunday morning, I was on the bedroom floor, cradling my jaw and screaming into a pillow. This really frightened me and my husband. It was 4:52 a.m. on Easter Sunday, during a pandemic. My husband called Dr. Raymond’s office. It was futile; it was Easter Sunday — he wouldn’t be in his office. I refused to go to the ED. I felt it was too risky.
Accupressure and clove oil provided some relief, until the nerve pain began again. To our surprise, at 9:54 a.m., Dr. Raymond called back. He told my husband to bring me to his office by 11:30. We were early, yet Dr. Raymond was already there. I was met with kindness and empathy. He and his assistant were prepared; the office was immaculate, they adhered to every state and federal guideline I’d read about. Never have I been as grateful for a shot of novacaine.
Within an hour, the worst pain in my life was over. How do you thank someone for that? These two human beings stopped what they were doing on Easter Sunday to help me, so I didn’t pull my own tooth or go to the ED in the midst of an uncontrolled virus. Heroes.
My most heartfelt thanks to Dr. Raymond and Savannah. I will never forget what you did for me.
Judith Price
Morgantown
Thank you, millennials, for staying home
My name is Luella Frey and I am a resident at Morgantown Health and Rehab. I know how hard it is to be in quarantine because my family hasn’t been able to visit for a month. I really miss seeing my family, but I don’t want this crazy virus to take hold of my community. I was “born on the mountain” (Pisgah, W.Va.) in 1935, and I graduated from Morgantown High in 1953. I know about health care because I worked at Ruby (West Virginia University Hospital) for more than 20 years as an aid. I retired in 2000 and have been at Morgantown Health and Rehab since 2018.
I want to thank all the millennials who are staying home. I miss having company, so I understand that it is hard, but if we can all stay home, we can prevent this virus from hurting seniors like me, middle-aged people like my kids and young people like my 16 grandkids.
Thank you, millennials, for staying home.
Luella Frey
Morgantown
A message to students from a teacher: Be proud
To say I miss my students is an understatement. I long for a return to the moments in my classroom where students are sharing stories about their weekend, laughing with their friends about a TikTok video, getting excited about their future careers and even complaining about the homework I’ve assigned. Yet, as the number of positive tests for, and deaths from, COVID-19 increase in our county and state, it is paramount that we protect our most vulnerable community members by closing school buildings for the remainder of the school year. Thankfully, our state officials have agreed to take this necessary measure, while maintaining remote learning.
As students and teachers already know, a school is more than just a building. In this new age of virtual and distance learning, school is the explanatory email from the counselor, a friendly phone call from the assistant principal and an encouraging text from the classroom teacher. School is also the food delivery that continues nourishing our students. School is the community keeping each other healthy and safe, teaching our kids how to be caring, responsible citizens.
I know that parents, students and educators are sad to be missing all of the wonderful end-of-year celebrations. Rest assured that Monongalia County Schools is working to find ways to recognize the accomplishments and milestones of our students. In the meantime, be proud of yourselves, students. Celebrate your own resilience, your courage and your commitment to learning. Your teachers, your parents and the community are so very proud of you and your ability to adapt to these unusual times.
Emily J. Tanzey
Morgantown
An open letter to Gov. Justice about reopening
Please let merchants and customers decide how and when to open businesses. Mrs. Kerr and I are at high risk for coronavirus complications, and we appreciate the special precautions that many stores offer higher-risk customers. But the financial futures of our children and grandchildren should not be held hostage by our
vulnerabilities.
There is no reason why a barber or hairdresser, using mask and face shield (among other precautions), should not be allowed to perform services for willing customers. There is no reason why doctors, hospitals and patients should not be allowed to decide between the risk of care, including “elective” surgeries, and the risks of non-care. Open the operating rooms this week, not next.
The damage already done to the economy will take years, at least, to recover. This is a republic, not a monarchy. The pursuit of happiness has never been risk-free. Let the people decide, one purchase at a time, what services are safe enough to consume. Every day under this shutdown digs the hole deeper — damage that government cannot undo!
Richard S. Kerr
Morgantown
Don’t reject scientific modeling for reopening
When to reopen the state? A question fraught with risk in this time of COVID-19. The article (DP-04-21-20) concerning the governor’s inclination to restart West Virginia slowly states that the IHME model “shows West Virginia among four states that could consider lifting social distancing restrictions after May 4, if proper containment measures are put in place.” Furthermore, “the model predicts that bordering states with far higher incidences of virus and death would have to come later.”
However, viruses do not discriminate based on political boundaries.
For West Virginia, a compact with surrounding states seems appropriate, especially in the absence of a national policy governing interstate movement. We have numerous examples of people crossing state boundaries to acquire goods and services in neighboring states. Many of our cities lie on or near state borders: Morgantown for example. Every person traveling from and returning to West Virginia or living in a neighboring state but crossing into West Virginia for work, shopping and eating out because such destinations are not open in their states is a potential asymptomatic carrier of the virus. This is behavior adding to the fear of second and third waves of pandemic reinfection and a sound basis for collective action.
We take such actions to battle environmental and pollution afflictions; why not include a viral pandemic as a similar event?
The governor is right to control reopening in a step-by-step process that allows adjustment if data indicate that we are moving too fast. He misses the point, however, if he rejects modeling to assist in preparing for such insidious threats.
The United States engaged in a Constitutional Convention to examine the shortcomings of the existing confederation of states and decided upon a federal-state republic to ensure collective security and prosperity. Collective action strengthens our defenses in perilous times.
Bill Wyant
Morgantown
‘Essential’ business sells nonessential products
At the start of the quarantine, everyone was discouraged from congregating. We were told to stay home and only venture out to purchase necessary items. Logically, only businesses that sold necessary items were permitted to remain open for people to purchase essential goods. The reality of the situation is somewhat different.
Walmart remained open and able to conduct business because its products were viewed as necessary to sustain life, but Best Buy was not. You need the groceries that Walmart sells but not the big screen TV that Best Buy sells.
However, if you go to Walmart, you can purchase items that were decreed nonessential. You can buy a big screen TV at Walmart.
If I can safely buy electronics at Walmart, then why is it unsafe to purchase the same electronics at Best Buy?
There isn’t any difference. In essence, the government has sanctioned Walmart to be a monopoly. If Walmart can safely be open by taking common sense precautions, then so can every other business.
All businesses across the state can take public safety precautions, such as limiting the amount of people in their store and constantly sanitizing. It’s time we open up our businesses again so we can all get back to work. Moreover, it’s time we take our state back from petty, micromanaging government officials. The pandemic is bad, but what these myopic bureaucrats are doing to our lives, our economy and our constitutional rights is much worse.
We know the risks. We are social distancing, compulsively cleaning our hands and many are wearing face masks. West Virginia is one of the states with the lowest amount of COVID-19 cases.
Georgia, North Carolina and other states are starting to open up. Jim Justice, enough is enough. Reopen West Virginia now!
Jeff Baron
Morgantown
In support of Sen. Ron Stollings for governor
Sen. Ron Stollings, the Democratic candidate for governor of West Virginia, is a trusted colleague whom I have known and worked with since he was a medical student.
Ron lost his only parent, his mother, as a teenager. The people of his home town of Madison, W.Va., became his support system. They nurtured him emotionally and financially so he was able to graduate from medical school. He has returned this debt of gratitude many times over by caring for the people who cared for him. Patient care is what has grounded him as a humanitarian and connects him with his constituents.
There is no more experienced candidate for this high office than Dr. Ron Stollings. He has served 14 years in the state Senate. He is respected for his willingness to reach across the aisle in the spirit of compromise. His views are moderate and pragmatic, always guided by what will make West Virginia a better place for its citizens. We are all aware of the challenges we face: The opioid crisis; an economy in great need of diversification; declining population; and the inability for our brightest young people to find jobs close to home. And now the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Stollings has laid out his plans in well-thought out detail (StollingsforWestVirginia.com). He is well positioned to apply his knowledge and experience to address issues that confront us, including today’s coronavirus pandemic.
His legacy of caring for the sick as a primary care physician, public service as a legislator and friendly interaction with people from all walks of life has not gone unnoticed. His honors are many, including the prestigious AMA Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service.
Sen. Stollings has broad support for his candidacy for governor of West Virginia. He has been endorsed by the West Virginia Academy of Family Physicians, the West Virginia Education Association and the West Virginia Farm Bureau. It is my hope you will agree with me that Sen. Ron Stollings is the right person for governor of our great state in 2020.
William A. Neal
Morgantown
Trump cares more about economy than lives
Since the very start of Donald Trump’s administration, it (he) has been against health care. He put Mike Pence — who voted against American Health Care (ACA) — in charge of alleviating a coronavirus health care dilemma. This killing disease is seemingly in favor of their administration’s also white supremacist ideals, as it reportedly prefers to kill the darker and poorer races of people.
Now, because Dr. Fauci has contradicted the Trump/Pence idealisms to infiltrate America with their coronavirus contagion by crowding the coronavirus afflicted with the non-afflicted, Trump wants to have Dr. Fauci fired.
Trump also touts his magnificent coronavirus hydroxychloroquine as the ultimate cure for coronavirus when I’ve heard Donald Trump has an invested interest in the “mere-liar-uh” drug, and would profit from its sales. It’s OK for someone in the White House to scam Americans but not anyone else, like televangelist Jim Bakker with an all cure elixir.
The American Medical Society should get together and vouch for Dr. Fauci and the American people’s good health and certify that Donald Trump and Mike Pence and perhaps their GOPher liars as mentally incompetent to conduct America’s health care initiatives and remove them all. The impeached Donald Trump and his lying-under-oath administration of Republican senators has only led to the deaths of over 23,000 people to date (4-13-20) because they don’t care about American’s health.
Donald Trump’s stock market isn’t worth a crap without healthy Americans.
Delmar Hagedorn Jr.
Morgantown
