I remember using a wheelchair back before I had a diagnosis and got treatment, on days when my pain was really bad and I really needed to pick something up but didn't feel up to using my cane.
I also remember feeling like a fraud because I could walk theoretically. At least, my legs worked. So why was I being so damned lazy? Until my friend reminded me that it was 1am and those wheelchairs were just gonna sit there unused; I was depriving nobody.
I uses it then, and once or twice since. But that feeling that I was faking or a fraud never really went away.
I have been on facebook. The things I have seen. Oh gods the things I have seen!
I'm playing here, but I've been on the precipice of an anxiety attack for about 45 minutes. In an autoimmune neurological illness group (so subtle, so not identifying) someone tested positive for Covid19 today and wanted our input on how it was with our flavor of illness and what we did.
Many of us got Paxlovid ASAP, thank fucking gods. But the rest. One of us rubbed horse dewormer on their feet. Several of us believed our doctors when they told us Paxlovid was only to decrease our current visible symptoms so didn't bother with it. One of us went to work and bragged about how they infected their entire small company. Very few of us know what airborne means. Most of us seem to get our news from FOX.
We are all going to die. This is me, one the sidewalk, with a sign. The world is ending. Deliberate ignorance rules.
The misinformation people will spread is unbelievable. I'm not so bothered about the horse dewormer (that came with valuable advice: get the topical, not the pills, FFS) because I assume most of us know that's bananas. But the Paxlovid stuff bothers me a lot.
Paxlovid is an antiviral and its purpose is to prevent the duplication and spread of viral particles, therefore hopefully preventing long-covid, hospitalization, and death. If you need to treat your stuffy head fever get some damn Nyquill and tell your doctor the same. (Preaching to the choir over here on Fedi and it feels so good.)
FOX is telling people that Paxlovid is a lie because it doesn't treat long-covid. It was never meant to. Long-covid is a compilation of a shit ton of damage and illnesses, none of which an antiviral would help with.
One of us in the group is in a snit now because she was wrong about all of her assertions and she got caught spreading the illness. Boo hoo, bitch.