In my last posting, I forgot to put down my doctor's advice for steering clear of the potentially deadly MRSA bacteria that got me and now the equally lethal Corona virus. Both can target us all.
It's really simple. It only takes water (or alcohol) and memory.
Both the virus and bacteria are spread like the common cold: Someone who's infected, but may or may not be symptomatic, shakes our hands, coughs or breathes in our faces, or touches a surface that, a few minutes later, we touch, such as a door knob, a shopping cart handle, exercise equipment, the counter of the neighborhood bar.
We then touch our eyes or mouth, wipe sweat from our forehead, or we have an open wound which we touch, and boom! We've got it.
My neurosurgeon, James Lawrence at the Bone & Joint Center, told me in 2010 that I should avoid as much as possible shaking hands, and I should carry with me (in my pocket, in a bag, in my car) alcohol-based hand sanitizer, or hand wipes, and use them frequently.
The key, he said, was keeping your hands clean. That's it. That's the simple, life-saving act. He said he washed his hands 20 to 30 times a day and used sanitizer.
This was before the days of wearing a mask. But if we do both, wear masks & keep our hands clean, we can do a great deal to protect ourselves and our families and friends. It's not hard. Just water & memory.
After he said this, I would frequently see people at various YMCAs using the equipment, and, often, though not always, I'd see them wiping the equipment down afterwards. I would ask them if they had wiped down the mats, bars or machines BEFORE they used them, and usually they'd say, no. Then, without trying to sound stuffy, I'd tell them that the bacteria, and now the virus, remains active on objects for at least 15 minutes after it lands there.
Think of it as a scorpion someone left behind.
I don't know if I sound stuffy or I go on too long. Probably both.
But fact is, I want you all upright. I'm selfish. I can't play against myself.
-Mike
-- Edited by mikehart on Tuesday 30th of June 2020 05:58:50 PM