Author Howard Weiner

I met with my urologist on March 13 th  to review the pathology report on the 48 tissue samples extracted during my prostate assay conducted on February 27th. I intended to report on the biopsy outcome, but a pandemic got in the way. I don’t have cancer. If you’ve been following my earlier post on this topic ( here ), you might be surprised. I know I was. My PSA score was a 12.5 after steadily climbing since 2016. The radiologist who reviewed my MRI stated cancer was more likely than not. My urologist was convinced as well—because the radiologist said so and my PSA score was a 12.5. So, on February 27 th , I reported to the hospital for an outpatient biopsy. The days between February 27 th  and March 13 th  were unpleasant. I wore a catheter for almost six days. That was ugly. Awaiting to hear that I did indeed have cancer was even worse. During the March 13 th  biopsy review, my urologist scheduled me for another PSA test on June 9 th —not here yet. He believed doing

I have to be honest. I used to go to work when I had the flu. I never stayed home unless I was really ill—which was seldom. I’d load up on an OTC medication and gut it out on the job. I had ample sick leave, yet I’d infrequently use it. Sick leave was for the really ill people. I never gave any thought to the numbers of people I might have infected. I don’t know if any of them became seriously ill, required hospitalization, or died. I’ve thought about that a lot lately. When I was in K-12, we never stayed home unless we were seriously ill. Flu shots didn’t exist. We had aspirin, Tylenol, and cough medicines. If we were really sick, we might— might —get a Hot Toddy ( here ). My parents weren’t too thrilled about giving us whiskey in any form. Being honest, again, I never realized the connection between my personal liberty and public health authorities who recommended staying home if you were sick with the flu. Then again, I was never ordered by the government to stay at hom

On Friday, we engaged in what has become a spring ritual for us: We moved from one home in Las Vegas to a second in southern Utah, Cedar City. Why? In all years past, the summer high temperatures in Cedar City can be twenty or more degrees cooler. Summer in Cedar City is hot. It has reached 100 degrees. We do have AC, and we use it. And, Cedar City is a much smaller place with a regional university, a population of 30K, and an agricultural, light industrial economy. The place is cute for days and within a reasonable ride to several national parks with great hiking and sights. There’s a substantial COVID-19 difference as well. YTD, Las Vegas has had 4,411 confirmed infections and 226 deaths. Nevada statewide has had 5,594 confirmed infections and 266 deaths for its 3.08M residents. So, Las Vegas has 79% of the total state infections and 85% of the deaths. By contrast, Cedar City has had 17 confirmed infections, and no one has died. Utah statewide has had 5,317 confirmed inf

We see the signs of an imminent second pandemic: Reopening Economies. A study recently released by two folks from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University suggest that increased COVID-19 testing is actually lowering the death rate. That’s simply true. Any time you increase the denominator (people who contract COVID-19) while holding the numerator constant (confirmed COVID-19 deaths), you lower the quotient (COVID-19 death rate). And, they argue with a lower quotient (death rate), the less we have to fear AND the more ill-advised the earlier decision to shut down the economy. In other words, we blew it. This argument even calls into question our nation-wide attempts to flatten the curve (COVID-19 infections) by isolation and social distancing. Why bother, so the argument goes, in retrospect the new testing data shows we over reacted. Indeed, even Tucker Carlson now opines that COVID-19 is not deadly. How stupid have we been? When I was in graduate school, we studied re