EB, I remember that post where you mentioned your pulmonologist. He will probably be called in to help man the ICU and be humbled
I was trying to get some inside information from him. After we talked about my personal issues I was there to see him about, I started the conversation off by asking that very question- whether he would be a very busy man in a few months. He cited a lot of data to me about common influenza, and suggested to me that Covid-19 was maybe slightly worse than a new strain of flu but totally unworthy of the media attention it was receiving. I was surprised by his comments, and I would suggest that the people in this thread who are posting that Trump did not listen to medical experts are misguided, because I think this is what a lot of medical experts were thinking. This guy basically told me what Trump said 2 months later.
By way of full disclosure, I had a confirmed viral pneumonia in April 2019. I worked through it, but it was no picnic, and I ended up with a chronic dry cough that would not go away. I saw the pulmonologist about it and he ran some tests, including a CT scan and a bronchoscopy which showed my lungs and respiratory system to be completely normal. He prescribed 3 different inhalers, none of which worked at all, and then prescribed 2 different nasal sprays, which did help, suggesting that the problem was due to some post-nasal drip. I did have a sinus surgery in 2000, this the result of a badly broken nose sustained while playing softball. After that injury I had to have an initial surgery to put my nose back together, and then a second surgery on the sinuses because I kept getting sinus infections- the 2nd surgery was to wide the sinus passage going to my throat because the infections were due to the drainage system being clogged. Or so my ENT surgeon told me at that time. I think when I had the viral pneumonia it somehow must have aggravated this pre-existing situation.
