Dr. James Rudick, MD

03/06/2024

Musings on COVID-19

This week Cindi and I were “privileged” to join the vast majority of Americans who have experienced the ”heartbreak” of COVID-19.

My otherwise extraordinarily healthy 99 year old dad suddenly fell ill last Tuesday. I came to his house to examine and help him to the bathroom. We ended up calling the squad, and he was admitted to Mercy with COVID. He’s still there and nearly back to normal, delighted with all the attention. Then Friday night I felt tired, and tested positive the next morning. Cindi followed suit, 2 days later. We’re both fine, though in infectious disease, it’s way better to give than to receive.

When this started we were (rightly) paranoid. Imagine, one million deaths! In my practice alone, I was losing one patient each week. Aside from distancing and masking (which certainly helped some), there was no effective treatment. And by the time an effective vaccine came on board, the country was embroiled in fake news, conspiracy theories, power politics and lies, which persist to this day.

One of my dad’s favorite jokes concerns a devout Christian who lives an exemplary life, and prays daily for a winning lottery number. When he finally meets the Lord, he pleads “You see that I have lived a righteous life; why haven’t you granted me that one wish?”
God replies, “First you need to buy a ticket.”

But things have certainly changed!
Despite the vitriol, the misinformation, the politics, eventually we got the message: In a very short time, modern science had come to the rescue. These vaccines work. Extremely well. And of last May, 81.4% of the US had the updated vaccine. That along with some degree of herd immunity (as most of us have had the disease), it has morphed into just another flu-like illness, though serious morbidity and death is still possible.

And with the addition of at least one very effective (but not-too tasty) antiviral medication, early use usually prevents serious complications. In my case, I felt better in 2 days.

Thankfully, 4 years later, most of have come on board.

There may be some sort of a message here. First, we have to be more proactive when the next pandemic arrives (which is certainly will). And we need to trust science, because it’s all that works. Next time around, please buy that ticket.

12/31/2023

Since conspiracy theories are all the rage on the Internet, why not add one more:

A friendly conversation between Benjamin Netanyahu and Ismail Haniye (senior Hamas leader)

I: Hey, Bibi, old buddy, what’s up?

N: You know, I’ve been thinking. Everyone thinks we are bitter enemies, and I suppose that’s so. But we have a lot in common.

I: I know,. we both want each other to be wiped off the face of the earth.

N: That’s true, but we also need some respect. Look at you, hiding out in Qatar. Can’t even come back because you know we’d get you. You talk the talk, but every so often your folks get pummeled, and you get nowhere. You’re just the small fry. The Hezbollah guys up north have you out-manned and out gunned; they’re laughing behind your back. You’re on a path to nowhere.

As for me, I’m hanging on by a thread. Most of my people hate me and want me thrown in jail.

I: True, but..

N; Look, all you have to do is cross the border and murder about 1000 liberal party-goers (we will conveniently be looking the other way). Then we can have a great war.

I: How…

N; That way, I’ll get to keep my job, and you will be the hero of the Arab world.

I: That make sense, but will anyone get hurt?

N: Sorry, Ismail, we seem to have lost the connection.

12/20/2023

CGM’s are helping to improve the lives of many of our patients.

Two pharmacists took a month to test CGMs and were surprised by the results and what they learned.

07/09/2023

This is a virtual tour of the photography in our office:

My dad is 95. Until this year we've gone on a hot air balloon annually for about the last 10 years. COVID is currently keeping us on the ground.

03/01/2023

Good news for our patients

The drugmaker Eli Lilly is cutting prices for its insulin and capping costs at $35 per month, the company said Wednesday.

09/11/2022

Mars visits the Hyades (Apologies to Mr. Glass)

08/16/2022

The boss is hard at work today 💙

06/30/2022

My caption for this week’s contest

06/30/2022

The Eagle Nebula is part of a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region, which is catalogued as IC 4703. This region of active current star formation is about 5700 light-years distant. A spire of gas that can be seen coming off the nebula in the northeastern part is approximately 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometers long. The famous Hubble photo called the "Pillars of Creation" can be found here.
(30 min exp with Celestron 9.5 inch SC scope and modded Nikon 5500)

01/17/2022

We are still digging out and are at the mercy of the incredibly busy snow plow drivers so we will continue to be doing what we can from home. We will return to the office tomorrow, Tuesday January 18.

Our answering service will forward all emergency calls but please hold all routine questions until morning.

Stay safe and warm.

01/17/2022

Due to road conditions, we will be closed until noon today. At that time we will reevaluate. We will be contacting all those scheduled this morning to reschedule. Thank you for your understanding.

12/04/2021

Meet Comet Leonard...a visitor from the far-off Oort cloud (I mean really far) and really fast (158000 MPH), in a retrograde orbit. You can see him for the next week or so in the east, before sunrise. He knows he's beautiful, and he won't be coming back.
Taken this AM with a NIkon 5500 modified camera and F2 135 mm lens, 50 stacked frames of 30 seconds, tracked.

12/04/2021

To the Editor Canton Repository)

This is in response to my good friend, Dr. Gabriel, who suggested that Dr. Fauci has no right to speak with authority on the COVID-19 pandemic. He accuses him of arrogance and grandiose paranoia.

Really? If anyone has ever earned our gratitude and respect, who more than Dr. Fauci? His basic and applied research over half a century has helped treat and control such conditions as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal illness, tuberculosis, and malaria, as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika. His research into immunoregulation helped develop therapies for rheumatologic diseases such as polyarteritis nodosa and granulomatosis. This list goes on. His efforts have doubtless saved thousands of lives.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic Dr. Fauci has been a lone voice of reason and sanity in a world filled with misinformation and self-serving politicians. He kept his humility and sense of humor, even in the face of death threats.

I see patients every day and urge them to get vaccinated. Three months ago, four gentlemen refused the vaccine, despite my pleading. As of last week, one has died of COVID, another is on life support, a third on oxygen, and the fourth is slowly recovering after one month in bed.

Yes, Dr. Fauci is a virologist, and he is not omniscient. But COVID-19 happens to be a viral illness. So who are you going to listen to: Dr. Fauci or a junior senator from Kentucky with a big mouth and sterling medical credentials as a former ophthalmologist?


James Rudick, MD

09/15/2021

Hahahaha!

07/19/2021

To our patients:

As you know, in the interest of safety, during the COVID-19 pandemic we have been seeing most you via telemedicine. For the most part this has worked well, though we terribly miss visiting with you in person, not to mention the fact that Izzy is unable to lick your legs or steal your shoes.

We had hoped to open up to in-person visits in August to folks who are vaccinated. Sadly, this will be postponed. It turns out that the new delta variant of COVID is much more contagious than the native strain, COVID hospitalizations are skyrocketing all across the country. With delta, the vaccines are only about 65% effective in preventing infection, though they still protect against serious complications.
So for now we will continue business as usual, but we hope this will change soon.

Meanwhile, if you haven't been vaccinated, PLEASE do so. The CDC projects that with the new delta strain, if you are not protected, you are extremely likely to become infected. Currently almost all COVID hospitalizations and deaths occur in unvaccinated folks. This could well be the most important decision of your life.

All the best, J Rudick

07/07/2021

And now for something completely different...
Actually this one just one of a million unbelievable things we encountered in Tanzania in 2011.