6 minute read
City Voices
FIRST PERSON
A trip to the hospital for an Upper GI
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JOE FUSCO JR.
Iwas having some stomach issues, so my primary doctor ordered an Upper GI.
A couple of days before the procedure, I had to spit in a tube at the drive-through COVID-19 test-site.
It was negative and unsightly.
Because I had the foresight to wear pajama-shorts, I could keep my pants on under the backward-johnny as they prepped me for the procedure. My nurse was wonderful and gave me an extra pair of those sticky socks they Next thing I remember, there are 11 people in surgery-caps force you to put on. lifting me onto an operating table and Dr. Belichick is telling me
From my bed, I noticed a pantry area where a medical worker the endoscope will peek inside my stomach and small intestine. was gulping what seemed to be a 2-Liter bottle of Red Bull. It was a Next thing I remember, I’m longer on the premises and we tad disconcerting. awake in recovery and the same were having trout for dinner. My doctor had a British accent doctor is telling me they removed I turned on the T.V. and and wore a New England Patriots three polyps that looked benign hummed the theme song to surgery cap. I mentioned that I and a bunch of other stuff I quick- “Grey’s Anatomy.” was a die-hard New York Giants ly forgot because I’m old, he has a fan and felt a little uneasy but strong accent, and I’m still kind of Joe Fusco Jr. is a poet and humy wonderful nurse, apparently sedated. morist living in Worcester. another staunch Patriots fan, My son-in-law drove me home suggested I keep my loyalties to where I slept almost three hours. myself while she finished sticking I dreamt that a good friend and a the intravenous needle in my vein. beautiful blonde woman scammed 20, 2021 Next thing I remember, there are 11 people in surgery-caps lifting me onto an operating table and Dr. Belichick is telling me the endoscope will peek inside my Donald Trump in a speed-boat race. I was a minor character fishing nearby on the dock. My wife called to ask me how it went and I told her I didn’t really WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM JANUARY 14 WORCESTER MAGAZINE’S LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY Letters to the editor are a great way to share your thoughts and opinions with thousands of readers and online viewers each week. There is no word limit, but we reserve the right to edit for length, so brevity is your friend. If handwritten, write legibly - if we cannot read it, we are not running it. A full name and town or city of residence are required. Please include an email address or phone number for verification purposes only. That information will not be published. Make sure your letter makes it into Worcester Magazine in a timely fashion — send it in by the Monday of the next issue. Please note that letters will run as space allows. Send them to Worcester Magazine, 100 Front St., 5th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608 or by email to WMeditor@gatehousemedia.com. stomach and small intestine. know but three polyps were no
8 POETRY TOWN
‘Leaf Shudder’
RICHARD H. FOX
Mom observes me. I stand by the hospital bed, its iron bars, pliable plane, plastic pad. Her eye opens wide, sunlit iris livid.
I rub her shoulder. She leans into my fingers, relaxes. I trumpet Love you, Mom! Her lips unlock, creak Love you. First phrase in a week.
She folds into a pillow. Face, a caricature. I stop rubbing, squeeze, resume. She locks her eye on mine. The grey, flecked with blue, shines.
Mom, it’s ok if you go. We take care of each other. Dad’s waited long enough for you. A millimeter nod? A mirage? Her eyelid sunsets.
Richard H. Fox is a Worcester-based poet whose work includes the fulllength collection, “You’re my favorite horse” and the chapbook, “The Complete Uncle Louie Poems.”
WORCESTERIA
Worcester police union president not seeing resistance to vaccine
VEER MUDAMBI
With reports from around the country and in Massachusetts of some police and firefighters opting out of the COVID vaccinations, I spoke to Rick Cipro, president of Worcester Police Officials Union to get a sense of what our local first responders were feeling.
Cipro said that he was aware of other departments wrestling with those issues but categorically stated that he hadn’t heard that in Worcester. Needless to say, that’s a relief. Protecting first responders is crucial, and lack of vaccinations would be a serious gap in the wall of protections for the community at large. There is a worry that because of the nature of their work, first responders who have not been immunized could potentially spread the disease, which has killed more than 365,000 Americans.
However, he went on to add that “it’s not a mandate and it’s going to be an individual choice.” That is consistent with how other police departments are handling it as well. While it is being strongly encouraged, it cannot be a requirement, in the same way that it cannot be required for the general population.
“The speed at which these vaccines were put out and the studies behind them have people worried,” said Cipro, and since police officers are not different than anyone else in the community, they too have been inundated with media reports for and against. Just like in the general population, there will be officers who are skeptical. Generally speaking, the reluctance to be inoculated is usually fueled by a lack of information due to the newness of the vaccine.
Fortunately, the willingness of Americans to be vaccinated against COVID-19 has increased considerably after both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots were authorized for emergency use by the FDA. Presently, 46% of respondents to a survey said they would take the vaccine as soon as they can — almost double the number who answered yes to that question in a survey in late October, according to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll.
To counter that, Cipro underlined the fact that the department and the union is putting forth an information campaign, like the CDC has, about the safety of the vaccines. “We do know that there are other news stories saying to wait — so there’s a lot of conflicting information out there and that contributes to some people wondering if they should get it.”
Naturally, there is some reticence to be expected and individuals may be waiting to see how others react before committing to take the shot. The country’s largest fire department shows that more than 50% would not take it, mirroring what appears to be a nationwide hesitancy to get the shot. The Uniformed Firefighters Association survey of 2,000 members of the New York City Fire Department showed that 55% of participants said they would not get inoculated.
Cipro shared that while he cannot speak for everyone, he will be taking the shot just like the flu shot that he takes every year.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, an alum of Holy Cross, said that “when you have 75% to 80% of the people vaccinated, you have an umbrella of protection over the community, and the level of community spread will be really, really very low. The virus will not have any place to go but if only 50% of the people get vaccinated, then we don’t have that umbrella of immunity over us.” So the efficacy of the vaccine is only as good as the number of people who take it.
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