Blog Posts

I was nominated for Mother’s Day “Brownch” by one of my favorite people, and an amazing chef, Julia “Chef JuJu” McNeil. When I tell you God has a blessing for you when you least expect it!

I did not realize the awesomeness that was about to take place–but I should have when two of my favorite people, Chef Dee Dee and Chef Juju were going to be a part of this. The day opened with scripture and testimony by powerhouse Kim Roxie herself, followed by a song.

We then were blessed with sprinkling after sprinkling of awesome women who are successful and fabulous and have so much to give this world. They gave tips on cooking, mock-tails and cocktails, decor, brows (of course), and given a virtual tour of the most awesome event space.

The keynote speaker was Kine Corder. She was absolutely dynamic, and spoke to us about “The Art of Starting Over.” She wrote a book about it y’all–you can get it on Amazon, and I can’t wait to get my copy!

One thing she said that stuck–“On the other side of adversity is prosperity.” In this season of adversity, we have to remember that there is ANOTHER SIDE!! And if we work it right, we will see prosperity.

This was such an uplifting experience. I love when we come together and just lift one another up! Please make sure you support Kim Roxie–her spirit is beautiful.

I missed some of the links from the event, but these were some of the amazing business highlighted:

Lamik Beauty: Vegan Makeup

Chef Dee Dee: owner of Cooking with a Twist; she also caters, and is currently doing pick up and delivery on Friday and Saturday.

Chef JuJu: She does vegan food, immune boosting juices, non-vegan meals–she’s got you covered with good food.

Morgan Falls: Beautiful event space in Alvin, Texas.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!!!

So this question was posed on the live session on Monday April 20, and has been being asked across the nation. I didn’t really have time to delve into a full articulate response, but I do think I hit on some points I’d like to expand and clarify here.

1. This is likely a factor of our being the likely to have other risk factors such as metabolic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, BMI > 30). When you have a population that is much more affected by the other risk factors, you expect to see that population much more affected.
2. This is something that is systemic, and predates the COVID-19 pandemic. In the medical community, we have been discussing social determinants of health for some time now, and this is something that largely affects the health of our black and brown communities.
3. To further elaborate on the above comment, unfortunately, you also find that there is less access to testing in black and brown communities at this time. What we know is that without testing, we find it difficult to contain any pandemic.
4. There is historical mistrust between the African-American community at large and the medical community. And it has been earned. With a history like experiments on those at Tuskegee and others like it, within past 100 years no less, it’s sometimes hard for the African-American community to trust that the information that is coming out is best for them. In this case, it can lead to ignoring sound health advice, and spread of illness, or worse course of illness.
5. Many of us could not self quarantine. When you look at those who are not socioeconomically well off, they are disproportionately black and brown. Many of us were given the choice of working or not getting paid. Many of us lost our jobs and can’t afford masks and hand sanitizer. These are the things that affect outcomes.

So what can we do about it?

We can’t fix systems overnight. But we can do some things to try to make sure we are helping our communities tip the scales a bit. One thing is to donate to organizations that are specifically trying to reach those who are underserved and get them the tools to protect themselves—masks, hand sanitizer, etc.

Another—believe us when we say to remain socially distant and act accordingly. Do not go to your nail salon if they don’t come back into business with appropriate measures in place. Don’t get your hair done if your stylist isn’t protecting his/her clients by taking the financial or temporal hit to socially distance clientele and sanitize appropriately. Don’t start having parties and gatherings that violate social distancing too soon. It’s not more important than our health as a community.

Ultimately, as well, I believe we have to start focusing on our overall health. We must start educating ourselves on better eating choices and exercise, and stop glorifying diets that kill us. Eating more fruits and vegetables is good for your immune system, but also, in the long term, eating more plants and moving more, means less metabolic disease. We have to continue to fight for improved systems so that everyone has access to healthful foods and safe places for exercise. Because in the middle of a pandemic is too late to change a broken system, we have to remember the lessons and fight for change for the next time.

See links below for other discussions on this topic.

Associated Press Article

Previous Surgeon General Weighs In

It is an encapsulated RNA virus. That means it can not replicate on its own, and needs our bodies to do the work. It invades the cell, uses its machinery to replicate, and ultimately kills the cell.

When it has killed enough cells, it causes an immune response, which causes the initial symptoms you will begin to feel. It really likes the cells in the respiratory tract. In severe infections, it can also be detected in the kidneys, and we have detected virus in feces as well. At this point, it doesn’t seem to be blood born.

Most of the symptoms you have are from your body’s immune response, including what happens in severe illness causing ICU care.

This amazing picture from JAMA was found in the article linked below. It illustrates what the virus does to the body.

What Coronavirus Does to the Body

• Age > 60: our immune systems get weaker as we get older. They are also weaker when we are very young (younger than 2) but for some reason, this virus hasn’t affected that population quite the same
• Metabolic syndrome: hypertension, diabetes, obesity (BMI > 30): these things weaken our immune systems. Hypertension is turning out to be a bit less of a risk factor, while uncontrolled diabetes and BMI >40 are turning out to be significant risk factors for severe disease.
• Coronary Artery Disease or Heart Failure–they are in pro-inflammatory states, and the illness tends to attack the heart.
• active smokers and vapers–damages the lungs, and this illness really likes the lungs
• males?: some thinking that it may be due to the fact that the immune function is on the X chromosome, and males only have one.
• Immunocompromised: cancer patients on chemo, those with autoimmune illnesses on certain medications, patients with severe kidney disease, particularly those on dialysis, end stage liver disease.
• African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans-This is extremely multi-factorial, and goes back a long way. It’s more systemic than genetic–and I did a completely separate post to try to do the subject justice.
• Chronic lung disease?: It is still being considered a risk factor, although there are clear differences between COPD and asthmatics in the data.

For someone with mild symptoms, there are no approved medical treatments. It’s the same as a cold—eat well, rest, treat symptoms. The medications that the President has suggested, or that you see being discussed on social media—those are for people who need hospitalization, when it’s possibly worth the harm these medications can cause, and these patients can be appropriately monitored. Additionally, most of these medications are experimental in even these populations, so you need to be enrolled in a study.

I did a previous post on some medications were were beginning to investigated. There have been SOOO many more investigations added since I did that post, and I will try to update when I have a chance, but at this point, for the average person, at home, the therapy is supportive. For those who are extremely interested, I have linked the JAMA article reviewing the current experimental treatments here.

Not sure I can answer this question well. Those who had mild disease can recover like recovering from a cold. Those who had severe disease and ICU stays have a much more significant process and potentially lasting damage to their lungs and other organs. It looks different for everyone, but the important thing to remember is that many, many people recover.

It does remain important to try to avoid becoming infected, because as we learn more and more about this illness, we find that the recovery can really take a while, even for those with mild disease.

One great resource to how testing works, where the testing sites are located and how each of them should be accessed is here. It is updated on a regular basis and has the numbers for screening for most of the testing sites.

For patients who are uninsured, there are options with the city and county. They are offered 6 days weekly: M-W in precincts 2 and 4 in the county and Th-Sa in pricints 1 and 3. They are mobile pop up sites, which means they change locations to try to meet the needs of where they are finding the concentration of need for testing.

If you live inside city limits you should call 832-393-4220 between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. If you are outside city limits, but inside Harris county, you should go to the website for a code for testing. They ask questions about being symptomatic because of false negatives, so they are prioritizing symptomatic patients. However, at this point, both the city and the county will test anyone who want to be tested if they have capacity, although they are prioritizing those with symptoms. The code is for line control, and the line is staffed by law enforcement officers to keep things flowing nicely.

At the county pop up sites, you drive through, you roll down your window halfway, and a nurse uses the swab to collect the sample.

There are also two stationary sites at Baytown and Katy for the county, and two city sites (locations will be researched). These sites are self swab sites, and you will be given the testing media, and instructed in collecting the sample yourself.

As recently as Friday, there are also screening sites at Walgreens locations; these will be self-swabbing sites as well.

All are free, not asking immigration status, not taking copayment.

There is a great deal of information on the covid website.

Test results take 3-5 days.

Contact Harris health if unsure if you feel you need to be evaluated: the county’s triage line is available from 9am-7pm at 713-634-1110, and they prefer you call so that you can be appropriately triaged before arriving at a hospital, and the hospital can be prepared for you, even if you need hospital care. The county hospitals (Ben Taub and LBJ) are equipped to handle COVID-19 patients.

Map of Drive Through Testing Sites

Harris County Symptom Check

Harris County COVID-19 Site