Dr. Kenney’s Friday 5 Spot
I interact with hundreds of patients each week (under normal circumstances, though less during the crisis obviously) and get asked a lot of questions. On Fridays I like to share some of the answers I give and hope it has value for you.
Something cool that’s happened recently? Before Easter I created a race for my sons and I that we ran while carrying the American flag. I posted a picture and video on Instagram and tagged one of my favorite companies, Team Never Quit which is the company of Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell known for his experiences as described in his book “Lone Survivor.” As I scrolled through Instagram the other day I was surprised to see that Team Never Quit had posted that picture of my boys and I while I held the American flag with the caption “Showing his boys what it means to be a patriot.” This was cool to me because the caption accurately captured my sense of patriotism that I do try to teach my sons. It was also fun to see how excited my sons were when they saw that our picture was on there. From their reactions, I knew they were proud and that the caption meant a lot to them as well.
Something I’m doing for exercise? Since the age of 15, I have been working out at least several days per week with weights so I am badly missing the gym. I have some assorted equipment at my house but nothing that I would consider heavy and certainly not enough to offer the variety I get from a gym. What I began doing this week however was adding resistance bands onto the weights so that I’m lifting the actual weights plus the resistance the bands provide. This has made a tremendous difference and I am able to do more exercises where it’s challenging to get 10-12 reps. It has been a nice change of pace.
How does it feel to be re-opened? Despite sending out about 20 emails and posts regarding this topic, people are still shocked when I tell them we have never closed due to the pandemic. Many of the chiropractors in the state chose to close for their own reasons but the state never mandated doing so. Our office remained open and observed a recommended reduction in office hours. We’ve proudly helped hundreds of people that were in pain and needed help during this whole ordeal and are very proud we never shut our doors.
Anything you’ve seen regarding COVID that gives you hope? Yes! I get exhausted watching news and listening to the situation get slanted in one way or another, so I rely on the data. The data gives me hope and I take the time weekly to run numbers on my own based on the numbers provided to us by the CDC, state, etc.
The data most significant to me are the number of fatalities within a state, county, country, etc. divided by the number of people within those areas. So, for the state of Colorado (as of this writing) we have 987 deaths statewide within a population of 5.7 million (I rounded down about 500k from 2019 census) for a death rate of .02%. Neighboring states are also similar: Wyoming .001%, Utah .015%, Nebraska .004%, Oklahoma .02%, New Mexico .007%, Kansas .02%, and Arizona .005%. These numbers can be further segmented among suspected versus confirmed cases, age, co-morbidities and more but for space reasons I’ll just leave it general.
So here is what I draw from this information that is so positive. The numbers are very low and consistent among the states which demonstrates a trend which itself is positive and provides faith in the statistics. Second, despite initial fears, the data does not point to a virus that cannot be controlled or that carries with it a high percentage death rate. Viruses like SARS and Ebola carry death rates in the 30-40% range, and this has thankfully been proven to not be that. We are well below a 1% death rate across the board. I certainly wish no one had to deal with this and that no one had died but the stats do help put things into better perspective in my opinion. I share these stats not because I have any agenda myself but because so often, I talk to people and their assumption of the numbers is so far off.
Some quotes I love? “Be nice until it’s time to not be nice.” – Patrick Swayze in Road House
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” – Martin Luther King
“Strength doesn’t just come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Gandhi
Want more?
- Don’t forget to follow Dr. Kenney on Instagram @Coloradochiropractor
- To see previous Friday 5 Spots, visit www.newbodychiro.com and go to “blog”
- Check us out on Facebook under New Body Chiropractic