Less than two weeks after a successful brain surgery addressing a small tumor in his cerebellum, which proved to be benign, SFGN Publisher Norm Kent is now tackling the virulent delta strain of the COVID-19 virus.
Likely contracted during his surgical stay at the University of Miami Medical Center which was teeming with hundreds of newly diagnosed COVID patients daily, Kent took ill over the weekend with a high fever. Sent to Holy Cross by his medical team Saturday evening, Kent tested positive for the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus. He is now in quarantine.
Kent was vaccinated months ago with the Moderna vaccine. On Sunday morning Kent was administered the monoclonal antibody infusion.
"It's as newspapers are reporting," Kent said. “Hospitals are being overwhelmed, and Ron DeSantis is the leading Republican candidate for President in 2024? Unreal!"
"It can beat you down emotionally as well as physically. For me, with a medical history of respiratory and heart conditions, along with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, it can frankly be a matter of Life and Death. I could be on a ventilator in hours, or at home watching baseball. But the studies show the antibody treatments are working great with vaccinated persons. I have faith in that science. Please, take yourself to a vaccination center."
Kent said he tested negative July 18 when he left the hospital after his brain surgery.
Even though he’s vaccinated he’s still worried.
“COVID just got me. It is on its second day. Is it just going to go away? Will the antibodies hold it back and make it simply be like the bad flu or a day being pissed off by your husband? Or is it like the first set of rain bands before a hurricane sweeps your body?” he asked.
Despite being sick Kent met his current predicament with a joke.
“This is just life, you take what comes with humor and grace. My best friend, a great lawyer and thespian, an amazing straight ally to the gay community, Alvin Entin, died of COVID last October. And he called me up on Sunday out of the blue and said to me 'Norm, I have good news and bad news for you, my friend. The good news is that there is baseball in Heaven. The bad news is you may be pitching in a few weeks."
"Hey Alvin," Kent replied, "Not if I have anything to say about it. I'm going to be like the cockroach that walks out of your microwave after you cook a bowl of rice, and says, 'that was a nice sauna.'"
Norm Kent recommends that anyone he has come into contact with over the last several weeks go for a COVID test.
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