March 31, 2020

Innovation

Over the past month, my life is altered in unforseen ways. I can drive to work in 15 minutes, unbelievable. Like everyone, my routines are upended. My days are flooded with emails and a different kind of problem solving. And I get to practice the medicine that I love best, which is helping people make sense of a scary, life threatening diagnosis. Any patient I interact with now is grateful.

My grief right now is the news of the wave about to wash over us. April will be a cruel and heartbreaking month. Tough times for many people, not just death and illness, but worries about their finances. Fear is not a good companion to be alone with for long. The physical isolation for many is tough, so remember to reach out to those you care about. It doesn’t take much effort. but it can be a lifeline.

My hopes today are about innovations happening all over the country. Our friend in New Mexico who was able to get many of his village tested to see how many people have it, knowledge that can keep their community safe. More companies and people are taking the initiative to make masks- sewing them, even 3D printing them, as well as respirators. At my clinic, Telemedicine is up and running after 2 weeks. Yes, there are glitches but our patients love it and will probably never go back.

My beauty is watching the resurgence of art, music, and poetry on the internet and being shared widely. Art once again being recognized as essential to humans.

This is the last day of March. My first post about the epidemic was March 2nd on Facebook. Since then, I have written every day, except on March 7, when Jamie and I went camping for his birthday. I am as surprised as anybody. For myself, I find the writing helps me make sense of all the news and developments. It helps keep the panic and pessimism contained, and allows a little light to filter through. Thanks for reading.

Wash your hands.

And finally, my caveat is that this is my experience and my opinions, which are subject to change as more information is available, and not related to the organization I work for.