I got COVID for the first time this week - three years into the pandemic and three months after I left clinical medicine. It seems ironic that despite all the time spent caring for COVID-positive patients (and my family, who all got it earlier in the pandemic), it was a regional meeting with other family physicians that finally did it. Figures. That’s the ‘rona.
Read MoreI went back to running outside this week as the weather in Kansas turned to spring. I am a planner by nature, so I always check on various must-haves before venturing out: temperature (which ranged from 80 degrees to snow this week!), wind (anything less than 10 mph is golden, up to 20 mph is tolerable), when the sun comes up and how much time that leaves me post-run before I need to be ready to roll for the day. I prefer to run at first light, in those perfect moments before the sun is above the horizon. Some days all the details line up, other days I head to the treadmill in my basement. Today was one of the perfect days: temperature low 40’s, wind speed 7 mph, sunrise 7:04am.
Read MoreToday is Saturday, November 21, 2020. It feels as if 2020 has gone on a very long time and we haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet. It feels past time for this year to be over, if only it would carry the pandemic away with it. I feel this way; I hear my family, friends, teammates and patients voice this sentiment; no doubt many people are tired of 2020 all over Rooks County, in Kansas, across the United States and the world. Before this pandemic can end, though, some things need to happen, and we all need to pitch in to help.
Read MoreSo many things during this pandemic have been scary and negative: the overwhelming sense of something big and bad coming, the all present not-knowing of a new virus run amuck in the modern world, the fear for loved ones’ near and far, the anxiety of wondering if each decision made was the right one. It’s easy to get sucked into the down side of life and just stay there, wallowing in the worry.
Read MoreI am a data geek. Turn me loose with a huge spreadsheet, chock-full of information, and I can entertain myself for hours. The day I learned about pivot tables changed my life forever. (If you, too, are a data geek, this statement will resonate with your soul.) And my all-time favorite thing to do with a big pile of data is to translate it into pictures (graphs) that more clearly explain the story contained in all of those numbers and allow people to take action based on that information. In a way, this mirrors my love for medicine: take a large amount of information (a person’s history, physical exam, maybe some lab data), look at it from all sides, and translate it into a diagnosis (story) and action (a plan to make the patient healthier).
Read MoreLife is full. For everyone. We schedule each minute of our days, from waking up in the morning to going to bed at night, and are even encouraged to ensure our hours of sleep are adequate…everything is budgeted carefully. There is very little time to “just be” in most of our lives.
Read MoreI gave myself a pep talk recently before walking into the local grocery store. “You can do this. You should do this. Just keep swimming.” Why all the self-talk? I was going to wear my cloth mask into the store. And I was pretty sure I was going to be the only person in the store wearing a mask. Being alone in doing something feels awkward any day; during a time when every single person around you is under quite a bit of stress because of an ongoing global pandemic and a growing awareness of pervasive racial injustice, it gets downright hard.
Read MoreI tell my children that they will be able to share firsthand stories with their children and grandchildren about a significant piece of history: the pandemic in their lifetime. It gives me perspective for this very interesting time in my own life and helps me slow down and appreciate all that is happening and everything I am learning. COVID19 has made a big impression: in 2020, in the world, in the US, in Kansas, in the healthcare community, in my own work, family and life. Some changes are negative (fear, economic impact, morbidity and mortality). And some are positive. Those useful changes are the ones I am working to recognize, learn from and pivot toward in the longer-term.
Read MoreThis morning, I heard a meadlowlark outside. This bird’s song always makes me think of spring, and of hope. It made me think about all the meadowlarks in my own life, especially those who made such a difference in the last week. You know these folks, too: they build hope using their actions and words, they help us think of spring. We will make it to spring, and summer, and the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks, meadowlarks. Keep singing; we need you.
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