Well I made it through day 8 of my 12 day stretch at work. Yeah, that’s right, I’m still going in to work to care for my patients. Cancer doesn’t just go away during a pandemic. If anything our patients need support more than ever since they are immunocompromised. My days just look a lot different now.
Lines for COVID testing
Note, that parking lot is not for parked cars but for amusement park style lines for testing.
So how has my job changed over the past two weeks? It’s been a rapid progression toward this new reality. First we started changing to all virtual meetings via Skype. A few days later we started restricting patient visitors. It started out as a limit of 2, then 1, and now none (except peds, labor and delivery, and some hospice patients). Drive through COVID testing resulted in massive lines of cars and restrictions on who should be tested were put in place to conserve supplies. Elective procedures have been canceled to save hospital resources for the expected surge of patients. We started limiting the number of caregivers allowed in one room at a time. Chairs were removed from break rooms to keep people spread out and water fountains were turned off to limit the spread of COVID. Every morning when I walk into the building I am greeted by a police check point and have my temperature checked. On Friday our team started rounding virtually and educating patients over the phone. I find myself only leaving my cubicle for bathroom and lactation breaks. Awesome.
How do I feel about the changes we’ve been facing? Scared that I am going to get sick and drag the virus into my home exposing my family. Frustrated, that despite basically working remotely from my cubicle, I am still required to come to work and risk exposure. And at the same time, extremely grateful to have the ability to be useful in this time of crisis and to know my job is secure while others face uncertainty about their position and financial stability.
If I can keep focused on the blessings we have we will make it through this, whether we get sick or not. I am urging all of you who read this, please stay home and encourage your friends and family to do the same. It isn’t going to stop the virus from spreading, but it will slow the rate to a more manageable degree and allow those who require hospitalization to get the care they need. Let’s stick together and keep moving forward, even though we all feel a little helpless and stuck at the moment.