Why Do We Need To Have A Discussion About Covid-19?
This week, I had planned to post about our recent Spring Break trip. While we were away, we were undeniably glued to the news. We tried to stay up to date on the hourly evolving situation with the new Coronavirus aka Covid-19 . As a family that loves sports, watching the NBA suspend its season left us shocked. Only to be followed by cancellation after cancellation of events. All of which, I do believe was the right decision. When we look back on this Pandemic in the U.S., I believe we will pinpoint the moment the NBA commissioner suspended the NBA season as the moment America woke up and realized it was coming our way. Given the rapidly evolving situation with Covid-19, this week I would like to take this opportunity to point you towards some credible articles and sites. I also want to share what I am doing to protect myself and my family.
Be Careful What You Read
First and foremost, I believe it is incredibly important for us not to panic. We can avoid panic by educating ourselves and preparing. To educate ourselves, we need to get our information from credible sources. One site I refer to is the CDC page on Covid-19. (CDC is great for other outbreak and travel information such as travel vaccine information, malaria prevention, etc). Here, you can find up to date statistics and recommendations.
Is This ‘Just Like A Cold Or milder than Influenza’?
I keep hearing people comment on how this isn’t worse than influenza. More people die from the flu. Symptoms are just like a common cold, etc. All these are facts, but the difference here is that nobody has any immunity to Covid-19. Everyone is susceptible at least to be carriers. As with influenza, some over the age of 60 and people with chronic conditions such as autoimmune disease, lung disease such as COPD and heart disease are at risk for dying or having severe complications. unlike influenza, they don’t even have a chance at a vaccine to protect themselves..
With influenza, we have a vaccine and we have medication to give if diagnosed in time. We push for influenza vaccination for the elderly, immunocompromised, young children, pregnant women and of course healthcare workers. With Covid-19, even those trying to take care of the sick, can get sick themselves. Inevitably, forcing sick healthcare workers to pull themselves out of the front lines of this Pandemic.
Medical Community Begging For Time To Prepare
I find that the public is questioning why the medical community seems panicked yet advising the rest of the population to stay calm. I speak for myself, rather than the entire medical community when I say that my main concern is the medical system’s ability to handle a sharp rise in cases. There is a sense of urgency to slow the number of new cases so that we have a chance to prepare. We need time to gather medical equipment and put safeguards in place in our offices and hospitals. It takes time to figure out ways to keep patients and ourselves safe as we face this novel virus. To put it into perspective, this virus has gone from nonexistence in humans to traveling all over the world within 2 months. That is not enough time for us to sufficiently expand our resources.
We are generally prepared for a rise in flu, strep throat, common cold, and other respiratory illnesses during the winter season. What if we add several thousand or more cases in one community? There may not be enough ICU beds, Ventilators or even physicians to deal with the overwhelming number of patients plagued with complications.
The Fear Of Bringing This Virus Home Is Real
It’s not just taking care of patients with the virus that makes it difficult for the medical community. We also have to deal with staffing issues since many kids don’t have childcare outside of school. There is also a chance our staff can become ill themselves. We have to figure out ways to protect ourselves so that we are not unknowingly bringing this new bug home to our loved ones. Some of us care for our elderly parents and family members that are immune-compromised. Through all of this, we still need to take care of all our patients for their routine care because diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions don’t just treat themselves because we are busy focusing on something else. In addition, it is still flu, stret throat and common cold season.
Personally, when I come home from work during flu season, I wash my hands, shower and change my clothes. Unfortunately, we don’t know enough about the transmission of Covid-19 to be confident that my usual precautions are enough.
What Preparing For A Pandemic Looks Like For Me
So what am I doing as a physician and as a mother to protect myself, my patients and my family? First of all, I am reading updates every day even several times a day. We are putting safeguards in our office to make sure we support patients staying home if they are not feeling well. To make this safe for patients, we are trying to provide good care by being available to them through several methods of communication.
At home, I have stockpiled some groceries. Like others, I am worried about supply chain availability. If the virus becomes more rampant, I plan to limit my exposure in public places even further including grocery stores. Anyone with kids can understand that kids are creatures of habit. To avoid ‘hangry tantrums’, to protect my sanity and keep the routine for my children, I tried to stock up their ‘favorites’ and ‘necessities’.
What I am not doing is buying dozens of rolls of toilet paper or cases of water. I am still not sure why toilet paper was the first item to sell out or even bottled water for that matter. This is not a bug that causes GI symptoms and unless there is some serious malfunction, we should still have access to basic utilities.
Here is an article with items you may want to stock up on and items to skip.
My Risk As A Patient With A Sulfite Sensitivity
With my chronic conditions, Idiopathic Angioedema, Thyroiditis, and restrictions to medications I can take due to my sulfite sensitivity, I worry about myself getting sick. I also need to keep foods at home that I can eat. Unfortunately, fact that many preserved, nonperishable and canned goods contain sulfites. Because a lot of breads have sulfites, I bought my usual bread and froze it before our trip. Since many bottled waters contain sulfites, I tried to buy Ozarka water, before we left. Unfortunately, I found only enough to take with me on our trip. I’m ok with that, since I can drink filtered tap water. I have to fight harder to keep my immune system up. I have a plan for what I can take such as fever reducers with minimal dyes and which steroid I tolerate better (Depo-Medrol).
Also, I make sure I have enough of my medications refilled so that I don’t have to go to the pharmacy if Covid-19 becomes widespread in my area. Getting good sleep and exercising regularly are also important for a healthy immune system. These are also steps I recommend others take if they have chronic conditions.
Let’s Talk Social Distancing, Because Yes, I Believe It Is Important
Am I socially distancing or self quarantining myself? It is important to understand the difference between the two. Socially distancing oneself usually entails avoiding crowded places, limiting bar and restaurant trips, avoiding parties or other social events. Self-quarantine is what we recommend patients do if they have come in contact with someone with the virus or if they think they may have Covid-19. Here is a great article that breaks down the risk of each common setting that we may find ourselves questioning whether or not we should limit our exposure.
I have decided to avoid large gatherings, limit my trips to the store, try to cook as many meals at home if possible (if I do eat out or get take out – I am skipping fresh produce or uncooked foods such as salad) and as much as this pains me to say, I have decided to avoid the gym for the next couple of weeks. I love my gym time. It is my stress release, makes me feel better inside and out and I look forward to going at least a few times a week. Still, the risk of bringing something home to my family or even my patients doesn’t outweigh the benefits. This doesn’t mean I won’t work out, it just means I will have to be more diligent about creating time and space for at-home workouts.
All This Is Clearly Enough To Cause Anxiety and Panic
Understandably, anyone with anxiety or even no history of anxiety at all may be feeling overwhelmed. As humans, we are programmed to connect with other humans. Now that we can’t connect on a direct level, we are left to social media, which in many cases can be even more anxiety-inducing. Never in a million years would I have ever imagined a situation that would cause the entire sport’s industry to come to its knees and suspend weeks of play and major income driving tournaments, schools to close across the country because of a virus or entire countries to impose a quarantine for its citizen such as in Italy. But, it is happening, and we need to find ways to cope and keep ourselves healthy physically and mentally.
By helping others, we can boost our mood and feel like we are contributing positively. Working out at home either by running outdoors, Youtube videos, Popsugar workouts, online Yoga classes, etc are all great ways to keep active at home. Maybe you can read that book you’ve not been able to get around to or start a meditation practice. This might be a great time to clean out closets and gather gently used clothes to donate. But whatever you do, it is important to keep a positive mindset and practice good self-care.
