I *had* been bemoaning the fact that I've had to delay orthopedic surgery

[friendly_iconoclast]

Not anymore.

I most likely would now be in postop or a rehab center if I hadn't

I'll take the pain and gimpiness over increased COVID-19 exposure any day

[jimfields33]

1. I think you should get healthy.

Waiting can’t be good either.

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. I doubt few, if any, hospitals will be scheduling non-emergency surgery any time soon

Last edited Tue Mar 3, 2020, 07:35 PM - Edit history (1)

Pain is (at the moment) tolerable, and I can still walk short distances slowly.

Like everybody else, I'm just gonna have to see what the next few months will bring

[Dem2theMax]

3. I have an appointment with a neurosurgeon later this month.

Possible surgery on my neck. I am definitely going to talk about postponing it until it is absolutely necessary.
I've been in excruciating pain for months. But miracle of miracles, the last four days I have pretty much been pain free. But I've been doing lots of things on my own to help make that happen.

And I'm going to keep doing that so I can stay out of a germ-filled hospital!

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. Amen to that. And BTW, best wishes on the pain management front

[Dem2theMax]

6. Thank you! And the same to you.

Chronic pain of any sort is horrible. I've had this since December, and finally found out at the end of last month what was actually causing it. But I have somehow managed to get it to calm down, and I'm going to keep doing what's working. I hope you find something that works for you as well.

[friendly_iconoclast]

5. SDANatiton posted this just before my OP, and it's worth a read:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13041731

For me, as a healthcare worker, the scariest part of the Covid 19
outbreak will be the inundation of patients that will quickly overwhelm resources available. Medically fragile patients will be put at high risk of complications or death. I work in a major city hospital in CA, with 252 medical surgical beds and 72 ICU beds. Just last Tuesday we were in code ABC (all bed crisis). It means every unit is at capacity with the ICU’s and ED with no place to take patients, so critically ill patients are treated in the ED. And code ABC is a common occurrence.

This also means critical surgeries, cardiac, GI etc are delayed. So if Covid does reach critical community spread, the collateral death not caused directly by Covid infection will be very high.

What also is concerning, is that we don’t have enough nurses. I know cause I am one. We were told that if we were exposed to a covid patient at work we would be furloughed for 2 weeks. Which means 2 weeks I can’t care for patients. Multiply that by 20 nurses and it puts significant strain on patient care.

I keep cautiously optimistic that we will get through this and contain it before it can spread significantly, but this what worries me and my coworkers on the front lines.