BayAreaAtLast
BayAreaAtLast's JournalToday is my birthday. And I will be DAMNED
If I let that orange mob boss ruin my day! It's bad enough having people suffer through hurricanes and COVID; why does that piece of excrement have to have his dog and pony show on MY day??? *stomps off angrily*
Steve Kornacki repurposing
He doesn't have much to do these days. I wonder if he enjoys working with pandemic data.
FB post by a young physician I know in Arizona
Zahid is a pulmonary/critical care fellow who works with the nurse in Arizona. I have known him since he was about 6 years old. His parents are physicians in Pakistan and went to medical school there with my husband. His sister is also a physician in Detroit. You will never meet finer people. Yesterday he posted about the nurse now made famous by standing up to protestors on FB. His post has been shared almost 200 times. (Thanks to NNadir for suggesting I create a separate thread. I don't know how to post pictures...)
This is Lauren. She is a good friend and an ECMO/ICU nurse at my hospital. She is one of our best. An incredibly kind human and a badass nurse. Today she stood up for healthcare workers as protestors descended upon the State Capitol. She stood in silence as people called her a ‘fake nurse’ & ‘paid actor’ amongst other horrendous things. Ironically, she has spent many days in the Covid ICU caring for our sickest patients. She stood for those who are on life support and have no voice of their own. She stood for the 42,604 Americans who have died so far. She stood for her colleagues; nurses, therapists, techs, janitorial staff, doctors and security amongst others. She stood up for those very protestors who hurled obscenities at her. When they inevitably contract Covid-19 and transmit it to their loved ones, Lauren will be one of the first faces they will see when they are admitted to the ICU. She may also be one of the last faces that they ever see. When in their ignorance and hubris, they have caused the demise of their own mother or father, Lauren will be standing in silence next to them yet again, this time in mourning. She made us all incredibly proud today.
We extend an invitation to those who believe that they are being stripped of their civil liberties or that this is a giant hoax or that healthcare workers and the media are sensationalizing this pandemic for our own vested interests. To those who would turn a global pandemic into a twisted partisan issue. To those who foolishly believe that this virus discriminates based off of political ideology, race, religion or creed. We invite you to come spend a day in our Covid ICU with our nurses, therapists and physicians. You will spend the day wearing an n95 mask which will pretty much cut off circulation to your face. Don’t worry, you will get used to the sensation after a while. You’ll also get used to the dull constant headache that becomes a fixture after you have spent the day rebreathing CO2. You will learn how to don and doff PPE each time you interact with one of your patients. You will learn to live with the constant uncertainty of wondering if you have already caught the virus. If tomorrow will be the last time that you see your loved ones for the immediate future because you will need to start self quarantining. You will learn the familiar subtle change in tone of the code bells prior to a ‘Code Blue’ being called on the overhead. As you rush into a strangers room, you will gaze upon their lifeless eyes and blue lips. You will frantically begin to perform CPR, painfully aware of the fact that with each chest compression, you may potentially be aerosolizing the virus. You will watch as we place invasive central lines, arterial lines and chest tubes. You will stand at the head of the bed with us while we intubate a Covid-19 patient, inches away from their mouth, always cognizant of the damage that can be done with just one cough. You will stand next to us when we tell a husband over the phone that his wife has passed away, surrounded by strangers in space suits. The worst part of it all, he will not be allowed to see the love of his life to say he loves her one last time because of the infection risk it poses to him and other members of the public. You will stand in silence as you listen to another human express the deepest level of anguish possible, the tone of his cries seared into your memory.
Perhaps then you will understand.
I achieved a lifelong dream. Then things went to hell.
I have wanted to live in the San Francisco Bay Area since the summer of 1976, when a 13-year-old me traveled with my parents to the Peninsula to visit my sister and brother-in-law (and, it turned out, my niece in utero). I have visited here multiple times in the ensuing decades and have physically yearned to live here, knowing how expensive and crowded it is. Fast forward to October 2019, when my husband announced that he was leaving his job in Oregon so we could move to Napa. I didn't believe it until it happened. In January 2020, he started a locum tenens psychiatrist position at Napa State Hospital. He lived with my sister in Rio Vista until we were able to find a place to rent in Napa, and I finally achieved my dream and joined him on March 1st. We moved down a 26' truck of our things, as well as our 6 cats. Naturally, we failed to pack things like face masks (which I use while scooping cat poop), Lysol, hand sanitizer, paper towels, Kleenex, and toilet paper, but planned to return the following weekend to move more stuff. I also left my car in Salem.
Things went well the first week, but on Friday, March 7th, our youngest kitty Chandni (aged 2) had a coughing fit. On the 8th we noticed she was breathing rapidly. On the 9th I took her to the closest emergency hospital in Fairfield, where she had blood work, a UA, and x-rays done, showing that she had a large fluid buildup in her chest. They transferred her to a 24-hour vet hospital in Concord, where chest tubes were placed. She was in critical condition for days, requiring oxygen, blood pressure meds, and chest lavage. Copious amounts of infected fluid were drained from her chest each day. We cried and agonized each day as the costs mounted (no pet insurance, of course). When they hit $17,000 on Saturday the 15th, we consulted with the vet and decided to bring her home to recover. She is on crate rest for 2 weeks, then must be confined to one room away from the other cats for 2 months after that. The doctors think another of our cats might have bitten her, as her chest fluid was cultured and grew out a bacterium commonly found in the mouths and throats of cats. She has had more chest x-rays locally and needs more this week and must be on antibiotics for a total of 4-6 weeks. She is doing well at home and acting like herself, but chest x-rays show some residual fluid, and the local vet thinks she should go back to Concord to have the remaining fluid surgically removed (at a cost of $8,000 - $12,000).
In the meantime, all hell has broken loose with the COVID-19 pandemic. Seasonal allergies reared their head with a vengeance as soon as we arrived. I started having a dry cough last Monday, then developed a low grade temperature (never over 100) on Tuesday. I have had no body aches or breathing difficulties, so I haven't pursued testing. (I am 57, and my husband is 62). I feel better now, and my cough has turned productive. We had to get a new KP plan upon moving to California, and coverage doesn't start until April 1st. I don't want to waste a test when someone else could use it, and I'm not sure I could even get tested. My husband gets screened daily upon arrival at work. We are staying home all the time except for socially-distanced walks around the block. My husband was able to fly to Oregon on Thursday and have most of the rest of our stuff moved down here Friday. He drove like a maniac to beat the movers here late that night. They left our house at 2:15 Saturday morning. Those poor guys had to rent a car to drive back after the airline canceled their flight home because "no one was on the flight." We are fortunate that my husband was able to make it to Portland.
I have never hated anyone as much as I hate Trump, as well as his brain dead followers who put us all in this horrible situation. I can't see my sister, who is 70, or have the fun I expected to have in this beautiful area. I can't see my niece and her fiance or the friends I already have here. I constantly worry about Chandni and whether we are going to need to pay for chest surgery to make sure she fully recovers from her illness. I constantly worry about my fellow Americans (but not Trump supporters) and small businesses/restaurants/everyone who is suffering. I constantly worry about my husband's health, as his job is our only source of income. We have lost at least a 6th of our retirement income due to this orange son of a bitch. I constantly worry that there will be no election in November for him to steal. I am eaten up with rage against him and all Republicans. Can we make it through this surreal nightmare in which we find ourselves? All things considered, we are extremely lucky (yet I complain).
Sorry for the long post. I'm glad to be here among like-minded individuals. I hope everyone and their loved ones are safe and well.
Profile Information
Gender: Do not displayHometown: El Dorado, Kansas
Home country: United States
Current location: Napa, California
Member since: Mon Mar 2, 2020, 01:18 PM
Number of posts: 37