Page 16 - HCMA Summer Bulletin

Reflections
COVID-19 has been on my mind a lot.
Robert Norman, DO drrobertnorman@gmail.com
When I went to my nearest drive- using up a lot of precious time.
through coffee shop, I thought about all the choices we have nowadays. It’s nice to have choices but look at how much time they take. I remember when cof- fee was either black and/or cream and sugar. Now it’s what size, hot, cold, and 20 other choices.
We all have nostalgia for times in the past like our bout of chickenpox when we were a kid or some other relatively benign disease compared to COVID-19.
Everything seemed so straightforward. Everybody got it, and if you were lucky a little Calamine lotion and rest did the trick and you were back on the street. We now live in a whole new world with not only a new normal but more knowledge and weapons and online discussions. We have to carefully choose the best, most effective route to achieve our goal of staying alive and thriv- ing.
Choices not only take a lot of time, but so do distractions like all that accompanies COVID-19. The virus has little to be dis- tracted with as it continues to take lives. COVID-19 is playing its own life or death chess match while it tries to kill us. It’s what deadly viruses do. That’s how they make their living. With this virus we only have one choice—Choose Life. Obviously the vic- tims reflect different socioeconomic levels, genetics, exposure, and immunities, but COVID-19 kills with impunity and we are
The virus doesn’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican or anything else. Or if you miss going to the beach or to church or synagogue or the mosque or meditating under the stars. Or out to dinner with your friends. Or flying to Vegas. You are simply a reservoir that it wants to live in and multiply and thrive. In order to stop it we have very strict, solitary rules that we need to follow. Our health is our reality and only lasts for as long as we can keep it.
Everyone on the planet has to be as inexorably focused on de- stroying COVID-19 as it is in destroying us. We don’t have the time for distractions or rumors or gossip or anything else. We can leave that to the Monday morning quarterbacks once this is all gone for now. We have to march directly ahead using the rules of science that we know--limit social contact, help people who are already sick and dying, be fastidious in surveillance and con- tact tracing, and push for a vaccine. We need to find the original source of this horrible disease and see if we can stop it from hap- pening again. The virus will always mutate, so we must be ready for the next one.
“Thank you so much,” I said when I was handed my drink. A small black coffee with one cream and two sweeteners did not take long.
We have no time to waste. Right now, there’s only one item on the menu--to eradicate this deadly virus before any more people die.
Dear HCMA members,
On behalf of the HCMA, thank you for the care you are providing your patients while faced with the ongoing threat of COVID-19 and for your tireless efforts during this time of challenges and uncertainty.
Many physicians are finding Headspace, a meditation and mindful- ness app, beneficial to their mental and emotional wellbeing. Head- space is supporting healthcare providers during the pandemic, siting stressors unique to those involved in public health. To subscribe, for free, click on the following link, pick Florida and submit your NPI.
https://www.headspace.com/health-covid-19 ~ The HCMA Physician Wellness Committee
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HCMA BULLETIN, Vol 66, No. 1 – Summer 2020