3/30
The first thing you should know about me is that as a writer I am already well-versed in the arts of social distancing. A certain amount of isolation goes with the territory. My territory. Some writers claim to be able to work in coffee shops and hustle bustle places of social gathering with free WIFI and three dollar coffee. My muse only speaks when silence surrounds me. And BJ’s brand 30 cent/cup home-brewed coffee. I understand how this is hard on the rest of you.
On Friday (3/27) my wife Kara Weiss, RN, BSN was sent home from her infusion center at 2:00 for a lowgrade fever. She spiked a little temp Saturday ~100° so tack on 72 more hours it meant that the earliest she could get back to work would have been Wednesday. Whatever she’s got going on is mild so far. Knock wood. She got a real runaround regarding testing. Our PCP suggested she get an infectious disease consult. Infectious Disease turfed her to Occupational Medicine, who of course sent her back to ID.
This is 3rd world shithole medicine that results from the lack of concerted national leadership. Lack of preparedness. It’s inexcusable. Disaster has struck and we (as in the richest most resource blessed country on the planet) have come up short. I have a crackerjack nurse and a doctor in the family. They’re in the system. We used to be able to make a call, send an email and get a prompt response. We knew how to circumvent the runaround ordinary Joes get. The robocalls, voicemail boxes and scripted replies from support staff with less knowledge than your own, whose function is to be a buffer between you and the information and decision makers whose attention you seek. I pity the people who don’t know the system. Even for those of us who know the workings, the doctor’s intake system is designed like a maze with flypaper walls. So many opportunities for you to round another corner, get stuck and die from inattention.
Even a former CDC epidemiologist friend is shocked by how brutal the assault on our assumptions has been, how deeply unprepared we are, though she doesn’t hesitate to remind me that we will get through this, just that it will take more time and more resources than we’d imagined.
How much of the way life has changed is now and forever Standard Operating Procedure. Social distancing? Distance socializing. I’m not a super huggy sniff your hair kind of guy but I think human beings need more not less physical contact. Babies thrive in relationship to how often and intimately they are touched. Semi-conscious people on death’s door smile and gain pleasure from touch. I could use a hug right about now. We are wired to touch and be touched. This is going to be so antithetical to our nature.
But the six-foot rule is like a machine. A giant planetwide nuclear reactor. We are the fuel. We are the fissile material. The closer we get to each other, the more interactions that happen between us, the hotter the reaction will burn. Masks will only do so much. But they do something. At the very least they indicate to the rest of the world that you give a #uck. Gloves seem to be pretty useless. What can get trapped on a hand can get trapped on a glove. And I don’t know the protocol for safe removal of gloves.
What I’ve learned so far is a sense of awe, maybe terror, that this same bug can give some people mild flulike symptoms and kill others. An astounding range, no? I mean what is that? I am feeling okay so far. From the very first, I anticipated that living with an essential healthcare worker will mean I’ve been exposed too. So far, I’m okay, but concerned for my girl.
Leave a Reply