As a pulmonary and critical care doctor and the mother of three children too young to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, life has been harrowing. At the beginning of the summer, however, I was beginning to breathe a sigh of relief. My children had been in school last spring, and by the heroic efforts of their amazing teachers and staff, completed the school year free of sickness or quarantine from COVID-19. …
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Clearing the air our kids share: a prescription for healthy schools
One year ago today, my hospital system admitted its first patient with COVID-19. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been twelve months. It simultaneously feels immensely long ago and like it was only yesterday; that what I know of medicine has changed forever and that nothing has changed.
This pandemic has certainly brought me new knowledge and new ways of practicing medicine. I have treated patients …
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An anniversary: Reflecting on COVID-19 and combustion
We recently passed the third Sunday of Advent. In my faith tradition, that is a day we focus on joy. I write today about the joys of having a “cozy COVID Christmas” and how we can celebrate our respective holidays while minimizing the risk to our loved ones and community.
I am an ICU doctor who has taken care of too many suffering and dying from COVID-19. The loss is staggering. …
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A cozy COVID Christmas: Finding hope and joy in darkness
It seems impossible that 2020 could have brought another existential challenge to life as a lung and ICU doctor. As COVID-19 broke out earlier this year, I found myself on phone calls with physicians practicing in far-flung areas, helping host regular calls and webinar to keep doctors in my state updated on the rapidly changing science, working on triage protocols for decisions nobody should ever have to make, …
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Apocalypse now: climate change, cardiac arrest, and the price of inaction
