Yes, it’s the new year, but I’m not ok. You’re not ok. I’m glad that we are given permission to say this now, especially in the medical community. I’ve been conditioned (by my profession and by society expectations) to just keep going.
I talked about the day after Christmas holiday weekend in a previous post. The day following the New Year’s weekend in a doctor’s office during the pandemic was the same thing. Once the office turned the phones on, there was a shockingly deafening sound of all the phone lines ringing at once, quite scary, I have to say. It was call after call, after call, after call. People who felt ill. People who where possibly exposed to COVID. People who were definitely exposed to COVID. Those who tested at home. Those who could not find a home test - anywhere.
Then, people came to see me. “I heard home testing was not accurate,” someone said. “I need a PCR test for my employer,” another person said. “What do you mean you ran out of in-office tests?” The amount of concern, emotion, and anger out there, is still palpable, and I hope my personal protective equipment helps me deflect the emotion out there in addition to the physical ailments out there.
And, that was Monday. Happy New Year. Thanks for reading this, and I hope you’re having a good week....
(fyi, in case you were wondering, our office were only out of testing supplies for a short period of time. We’re back up and running and COVID testing in-office again)