Category: Infectious disease

A pregnant mother dies of COVID

In this small town I live in, a funeral procession is a big deal. The hearse is followed by several black cars turning into an array of family and friends cars. All of them roll slowly and sadly to the final destination. I knew all about this funeral. …

COVID ravaged my mother’s body

The day that my 82-year-old mother was scheduled to receive her first COVID vaccine, she was admitted to the intensive care unit, critically ill with COVID pneumonia. It was late January. My siblings and I hadn’t heard from our mother in a few days, an…

To booster or not booster? That is the question.

Gen. Colin Powell , the first Black U.S. secretary of state, passed away this week due to COVID complications. Yes, Powell was fully vaccinated but immunocompromised. However, he had scheduled the booster but was too ill to receive it. After President …

Carry on, my weary one: Persevering in the aftermath [PODCAST]

“Frontline workers may have temporarily experienced a heightened sense of personal success and gratification, but I doubt many of us are still able to feel satisfied at this point, after all the repeated moral injuries and losing so many patients…

Which is better: Psychotherapy using video or in-person while wearing masks?

At the very start of the pandemic last year, I met with a couple of patients in the office while we wore masks.  Based on that limited experience, I quickly concluded that seeing each other’s faces was of paramount importance, even if over video.  That…

Crossing the liminal space of the pandemic

We have been walking down a long hallway for many, many months. We left the room we resided in pre-COVID, but we have not yet found a room to rest. We are in the liminal space of COVID. This is unsettling and unnerving — liminal space often is. Liminal…

I was thinking about retiring, and COVID-19 gave me a push [PODCAST]

“Last March, I was working in a small primary care practice on the west side of Denver. COVID-19 came to town. On Thursday, March 12, we were told the schools would be closing. On Friday, we were told that clinic staff had to wear masks — and the…

The dimming of the shining city

In March 1630, John Winthrop delivered the treatise “A Model of Christian Charity” at Holyrood Church in Southampton, England, prior to leading the first settlers of the Massachusetts Bay colony on their to journey to the New World. In his …

Does pro-vaccine always have to be pro-mandate?

“They are firing me for not getting the COVID vaccine. I can make more money working at Michael’s than I do at this job. I was only doing this because I like to help people. But this is it for me. I’m quitting. I’ll miss the pat…

Ivermectin is a Nobel Prize-winning wonder drug

Ivermectin is an over 30-year-old wonder drug that treats life- and sight-threatening parasitic infections. Its lasting influence on global health has been so profound that two of the key researchers in its discovery and development won the Nobel Prize…