Some images stick in the mind as unreal and incandescent things, despite their lived experience. My mind holds onto the gray-haired woman, stooped from age and wearing the hospital-issue facemask, standing alone with her hands clasped tightly behind he…
Living the surreal experience of the COVID-19 pandemic challenges us on multiple levels. As a physician, I feel the responsibility to understand the magnitude of the situation and implement the best measures to protect my patients, trainees, my family,…
There comes a day in every woman’s life when she must wonder: Where on earth have everyone’s manners gone? This phase of life, I once believed, was the same phase when I would shout things like: “You kids get off my lawn!” “Oh, it’s just a touch of gou…
I am overwhelmed right now. I know I am not alone. I hear it in the voices of my friends, family, colleagues, patients. We are all feeling it. I am overwhelmed by this virus. There is so much to learn, so much to teach. Every day the information change…
I am sitting on my living room floor, my back to the living room sofa, a sense of dread overcoming me as I realize that my call to 911 may be too late. I hear her muted voice with periodic pauses that allow her to catch her breath. All I can do is say,…
To suggest that the impact of the novel coronavirus has been nothing short of devastating – from a health perspective, to the economy, to basic social interaction – would be the most striking understatement of the decade. Daily media viewing over the …
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the structure of many people’s households has changed dramatically. Young adults who were away at college had to return home when schools closed, and many will still be at home this fall as schools continue to limi…
I am exhausted. I’m a physician in the suburbs of Houston. The latest COVID-19 infection rates in the Houston area show a steep increase in rates since reopening in May. And it’s still rising. As an infectious diseases physician in the middle of this w…
COVID. What is it to me? A sense of growing dread for primary care providers everywhere, whose patient panels read like a list of future dead. Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, emphysema. The reality is most people have no idea how close to devastation…
Diseases do not have political or religious beliefs. They are equal opportunity haters. Yes, some diseases will have an affinity for a particular gender, race, age group, but never will they affect your body based on your political ideologies. However,…
