I hate COVID 19. Have I written that before? I say it several times a day, to my staff, to my patients and repeatedly to myself. It is not very professional. Hate is a strong word but that emotion gives me the strength and determination that I need to push through this.
We also swear. Not in front of patients, of course but sometimes that release of stress that a firmly vocalized profanity is exactly what we need to get through the next minute. In order to control this tactic, keep it at a reasonable level, we have a swear jar. Pay up if you swear. On a particularly bad day last week, I walked into the office I share with my beloved nurse practitioner, Christine. She was slipping her credit card into the swear jar. "Just get it over with", she said. Hilarious. I have such a great team. We laugh, we joke, we try to take care of each other but I am worried about our ability to keep up this pace.
I saw a record number of patients in the last two days. We are all behind on paper work which adds to the stress. COVID 19 has shoved itself into a health care system that was already struggling with a mental health crisis among young people and an aging population with an unprecedented number of chronic illnesses. Every medical professional on the front lines of this thing have absorbed at least a 30 % increase in demand. And we need to do this for months to come.
I want to thank my community tonight. Guelph has continued to keep the number of new cases low with only four new cases today, none in the ICU. You are following public health guidelines and in so doing, you are not only saving lives but you are preserving your medical team, allowing them to focus on providing ongoing care to the ill and at risk populations.
Thanks for that. It's pretty simple. Wear a mask, avoid social gatherings, keep your distance and wash your hands with a focus on avoiding all social gatherings unless at that gathering, everyone who is not in your household bubble is wearing a three layer mask and staying six feet apart. Gather only if you must, be ever so careful if you do and remember the indoor limit is 10. Unless you have a massive house, it is unlikely that you can safely manage ten so just avoid it.
Alberta has just announced a strong social gathering limit: no indoor socializing at all. This is the most common place the virus is spreading; amongst your family and friends.
By following the public health guidelines and I mean everyone following them, you are keeping us away from lockdown. You are keeping our small businesses alive and our healthcare system accessible to all. Buy from local businesses this Christmas. Support them, not big box stores if you can. In a neighbourhood in locked-down Toronto, all the shop keepers put up 'For lease' signs in all their windows this morning. They are not actually all up for lease but the visual was striking. They were drawing attention to exactly what could happen to the community if even more of it's beloved small businesses don't survive the lockdown.
Small businesses are the life blood of our community. Amazon, Walmart, Costco are just not the soul of our cities and towns. Buy for Christmas locally. Support restaurants by purchasing gifts of meals and treats for your staff and friends. Eat out or order in once a week if you can. The money you might usually spend on Christmas gatherings and office parties, put that into donations to your food bank or Hope House or gifts to people in need. That is the true spirit of Christmas is it not?
Finding the heart of Christmas when we cannot gather? Maybe the focus should just be serving our fellow man in need. We may not feel lonely at all.
Please reach out and thank a healthcare team member this week. That kind of support keeps us going.
Three astonishingly effective vaccines are getting ready for widespread distribution: Pfizer and Moderna using mRNA technology and the AstraZenica/ Oxford vaccine using the recombinant viral vector approach. No further delay, tomorrow's post will focus on the biology of these vaccines, how they work, why they are so effective and why they are so safe.
We are starting with messenger RNA. I can't wait! The game changer people. The virus cannot win once these vaccines are widely available. We have won. Just need a bit more time....stay strong and stay focused.
Give, Give, Give.... To whom much is given, much is expected. It helps those in need and it helps heal your weary heart
Anne-Marie
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CMHA WW Website: www.cmhaww.ca
Here 24/7 at 1-844-HERE-247 or www.here247.ca.
And for post-secondary students, Good2Talk
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