Earlier today, I posted an article from Bridge Magazine regarding the frustration an physician from Beaumont Health System. Here is an excerpt from the article. It had been another grueling weekend for doctors and staff battling to save COVID patients at Beaumont Hospital in Troy. People gasping for breath, some dying. Patients’ panic mixed with bewilderment and grief. Dr. Matthew Trunsky had slogged through plenty of these shifts since the pandemic began last year: rushing from room to room, ordering up drug cocktails, reviewing charts, trying to communicate with patients through a mask and face shield over the din of breathing machines, and having to tell families their loved one was about to die.
But a series of troubling interactions this past weekend triggered something powerful inside Trunsky. Maybe it was the long hours. But mostly, he said, it was the unending thicket of misinformation and conspiracy theories he was hearing from patients who had not been vaccinated, many of them critically ill. So on Saturday — fresh off another 12-hour shift and still in his black scrubs — Dr. Trunsky grabbed a ham sandwich, walked to his back patio, and tapped out the following on a cell phone keyboard, which he uploaded to Facebook:
In my last two days of work I have heard the following:
1) “you’re wrong doctor. I’m too healthy. I don’t have Covid. I’m fine.” (In reality, he’s fighting for his life).
2) “I demand ivermectin or you’ll hear from my lawyer.”
3) “I demand hydroxychloroquine.”
4) “I don’t care what you say. I’m going to leave.” (Response: “That is your prerogative but you’ll be dead before you get to your car.”)
5) “I’d rather die then take the vaccine.” [You may get your wish.]
6) “I didn’t take it because my son told me it would kill me.” (The patient is currently fighting for his life — in fact it was the son‘s advice that may kill him.)
7. “I want a different doctor. I don’t believe you.”
8. From a woman whose husband died of Covid, “I would never feel comfortable recommending the vaccine for family and friends.”
This is not to mention the anger the people have towards the physicians and the nurses who are really doing our best — and who are delivering exceptionally excellent care. Of course the answer was to have been vaccinated — but they were not and now they’re angry at the medical community for their failure.
I also want to share a conversation Leah and I had with a nurse at Michigan Medicine earlier this week. This was a very experienced nurse who was working in the ambulatory surgery unit. While doing her job, she told us how happy she was that President Biden was mandating vaccines for federal employees and for employees at companies with 100 or more employees. Although she was dealing with very few covid-19 patients in the ambulatory surgery unit, she said the strain the existing covid-19 patients were putting on the system and on the staff was sometimes overwhelming. She said her fellow nurses on the floor, where burning out. She said Covid-19 patients were taking away resources that could be available to other non-covid patients in need of acute hospital care. She understood why parents were reluctant to have their children under 12 years of age vaccinated, however, she expressed her frustration with adult patients who refused to get a vaccine and are now suffering and dying from Covid-19. She could not understand the reluctance to getting a covid-19 vaccine when these same people get their measle, mumps, smallpox, flu shots, etc. She indicated it breaks her heart to hear of people dying unnecessarily. She said it frustrates her to see her colleagues suffering from burnout and retiring sooner than they initially planned.
Stay safe. Social distance. Wear your mask when appropriate. Wash your hands regularly. Schedule your vaccine.
Orchid for the Day: The crew of Inspiration 4 for their trip into space.
Onion for the Day: General Motors maker of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. Yesterday GM issued a warning to owners that they should not park their Bolts within 50 feet of another vehicle or within a closed parking garage.
Quote of the Day: “He made me want to be a better person.” Matt Sheppard, Tiger TV announcer to Jack Morris after the showing of a video of Ernie Harwell speech to the fans on the day of his retirement.