A young physician's journey of recovery from surviving breast cancer to coping with the traumatic stress of providing front line care during the COVID pandemic
I watch the sun slowly sink behind the horizon. A palm tree is outlined in gold against clouds. The evening air is cool and pleasant so I open a window. Sundown starts Yom Kippur. I understand very little about the traditions of this sacred day but do understand that it is a time for self-reflection, …
I watch the light slowly fade through my window. The clouds whip past and the palm trees bend against the wind. A major hurricane has just passed and the rain has finally stopped. I watch as neighbors cautiously venture out to assess the damage. In this moment my mind is not on the storm, I …
It is early morning. The sun has barely begun to shoot golden rays over the horizon. In the fading darkness I fumble with my keys and lock the front the door behind me. I shoulder the bag carrying my N95 mask and protective googles as I walk down my front path to my car. Another …
“Today was a good day,” I think to myself as I pull into my drive way. It was also a busy day, first as an occupational therapy patient and then as a physician examining patients. As I walk up the paver path to my front door, wearing scrubs and with protective gear looped over my …
It is a dreary day. The sky is gray and cloudy. It has threatened rain for several hours but the rain hasn’t come. I am taking a rare day off. I am surfing the couch, snacking on home baked cookies, and streaming movies. Though today was meant to be a day without work, I am …
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. The sound of the roller is all I’ve heard for two days. My back and shoulders ache from forty-eight hours of house painting. I am over it. I am sore and frustrated and yet still I have completed only a fraction of the work that must be done. I am completing this …
I collapse into bed with exhaustion. This would not be a bad thing if it were 10 o’clock at night but it is 10 o’clock on a Sunday morning and my fatigue is overpowering. I lay on my back. My shoulder and back ache from this morning’s activities. I am struggling to maintain life balance …
I swipe my badge and enter the emergency department. As the door swings inward I am met with the typical scene of ER chaos. Patients line the hallways. Emergency medics speed past pushing an immobilized patient on a stretcher. Nurses rush from one curtained room to the next. I head towards a cluster of physicians …
I awake with a start. It is still dark though from the birds singing in the distance I know it is almost sunrise. I did not sleep particularly well and woke several times with disturbing dreams. My eyes have been open only seconds but there is already much on my mind. I’m guessing it will …
It is just minutes after sunrise. My sneakers pound the creaky boardwalk suspended above the protected dune habitat. I hear the waves long before I see them. As I crest the dunes I am met with a peaceful and beautiful view. The white sand of the beach stretches out before me. Golden rays of sun …