Being on the front lines and seeing this terrible illness ravage people is not easy. I regularly get frustrated that the population at large just don't seem to grasp the fact that COVID is not just life threatening but even when you have a "mild case" of it, that it can affect you for the rest of your life.
I've recently cared for someone who caught COVID and is now extubated and "recovering".... but is left with permanent cognitive issues because he was starving for air for too long and it starved his brain of the oxygen it requires, leaving him with an anoxic brain injury. Never will he work again because he can hardly talk, can barely move, and the brain injury makes it difficult for him to even respond. It will take him years probably to walk again, with many months of physiotherapy involvement to gain strength. He will need speech-language pathology involved so that he can learn to swallow and talk again. He will need occupational therapy to help with the daily activity of living.... with being able to manipulate a cup, spoon and hair brush. Things that we absolutely take for granted.
I know of two staff members who have caught COVID from work. Both are young and healthy. Thankfully they did not need to be hospitalized but required months to get back to functioning levels. Both state that they have lingering lung issues almost a year after they caught this illness. They say that going up a set of stairs makes them gasp for breath and forget being able to work out, that's just not possible.
There are many patients that our ICU has cared for who have caught this illness and while they weren't hospitalized because of COVID but because they are experiencing the after effects of this illness - having a stroke or a heart attack. Or experiencing renal failure because their body sent tiny clots to areas of their bodies and caused damage. We've had patients go into DKA because of COVID after the fact because it taxed their system and it couldn't cope with stupid COVID.
But I also wonder about the after effects that COVID will have on the rest of us who don't catch COVID, but still are affected by it because we're wearing these masks for such extended periods of time. I wonder how much CO2 we are rebreathing. If anyone has seen someone whose CO2 has risen, they can attest that these ppl kinda go coo koo. Anyone who is relatively healthy has a pretty good buffer system in play and so their body buffers this rising CO2 - but it has to have lasting effects on our body. I wonder about the kids who have to wear masks for 8+hrs a day when they go to school. Are we going to see issues with psychiatric conditions in 10+ years? Are us adults in 10-15years going to see more psych conditions or dementia/alzheimers?
I wish that people would stop being so damn selfish and stay home and away from people. Stop visiting anyone, unless they are bedridden and require daily care. Otherwise, stay away. People don't understand or just don't care - or they think "that won't be me" - but with the way the numbers are going - damn right it will be - it will be you.... or someone you love. And then what?! Are you going to turn around and be "20/20 is hindsight, golly I wish I had done things differently". How is that going to help when you no long have your parent/grandparent/spouse/brother/sister/cousin, etc.... around because you just had to go visit them.
You and they will survive being apart for a bit. If it keeps ya all alive, it's worth it!
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