You’re right. Your experience is different than mine. We are not different in how much we love and value our lives, or how much we care for the people around us. We differ in our experience and what we understand about the world. And neither of us is wrong – what we experience, in our own lives, is all we can ever know. And that’s what makes each of our separate experiences entirely valid.
You’re right – the majority of people don’t have COVID. In my world, I am bombarded with patients presenting to the ED with cold symptoms and shortness of breath. They concentrate in the hospital, and it feels like everybody has COVID. And it seems like there’s no end in sight, and every day feels worse. Though honestly, it’s true – the survival rate, objectively, is really high. Just not for the patients I see – the ones that need to come to the ED. And while that number is relatively small in the grand scope of the US population, it’s huge to us.
Imagine if we had a sudden increase in any health-related disorder: pollution went up and asthma attacks rose by 4,00 cases a day in our state; or speed limits were eliminated, and car accidents went up by 10%. We’d be overwhelmed. Our hospitals, before COVID, were close to (or already over) capacity. And now we’re over the edge. Can we fight to control other things, like obesity? Absolutely, but COVID seems to be mainly, and quickly, controllable with vaccination, especially when it comes to reducing how many patients need precious and increasingly rare inpatient beds. Healthcare is trying to help patients improve underlying conditions like obesity, but behavioral science is only starting to take hold in shaping an effective approach to patient care. Is the healthcare system imperfect? Yes, we should have a system that is built to absorb hits like this without a bed crisis, and in time we will. We should be popularizing more effective strategies for targeting the obesity epidemic and preventing cardiac disease, diabetes, and hypertension. But for now, we do have measures that will quickly decrease the likelihood of getting extremely sick. But we have a lot to learn.
You’re right. Hospitalization can be prevented, and vaccines are not the only preventative measure. Obesity seems to be the largest risk factor for hospitalization and death in patients under 50. I am encouraging all my friends and family to get as fit as possible, and eat well, and get outside. But things don’t have to be either/or. Eating well and exercising regularly plus getting the vaccine should minimize your likelihood of getting seriously ill. Are there related complications of the vaccine? Yes, it appears they are, but those risks are far outweighed by the benefits. At least that’s my hope and my experience, but we have a lot to learn.
You’re right. Media is often using fear to convince you that COVID is a huge issue. This tactic is mostly ineffective, in fact it might be making you dig in your heels. But at this point they’re throwing Hail Mary’s because the situation is dire. I can attest that the data they are showing you from our local hospitals aren’t lies, but I get it – you’re tired of hearing it. Especially since you’ve known a couple people who got COVID, and they’re just fine now. And this has gone on long enough – life wasn’t meant to be lived behind masks. We’re tired of it too.
Though imagine how it feels in the hospital. Some on Facebook are complaining that doctors are manipulating the system, that we’re making things up, that we’re one of the sheep. And other patients come in declining the care that we’re being informed is the safest and most efficacious. Meanwhile we’re doing everything we can to do our best, while seeing patients out of our waiting room wherever and however we can – because there is no space, but we have a duty to serve. Do I wish ivermectin had more convincing data so we could use it? Hell yes. Do I wish hydroxychloroquine was the miracle cure it was touted to be early on? Oh my god, yes. But we haven’t seen any convincing data where benefit outweighs risk, and we will continue to wait as our colleagues behind the lab benches look for therapies that might work. You don’t know how much it saddens me to only be able to provide steroids and oxygen in the ED. But it gives me hope, because it means we have a lot to learn.
You’re right. It’s hard to trust the government has your best interests in mind. Please know that my goal is not control. It’s only to care for people in the way they need it. I want this world to be filled with more love, more listening, more acceptance of each and every human as a brother and a sister, and nothing less, no matter their views and their pasts. We all, ultimately, want to be happy and thrive.
And I hope that you will see my voice as one of caring and understanding – not of blaming, not of hate, not of power. Just a guy who is seeing a different side of things than you may have been exposed to so far, and who is looking forward to the day when we’re out of this and we can look back at everything we’ve learned as we heal. About the disease, and about each other.
I’m not going to plead that you get vaccinated – enough have done that. I’m not going to demand you wear a mask wherever you go. I’m also not going to think you’re stupid or don’t deserve treatment because you feel differently than I do. I’m only going to ask that you see me as I see you – as a human, with an experience that is true, trying to do my best … while knowing full well, that all of us, collectively, still know very little. And we all have a lot to learn. Let’s continue to do that. Together.
“What you see is all there is.” – Daniel Kahneman
