TARRANT COUNTY PHYSICIAN (7)
January/February 2021
victims their lives, with school being a safe
place where they could escape the abuse
for at least a few hours. I am grateful that
Texas has allowed businesses to reopen
and let our citizens get back to work and
their kids back to school. This pandemic
is not over yet, but hopefully, much of the
devastation is behind us as we learn more
about this virus and how to best treat it.
The way I would like to see us move
forward is with safety protocols and
measures in place, while returning to our
livelihoods with moms and dads able to pay
the mortgage, keep the lights on, and feed
their kids. Talk about “social determinants
of health”; can we even measure the food
insecurity that’s out there when we’ve
taken a meal away from a kid who might
not get any meals at home? Let’s move
ahead with disease prevention. How many
mammograms and colonoscopies were not
done this year, leaving cancer undiagnosed
and untreated? I’ve seen some “quality”
scores and there are many “gaps” that
weren’t closed in 2020. The thing about
open gaps is that you just don’t know
which gap closures would’ve caught a
disease process in its early stages.
I wanted to start off the year with an
article about avoidable hospitalizations from
UTIs gone wild or how medical directors
are people too, but instead, I have broken
my own rule about avoiding controversy.
If you’re a little confused on where I stand
on COVID-19, here are my thoughts: 1)
respect your fellow man by wearing a mask
and keeping a safe distance; 2) consider if
you might be putting a high risk person at
increased risk (self-quarantine if you’ve been
exposed); 3) be kind to each other as many
are struggling with the loss of friends, family,
personal health, or their job; 4) exercise your
rights and freedoms in a safe manner; 5) the
virus is very real and very deadly (to some
even previously healthy people); and 6) take
the vaccine if you get the opportunity—it’s
the best we can do to turn the tide on this
pandemic. Blessings, and I look forward to
an America without COVID-19.
President’s Paragraph
I kept changing the channel that March
day in 2020. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
was needed, and fast. It was an election
year and we were already dealing with the
polarity of being either a Democrat or a
Republican, and now we would be divided
over COVID-19 controversy. Let me just say
that I have never, ever wanted to get sick
from anyone in any public place who was
coughing and spewing infectious particles.
Masking is about the best idea I’ve ever
heard of; I think it’s a great way to decrease
disease spread during every cold and flu
season, as well as in a pandemic. I once
missed Thanksgiving with my family after
my sister called and said, “We’re going,
but John is sick and he’s running a fever.” I
took the next exit off of I-35, turned around,
and spent Thanksgiving home alone. It was
worth it.
This past January I was speaking with
a girlfriend who was getting over a pretty
bad upper respiratory infection. She wasn’t
sneezing or coughing, but as we talked
a little spit droplet flew out of her mouth
and into my eye. When that happens, and
it does, I just say, “Whatever they’ve got,
you’ve got it now.” I do not get that close, or
face to face, to this friend anymore. Some
people have to spray it when they say it, and
COVID-19 is the last thing you want to have
sprayed in your face. Looking back over this
year I remember a few of my friends had
severe upper respiratory infections. Was
it COVID-19? Maybe. It seems like years
ago that it was okay to cough or sneeze
in public, but not now, and it’s just been a
little over nine months. Now when a dust
particle brings on an unexpected sneeze,
the next thing you hear is, “It’s just allergies,
I’m not sick!” I agree with stringent infection
control measures in public places. I am
saddened, however, by businesses closing,
millions losing their jobs, nursing homes not
allowing any visitors in a safe, distanced
way (meaning little accountability and
possibly increased neglect), and healthcare
professionals using their credentials to
further polarize an already confused society.
So what do we do? How do we move
forward? I have a friend who lost his
wife to COVID-19 months ago (she was
an ER nurse in New Jersey), and I have
another good friend who just recovered
from COVID-19 pneumonia. This virus is
still a public threat. People are still dying.
Treatments are helping many, but like
the flu and other diseases, there is not a
cure. A vaccine will not be 100 percent
preventive. It’s the best we’ll be able to do,
but it won’t be 100 percent. Do we allow
our economy to collapse or do we get back
to work in a safe and smart way? It’s easy
for those of us who can go to work to say,
“Stay home,” as we are able to provide
for our families. During this pandemic, I
went to a certain coffee shop every day
and sat at a table outside with my cousin
(it was the only contact that the both of us
had with another person during the early
days of the pandemic). We would see
other coffee friends pull up and have their
orders delivered to their car. We watched
the mask requirement come in and we
complied; we still do. The thing that we
mostly did was sit there every morning and
act normal while supporting a struggling
local business. We were socializing over
coffee in a safe manner. If I had to cough
(allergies) I would get up and walk around
the side of the building. In the spring, if
the group ever grew to over the allowed
number, someone would leave and let
another sit and visit. Our coffee shop
owners had to lay off twenty employees and
close their shop in Southlake. One of the
negative consequences, besides death from
illness and job loss, is depression that has
been made worse due to social isolation.
Though many of us feel we can safely get
our groceries, have our coffee, and take
care of business, as long as the protective
measures are being used, there are still
many who are very afraid. That fear has likely
served the most vulnerable well, as they’ve
had limited exposure to COVID-19, but it
has cost others their lives due to depression
and suicide. It has cost some child abuse
Masking is about the best idea I’ve ever heard of; I
think it’s a great way to decrease disease spread during
every cold and flu season, as well as in a pandemic. “