I have stumbled upon many Facebook posts making jokes regarding Covid and doctors. They seem to be ramping up as Omicron and panic and crazy media swirl around us. Please remember something that is INTEGRAL to the truth of this virus.
The doctors are not part of the media.
They also (contrary to public belief) do not profit from Covid diagnosis or tests. (While there are exceptions to this statement, the vast majority of doctors are on the side of being paid the same no matter what is going on.)
If you don’t believe my statement is true across our county (and world) then at least hear it from our personal farm in TN. My husband shows up everyday. He is paid the exact same whether there is 1 patient or 50. Paid the same to see a Covid patient or a non-Covid patient. He does not order something or prescribe something unless he thinks it necessary.
He is a Godly, amazing man who has to stand and take it when someone cusses at him or blames him or screams at him and then walk into the next room and face a firing squad all over again.
John asked my Dad once, a basketball coach, how often people questioned his court decisions. My Dad said that in the beginning, some, but as his wisdom became proven, very few. “Can you imagine what it feels like,” John asked him, “to have the very thing you have studied and practice for two decades questioned dozens of times a night?”
My Dad just shook his head and said it would be unimaginable.
If a Covid positive patient comes in and only needs fluids, that’s all John will give. He will prescribe any medicine he thinks helpful and has available whether popular opinion or not. This is not some big conspiracy on all levels.
You may be saying: “Well, that’s John Kitsteiner. He’s different. He’s got good morals and values.”
But that isn’t true — because we are friends with so many amazing humans in this field who truly just want to help people. I honestly can count on one hand the number of doctors I personally know who are in this field for the wrong reason. My husband and I pray everyday he doesn’t lose a patient … and he’ll do anything it takes to prevent it.
Are politics involved? Yes.
Do we personally think mandates should be imposed? No.
Do we think the media is nuts? Yes.
Do your jokes and comments affect us? Yes. More than we let on.
Please remember when you jest about the what docs are prescribing and diagnosing, you are personally hurting nurses and doctors and staff working tirelessly.
Time and time again I receive texts and emails and phone calls from people who say: “I could never have imagined what it’s like in the ER until I went in myself.”
Omicron is not proving as bad as the two previous waves. John is not losing as many patients. Vaccinated patients are still fairing better. The hospital is still struggling with space simply because of the large numbers of sick people — from Covid and the flu and depression and two years of hard stuff.
But we are humans. Your words matter. Don’t confuse the media with the man (and his colleagues) who will have an open door every single minute of every single day of the year to help you with whatever freak accident, scary illness, or other awful thing that hits you and those you love.
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