So weary ...

 

I just really don't think I can do it anymore ... I don't think I can watch a community be 

SO CARELESS

and

SO FRIVILOUS 

about

SO

MANY

DEATHS.

Last night I shared a post on our community page about all of us doing what we can to help stop this pandemic. I am losing someone I know nearly everyday. And even if I don’t know them, John treated them and that makes them very “real.”

Many people were on the post kindly but many went off on diatribes about inefficiencies of masks and their rights. They went into their “own” scientific studies based on people they know and how they got COVID despite wearing a mask.

I ended by saying the doctors in our community (all of them!) are asking the community to socially distance and wear a mask and wash their hands as we are a world hot spot right now.

If they come to the ER, they will ask my husband to save their life or the life of a loved one. In return, could they help the doctors out and do as they ask. I don’t think they’d appreciate a doctor doing their intestinal surgery without a mask because “my research says they don’t work.”

Numerous people commented: if John and I don’t like it, WE should stay home. The fact that my husband works in the ER and can’t stay home was lost to them. They also claimed we were lying about how busy the ER was. This is when I want to climb in the hole.

The reason I don’t is because SO many of you have told us that our voice is helping. Not everyone. Not millions. But a few. And a few is good right now.

If you are wondering why our area is doing so badly, there is no doubt: this atttiude is playing a role. That should be proof enough to everyone that what we are doing (50% mask wearing in the community is my guess?) is not working. Learn from us and don’t fall prey to false facts.

Even if they didn’t work ... what does it hurt to TRY and help?! Just try. It broke my heart. I know the vast majority of people in our county are thankful and “the haters are going to hate” ... But to see people accuse my husband of lying or having less than pure intentions, breaks my heart. I can’t for the life of me come up with a reason he’d like to lie about how busy the ER is.

This is why COVID is exploding here ... don’t let this happen where you live. Learn from us. Your behaviors matter. Mitigate risk. We have to keep living, but making a few wise choices (choosing restaurants that are more careful, shopping at less busy times, etc.) DOES help.

I can’t explain what Greeneville is like right now, but those of you whose area isn’t very “hot” please hear us! It is a honestly everywhere ... the attached image is copied from a local friend’s timeline. There aren’t funerals. Just death. I’m feeling weary again this evening. I keep asking for prayer but I don’t know what else to do.

I know many of you are sick of hearing about it but there’s too much to not think of it all day long. John second-guessing every move he makes with each sick patient .... So many friends are sick and our friend Sierra Gosnell’s father Stephen is very ill and in serious condition. He’s only 51! This beast is so real ... it’s truly like we are living in a movie. Pray everyone! Please pray for our town ... my heart feels that it truly can’t even comprehend more weeks of this ... and praying John’s parents and our other elderly friends can get the vaccine as soon as possible.

From Theo Hensley, MD (Physician in Greeneville and member of my church.) 

The Ballad hospital system here in Northeast TN is currently at 89.9% capacity. ICU capacity is at nearly 94%. There are 300 Ballad team members currently under quarantine at home either for Covid symptoms or confirmed covid19. Current region positivity rates are 30.4%, the highest of the pandemic. Testing has been very limited the past week due to holiday closings as well as shift of testing staff shiftiing towards the vaccination process. The hospitals expect to see the Holiday gathering surge in 1-2 weeks.

Locally, in Greeneville, I have spoken with inside sources and we are currently around 90% capacity on average. This sound ok at first glance, but what that means practically is that every bed is full every night in the hospital wards and any new admissions that need a bed are held in the ER overnight. Many patients have to be held in the hallways in the ER for 16-18 hours until a bed becomes available since there is very limited capacity at other nearby hospitals.

We are approaching a critical tipping point over the next few weeks. Either the hospitals will continue barely holding on with exhausted staff over the coming weeks or the additional Holiday surge will cause the system to break down.

If/when the system breaks down, then there will be more risk of death and morbidity from both covid and non-covid illnesses like heart attacks, strokes, etc who aren't able to be adequately treated due to limited resources and staff.

The decisions we make as a community over the next 2-3 weeks are absolutely critical. If we gamble with not taking enough precautions there could be dire consequences. We could end up somehow scraping by. That's what I'll root for but it's not looking good at this point.

The next 4-6 weeks is what most of us in healthcare have feared all year. Hoping it won't be as bad as what we think. Still rooting for me to be wrong about all of this. Most of us will survive.