#helpmehelpyou #flattenthecurve

We are nurses. We are rad techs. Respiratory therapists. CNAs. Doctors. PAs. APRNs. Dietary. Environmental services, and on and on. We are the faces of healthcare. We are here when you go into labor, break your arm, or have a heart attack or stroke. We're here when your world is rocked by depression, a car accident, or a natural disaster. We've been here to help you every time you needed us, and other than begging you to get your flu shot, we asked for nothing in return. We don't fold, and we don't back down. We stand up, link arms, and fight with everything we have to get you back to your normal. We knew the risks, and we signed up anyway because you needed us.

But before we became the faces of healthcare, we were sons and daughters. We are mothers and fathers. We are humans, and we have lives. We have people we care about and who care about us. We are loved, and while we signed up for this trip, our friends and family didn't. They have to watch us walk out the door each day and have no control over whether or not we come home, and honestly, we don't have much control, either. We are all at the mercy of COVID-19 and the behavior of the general public. It's a tremendous source of anxiety.

We signed up to help the public - even when the public is too selfish to do something as simple as stay home in order to help themselves (and everyone else). A global pandemic has always been a possibility, and even though we knew that when we chose our professions, nobody really expected it to come to this. We're putting our lives, and potentially the lives of anyone else we come in contact with, on the line every time we care for a COVID-19 patient. 

We want to help you, but we don't want to die because of it. We don't want to watch our loved ones struggle to breathe. We don't want to wonder if we'll be planning a funeral for our parents or our babies because we brought a vicious viral illness home on our scrubs. We are living with anxiety and fear every day because we are the biggest threat to those we love the most. 

Chances are, I'm going to catch it, and if/when that happens, I'll likely pass it to my husband and our littles who are 8, 8, and 3. I haven't slept well in weeks because I can't get that reality out of my head. If I had to guess, I'd say the only reason I'm sleeping at all is because we all fall into the low risk category (which doesn't necessarily mean anything). We will probably be fine, but my grandmother who is 91? Or my father-in-law who has a compromised respiratory system? My dad with asthma? My cousin who just had a heart transplant? I don't know. I know that I'm avoiding anyone I don't live with as much as humanly possible, but other people aren't. Too many people are not taking this seriously, and to say I'm frustrated would be an understatement.

We will continue to come to work every day because you need us now more than ever. We will be here because, quite simply, this is what we do. We have never asked for much in return for our service, but now, we are. Actually, we aren't asking - we're pleading. Desperately. PLEASE don't ask our families and friends to sacrifice us or themselves because you didn't want to sacrifice your social calendar. Stay home. Cancel that birthday party, girls night, or small group gathering. Help us flatten the curve, so we can help more people survive - my family (and yours) included.