My Doctor husband came home crying yesterday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is how bad things have gotten here, in the DMV. My tough, macho Dr. husband, who I've only seen cry once in our 20 year marriage, is a seasoned Doctor (hospitalist). Therefore he is a hospital-based physician and is/will be working in the hospital with Corona patients.

He came home from work crying yesterday. It scared me. He says things are bad already, he and the staff are being worked to the bone, they are all stressed, no one knows proper protocol for treating these patients and protective gear, mistakes are already being made because staff is confused, morale is low, staff are starting to call out sick with CV, and the CV cases are multiplying. He hears from his colleagues at NYC hospitals about how things are going there now and is terrified.

He's terrified of getting the virus since they are being told to reuse protective gear.

This situation is terrible, folks. The doctors are at the point where many of them are freaking out.

I have never seen my husband so stressed. I've never been so stressed/depressed in my life.

Sorry for being brutally honest but I don’t feel sorry for you or your doc husband. This is part of the territory of what he signed up for. For the future this crisis will
Separate those who really have a passion fir sacrificing to save lives vs choosing a career for the sole purpose of
Stable earnings, job security, and status. I know plenty of healthcare workers who are crying now, wondering why
They chose such a dangerous career.

Nurse here. I have to be brutally honest with you; F off. This is what he signed up for? GTFO. None of us signed up for this. Long hours, missing holidays, stress, helping people? Ok, yeah sure. Not having proper equipment? Nah, we did not sign up for that. I am compassionate but not a martyr. Health care providers are dying out of sheer incompetence from the government. By making health care providers out to be martyrs, people like you, the government, and hospital administrators get to wash their hands of culpability. You want health care workers to stop whining about it? Give us the right PPE. You would never send a soldier to war with a broom stick and tell him/her that he/she knew what they were signing up for.

I don't believe the government runs the hospitals in the US. In the UK, yes.

+1 Even those in the field cannot understand who let them down--their own field did. It's the job of the healthcare industry, not the government. I was enlightened by the MD's post about hedgefunds owning them and cutting costs. That I can sympathize with and it's something I didn't know (though not surprised to learn). It explains so much about this crisis. So to summarize: government doesn't run healthcare, stop blaming them for supply shortages (they are not responsible for manufacturing them, supplying them, or buying them for hospitals), blame private equity and hedgefunds. Between the unfair advantage they will all get in the bailout and this new information, it becomes more and more clear every day that they may cause the end of our civilization. They should be stopped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The health care workers on the front lines of this are like the fire fighters rushing into the WTC on 9/11. It’s unfathomable how our government is so ill prepared to equip them with what they need. The slowness is inexcusable. What they have gotten is largely the result of donations.

This.
RN who used to work in hospital and worry for my previous coworkers

Other than the VA hospitals does our government run hospitals in this country? Is it not the responsibilities of the hospitals to have supplies for their workers?

We are in a global pandemic. This is a national security situation without any exaggeration. There should be federal and state stockpiles and protocols and these should have been activated months ago.

To the OP and health care workers: thank you for putting your lives on the line.

So I get that the trump administration was downplaying this from the beginning- but were states and hospitals not paying attention at all to what was going on the last few months? Cuomo talks a good talk now but why wasn’t he getting supplies for NY back in January? Lots of blame to go around.

They were. There simply weren’t enough supplies to go around and there is an issue of some hospitals having an abundance and some having a shortage and it’s impossible for hospitals to take care of that inequity on a national level. Not that all hospitals had a great response but hospitals were indeed trying.

As far as Cuomo goes, he probably assumed that the US government and the CDC could respond to health crises the way they had in the past: competently. Everybody was shocked when the CDC dropped the ball on testing and when the US government had stopped maintaining the national reserve of PPE. But he was aware of the dangers the virus could cause back in January and was making an effort to get supplies and work on coordination.

Anyone who assumed Trump and this CDC would handle this competently is a fool.

Why the CDC? The CDC has a good track record. How did you know they would handle it incompetently? The reason they didn’t was a series of unfortunate events, not general incompetence, so I don’t know how somebody could have predicted that.

NYT had a good article about the extreme level of regulation in the US hindered the testing and the head of the CDC followed the regulations to a "T" slowing startup of testing.

Of course an article like that would be in the NYT. You all need to balance your news sources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is how bad things have gotten here, in the DMV. My tough, macho Dr. husband, who I've only seen cry once in our 20 year marriage, is a seasoned Doctor (hospitalist). Therefore he is a hospital-based physician and is/will be working in the hospital with Corona patients.

He came home from work crying yesterday. It scared me. He says things are bad already, he and the staff are being worked to the bone, they are all stressed, no one knows proper protocol for treating these patients and protective gear, mistakes are already being made because staff is confused, morale is low, staff are starting to call out sick with CV, and the CV cases are multiplying. He hears from his colleagues at NYC hospitals about how things are going there now and is terrified.

He's terrified of getting the virus since they are being told to reuse protective gear.

This situation is terrible, folks. The doctors are at the point where many of them are freaking out.

I have never seen my husband so stressed. I've never been so stressed/depressed in my life.

Sorry for being brutally honest but I don’t feel sorry for you or your doc husband. This is part of the territory of what he signed up for. For the future this crisis will
Separate those who really have a passion fir sacrificing to save lives vs choosing a career for the sole purpose of
Stable earnings, job security, and status. I know plenty of healthcare workers who are crying now, wondering why
They chose such a dangerous career.

Nurse here. I have to be brutally honest with you; F off. This is what he signed up for? GTFO. None of us signed up for this. Long hours, missing holidays, stress, helping people? Ok, yeah sure. Not having proper equipment? Nah, we did not sign up for that. I am compassionate but not a martyr. Health care providers are dying out of sheer incompetence from the government. By making health care providers out to be martyrs, people like you, the government, and hospital administrators get to wash their hands of culpability. You want health care workers to stop whining about it? Give us the right PPE. You would never send a soldier to war with a broom stick and tell him/her that he/she knew what they were signing up for.

I don't believe the government runs the hospitals in the US. In the UK, yes.

+1 Even those in the field cannot understand who let them down--their own field did. It's the job of the healthcare industry, not the government. I was enlightened by the MD's post about hedgefunds owning them and cutting costs. That I can sympathize with and it's something I didn't know (though not surprised to learn). It explains so much about this crisis. So to summarize: government doesn't run healthcare, stop blaming them for supply shortages (they are not responsible for manufacturing them, supplying them, or buying them for hospitals), blame private equity and hedgefunds. Between the unfair advantage they will all get in the bailout and this new information, it becomes more and more clear every day that they may cause the end of our civilization. They should be stopped.

Completely true

[Anonymous]

So to summarize:
government doesn't run healthcare --- they should
government is not responsible for manufacturing, supplying, or buying for hospitals --- they should

fixed that for you

[Anonymous]

Plenty of Good old fashioned American greed and cultural selfishness at play here. We all were going to pay sooner or later. So...before you make your assumptions I’m actually pro business and voted for Trump. Just saying...

[Anonymous]

If I wanted to control the people, I would insist only social distancing works, not admit my model were off to begin with, tell people they can't go back to normal until there's a vaccine (hint: HIV has none), and most of all, insist any therapy that works is simply 'anecdotal'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. While the PP was perhaps a bit harsh I do tend to see his POV. Working conditions for many are not always ideal and some things go with the territory as they say. No system is designed for peak load and it is impractical to do do so and those impacted by the peak load in this case, be it the hospital workers, patients, EMS, police, grocery store clerks, etc ALL suffer. I don’t see the grocery clerks complaining much....I doubt they signed up for this. So yes...please stop the whine or quit.

You don't see a difference between suctioning mucus from an intubated known COVID+ patient at the bedside, or intubating a tube down their throat with the aeosolized spray coming onto your face just a foot or two above them without an actual effective mask over your mouth, and working as a cashier?

There are unacceptable risks for both situations. One is orders of magnitude higher risk than the other.

[Anonymous]

You people who believe the governor or hospitals should have been stocked up are ridiculous. No hospital would ever hold that many supplies “ just in case”. That is what the FEDERAL stockpile is for despite Jarheads take.

This is why we pay taxes, to support the needed states in times of pandemic or natural disasters. You know, FEMA ???

The incompetence is unprecedented! They should have been preparing, verifying supplies and generally being ready. They had the genetic code and at a minimum should have started churning out testing. But no...Instead trump was busy with his rallies and golfing - spending taxpayer money to enjoy himself.

It is hysterical how he keeps on his rant about the us being ripped off from every country - ugh - wise up, HE is ripping off the country and laughing every moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You people who believe the governor or hospitals should have been stocked up are ridiculous. No hospital would ever hold that many supplies “ just in case”. That is what the FEDERAL stockpile is for despite Jarheads take.

This is why we pay taxes, to support the needed states in times of pandemic or natural disasters. You know, FEMA ???

The incompetence is unprecedented! They should have been preparing, verifying supplies and generally being ready. They had the genetic code and at a minimum should have started churning out testing. But no...Instead trump was busy with his rallies and golfing - spending taxpayer money to enjoy himself.

It is hysterical how he keeps on his rant about the us being ripped off from every country - ugh - wise up, HE is ripping off the country and laughing every moment.

+1 and I work for a hospital system that already had an emergency management plan and stockpile and we are still about to reuse PPE in the near future and have already had to in some situations, something that is normally blasphemy in healthcare. We are better than other systems in that we have lasted longer before having to reuse. But not having great testing capabilities early on (waiting over a week for a test result from a send out lab on the west coast, waiting for fda approval for local lab testing capabilities) meant burning through PPE quickly just on suspected cases who we could have stopped using PPE if we'd gotten a negative test result back quickly.

In addition, no hospital would have this kind of stockpile and it's VERY clear the government dragged it's feet in releasing the national stockpile and pushing for domestic manufacturing. Healthcare workers across the country KNOW the government lied on multiple issues. Lab workers know this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is how bad things have gotten here, in the DMV. My tough, macho Dr. husband, who I've only seen cry once in our 20 year marriage, is a seasoned Doctor (hospitalist). Therefore he is a hospital-based physician and is/will be working in the hospital with Corona patients.

He came home from work crying yesterday. It scared me. He says things are bad already, he and the staff are being worked to the bone, they are all stressed, no one knows proper protocol for treating these patients and protective gear, mistakes are already being made because staff is confused, morale is low, staff are starting to call out sick with CV, and the CV cases are multiplying. He hears from his colleagues at NYC hospitals about how things are going there now and is terrified.

He's terrified of getting the virus since they are being told to reuse protective gear.

This situation is terrible, folks. The doctors are at the point where many of them are freaking out.

I have never seen my husband so stressed. I've never been so stressed/depressed in my life.

Looks like your husband not as macho or tough as you thought.. He can’t seem to handle the rigors of a job he spent
Years and years training for. Fear gets the best of us sometimes. I hope he feels better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I wanted to control the people, I would insist only social distancing works, not admit my model were off to begin with, tell people they can't go back to normal until there's a vaccine (hint: HIV has none), and most of all, insist any therapy that works is simply 'anecdotal'

Hint: HIV isn't transmitted by breathing or touching something an infected person touched. OMFG you are dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is how bad things have gotten here, in the DMV. My tough, macho Dr. husband, who I've only seen cry once in our 20 year marriage, is a seasoned Doctor (hospitalist). Therefore he is a hospital-based physician and is/will be working in the hospital with Corona patients.

He came home from work crying yesterday. It scared me. He says things are bad already, he and the staff are being worked to the bone, they are all stressed, no one knows proper protocol for treating these patients and protective gear, mistakes are already being made because staff is confused, morale is low, staff are starting to call out sick with CV, and the CV cases are multiplying. He hears from his colleagues at NYC hospitals about how things are going there now and is terrified.

He's terrified of getting the virus since they are being told to reuse protective gear.

This situation is terrible, folks. The doctors are at the point where many of them are freaking out.

I have never seen my husband so stressed. I've never been so stressed/depressed in my life.

Looks like your husband not as macho or tough as you thought.. He can’t seem to handle the rigors of a job he spent
Years and years training for. Fear gets the best of us sometimes. I hope he feels better.

Looks like Trump, while taking a huge sh#t on his Golden toilet, has found this thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have far far more respect for paramedics, nurses, technicians, than docs who are spending a fraction of their time on the front lines of the crisis but earning exponentially less than docs. Yes, docs play a critical role as a member of the overall team but their colleagues see more danger to personal health all the time. Most of my doc friends have pursued the MD route primarily for the income so now when that income in being threatened (see the PP MD whinning) AND they are being overworked with some additional hazards, they can’t deal with it.

You know that salary info is available to us when we choose our specialties, right? None of us on the front line used salary as our deciding factor. We aren't dermatologists being furloughed. We're ER, medicine, critical care and we are directly in front of this thing. I have been coughed and sneezed on, coded vomiting patients, intubated gasping unresponsive patients...you name it. Sometimes I had PPE. Sometimes these people were just dropped at the door. We've cared for them all and will continue to do so. I'm astounded that there's pushback against the idea that I don't want my income cut while I'm risking my life. And yes that sentiment goes for my friends in nursing, cashiers at Safeway, etc. Those of us who can't stay home should be protected, period. And that damn right means economically as well. Because we don't have a choice.

I'm aware that 16m people are jobless. We're preparing now for a second wave of mental health and suicide events directly as a result. And I'll be here for that one too. So can it with the "greedy doctor" bullsh#t. There is no glamour in this job and I'm still proud to do it. But I won't be taken advantage of at the most vulnerable time in my life, when I'm living without my children, wondering if I'm going to go home and spike a fever. The cut to our salaries is not going to my nursing colleagues or to buy PPE for my peers in NYC. It's to shore up the stock loss for a company whose CEO made 7m last year. Let that marinate for a second before telling me to "cool it".

Or better yet, save your ire for your congressperson and get them on the right side of surprise medical billing, prescription drug price transparency, and access to care for low income families. Maybe a coordinated federal response so the next time this happens (and there will be a next time) FEMA isn't seizing mask shipments off loading docks in NYC for redistribution. Yes, that happened. My peers and I are going to work so you can stay home. If you still consider that "whining" you have no idea how real this sh#t is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You people who believe the governor or hospitals should have been stocked up are ridiculous. No hospital would ever hold that many supplies “ just in case”. That is what the FEDERAL stockpile is for despite Jarheads take.

This is why we pay taxes, to support the needed states in times of pandemic or natural disasters. You know, FEMA ???

The incompetence is unprecedented! They should have been preparing, verifying supplies and generally being ready. They had the genetic code and at a minimum should have started churning out testing. But no...Instead trump was busy with his rallies and golfing - spending taxpayer money to enjoy himself.

It is hysterical how he keeps on his rant about the us being ripped off from every country - ugh - wise up, HE is ripping off the country and laughing every moment.

+1 absolutely. If he had spent a fraction on maintaining the stockpile, keeping scientists in scientific agencies, keeping the pandemic group etc that he spent on his useless wall...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people who believe the governor or hospitals should have been stocked up are ridiculous. No hospital would ever hold that many supplies “ just in case”. That is what the FEDERAL stockpile is for despite Jarheads take.

This is why we pay taxes, to support the needed states in times of pandemic or natural disasters. You know, FEMA ???

The incompetence is unprecedented! They should have been preparing, verifying supplies and generally being ready. They had the genetic code and at a minimum should have started churning out testing. But no...Instead trump was busy with his rallies and golfing - spending taxpayer money to enjoy himself.

It is hysterical how he keeps on his rant about the us being ripped off from every country - ugh - wise up, HE is ripping off the country and laughing every moment.

+1 absolutely. If he had spent a fraction on maintaining the stockpile, keeping scientists in scientific agencies, keeping the pandemic group etc that he spent on his useless wall...

+2. The purpose of the federal stockpile is to supply the hospitals and everyone who run short. Black and white on the website. Which by the way, trump et al just recently changed the website not to say that anymore.........

We all in the medical field who rely on facts and data all know that it’s been a disaster and sh*t show with Trump et al from the beginning. Totally unprepared and we are where we are directly because of this.