Tales From the Pandemic, 2020- 2021

By Robert C Goldszer MD

Tales From the Pandemic, 2020-2021: Learn, Reflect, & Heal
In this powerful collection of personal stories, "Tales From the Pandemic, 2020-2021" takes you on a journey through the experiences of the author during the most challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. From personal moments with family to professional struggles in the healthcare sector, these true accounts offer a raw and honest portrayal of life during a global crisis.
The author's goal in sharing these stories is to memorialize the lessons learned, with the hope that future generations will handle infectious disease pandemics with more preparedness and compassion. By addressing critical areas such as equitable care, economic impact, children's wellbeing, mental health, and scientific advancements, this book aims to inspire a collective effort towards a better future.
Written from the author's journals, meeting notes, communications, and memories, these poignant stories pay tribute to the resilience and heroism of patients, families, and colleagues alike. The anonymity of individuals is protected through the use of initials, ensuring a candid and authentic narrative.
As you read through these eye-opening accounts and gain insight into the challenges faced by a 650-bed hospital during the pandemic, you'll find a sense of hope, healing, and understanding. Share these stories, learn from the past, and help build a brighter tomorrow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781667898063

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Copyright © 2023 by Robert C Goldszer MD

Tales From the Pandemic, 2020- 2021

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,

or any information storage and retrieval system now known or invented, without permission

in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages

in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

Print ISBN: 978-1-66789-805-6

eBook ISBN: 978-1-66789-806-3

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

February 2020 Warnings from China and Italy

March 2020 United States and Miami Cases

April 2020 More USA and Miami Cases

May 2020 Severe Cases

June 2020 Learning and Teaching

July 2020 High Volumes Continue

August 2020 Sadness

September 2020 Will It End?

October 2020 Fatigue

November 2020 Hope

December 2020 Vaccines

January 2021 Survival

February 2021 Variants

The Future

Introduction

I believe we need to share what happened so the future will be better. We need to learn from history. I am sharing my stories of how I experienced the year 2020 myself, with my family, with my colleagues, with our patients, with our hospital, and with our community. My goals in writing these stories are to share what I thought and felt, what I learned so the experiences will be memorialized in writing with the hope that during the next infectious disease pandemic we will do better.

What does doing better mean? I hope there will be less deaths and disability, there will be more equitable care so all will have access to the best care possible and there will be less negative economic impact. I hope there will be less negative impact on children, more collegiality and less acrimony, and less psychiatric trauma. I hope there will be faster and better science to guide our care and clear communication to clinicians and the community so we can all do better together.

These stories are true. I am not using the names of any individuals and am using only one initial to identify each person. The stories are written from my journals, my meeting notes, my communications, and my memories, good and sad. These stories are to be shared with others so as many as possible will benefit. Telling these stories has helped me recognize the stresses I experienced, the difficulties our patients and their families went through, and reminds me of the heroism, the work, and the support of so many colleagues.

Our hospital has 650 beds available for patients overnight. For the past ten years we have planned for up to 500 patients. In 2019 we usually had 400- 450 people in hospital beds. We let you know this so as you read the story of our community you have a sense of how many patients with COVID infection we had in hospital beds.

February 2020

Warnings from China and Italy

February 2nd, 2020, I went to my second Super bowl in Miami. Kansas City beat San Francisco. My best friend had flown in from Boston the day prior. There had been international meetings in both Boston and Miami. We sat in the sold-out, packed close together, Hard Rock Stadium, with 65,000 other football fans. We drank beer, yelled, hugged, and did high fives with people surrounding us who had travelled from Kansas City and San Francisco who we did