So, now my real rant begins as if the above wasn’t enough, I know!
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global emergency due to the virus’ potential catastrophic spread at the end of January 2020. I didn’t know this! I was busy recovering from surgery in a rehab facility.
How was this information NOT scrolling on every single media outlet? How was every medical institution NOT on high-alert? How was I allowed to leave the hospital without specific instructions to stay home? How did we, as a country, allow so many people to suffer and die? How did these large, privately-funded hospitals allow their workers to go unprotected for so long before they had to rely on donations of PPE from large corporations? Don’t even get me started about the whole Tesla fiasco.
Again, I will not discuss politics, but no one can deny politics were absolutely involved.
As a person who has basically lived in and out of hospitals for the last 6 years, my doctors and nurses have become like family. Knowing what the frontline really was and still is here in New York, I’m scared for them. I’m mad. I cry every time I see or read another story about the risks they’re taking, the unbelievable stress they’re under, the guilt they feel because they can’t save their patients, and on and on.
Due to the situation in my hospitals, I’ve avoided an ER visit, pushed back a much-needed CT Scan, an MRI and a follow-up with my neurosurgeon. Special shoutout to my neurosurgeon, who volunteered to work the frontline with other phenomenal, esteemed doctors.
In fact, had it not been for the virus, I would’ve been hospitalized once again in March in the EEG Monitoring Unit due to an increase in my seizures. However, by then the Unit had become a virus unit. Then, shortly afterwards the entire hospital became a virus unit!
I also must sit with the fact that hospitals have certain criteria, a “pecking order” as such, of who is a priority to attend to first. With the lack of ventilators available, hospitals must prioritize which patients get attention and equipment first. I know this because a doctor here in New York literally read one hospital’s list off to her closest friends, one being my closest girlfriend. You can imagine that those with underlying conditions and disabilities are NOT on the priority list. In fact, people who do not have children are less of a priority than those who do.
So, in short – I’m f—ed. I just pray that our Healthcare Superheroes save me if God forbid it comes to that. However, I’ll likely be in my apartment til 2021.
HOW TO HELP
For anyone who believes this pandemic is over, will continue to decline, or it is just “liberal media hysteria”, don’t be fooled. I was kept in the dark at how truly catastrophic this was and would become.
I ask that anyone who can help support the neediest in these terrible times. Below are just a few suggested organizations to donate to:
https://www.feedthefrontlinesnyc.org – By purchasing meals through Feed the Frontlines NYC, you will help sustain New York City through the COVID-19 crisis. We deliver free, nutritious meals prepared by local restaurants to healthcare workers and New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity. With your support, we can revitalize New York City – and its restaurants.
https://www.glwd.org – God’s Love We Deliver is a NYC institution. As God’s Love continues to maximize capacity, including the delivery of non-perishable food items, your donation is critically important. Our clients are at the greatest risk for COVID-19, many being elderly and all living with underlying conditions and severe illness that make them especially susceptible to the coronavirus.
https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org – Meals on Wheels has been guided by a single goal since the first known U.S. delivery by a small group of Philadelphia citizens in 1954 – to support our senior neighbors to extend their independence and health as they age. What started as a compassionate idea has grown into one of the largest and most effective social movements in America, currently helping nearly 2.4 million seniors annually in virtually every community in the country.
To End, A Beautiful Tribute
