Fighting COVID-19 and reassessing my priorities

像我的大多数同事一样, 3月初，随着对COVID-19的了解越来越多，我开始逐渐减少行医，看病的人也越来越少. 此后不久, 随着各政府机构开始发布临时住所(SIP)命令，并对选择性程序实施禁令，大流行的全面影响成为一个严峻的现实. 这些命令在旧金山实施的时间比美国大部分地区稍早一些.

At the start of sheltering in place, 我做了更多的工作，并制定计划来完成许多我一直想做的项目. 尽管我对整个新冠疫情的不确定性感到恼火, I also know that the future is always uncertain.

About five days after not seeing any patients, I began feeling tired. I'm normally a very energetic person, so I attributed the exhaustion to simply working out too much, 也可能是由于盯着电脑屏幕做一些不用动手术或看病人就能做的工作而引起的全身不适. I resolved to exercise less and sleep more.

The fatigue, however, worsened quickly. 又过了两天, I was averaging 14 hours of sleep each night, 失去了食欲, and experienced difficulty eating or drinking anything. 我做了一些生命体征检查, 也没有发烧, 没有发冷, 没有呼吸短促, 没有胃肠道症状也没有呼吸问题只是严重疲劳可能还有轻度脱水. 我以为是重感冒，决定多喝水和补充电解质.

The next day, I lost my sense of smell and taste. At this point, I was in the first stage of Kubler-Ross denial. 我集中精力补充水分，并继续监测我所有的生命体征，尤其是呼吸.

After another day, I woke up tired after sleeping about 12 hours. I knew I had to go to the hospital. I had no fever and no problems breathing, but I simply could not stay awake to drink enough water, and I had no appetite for any food or water, especially since everything tasted bland.

住院治疗

在医院里，我很难保持清醒，走路也很累. 在我登记入住后，E.R. 工作人员拿走了我的生命体征, 它们仍然是相当正常的，没有发烧，室内空气饱和度达到97%. They did some blood tests and a chest X-ray.

我的E.R. 30分钟后主治医生来了，确认我感染了COVID-19. 我的胸部x光片显示，我的肺部出现了诊断性的COVID-19“磨玻璃”外观. She did a thorough pulmonary exam, and other than some slightly abnormal sounds at my lung bases, my results were fairly normal. 然后他们对我进行了正式的鼻拭子COVID-19测试，并让我住院.

作为一个病人, I vowed not to be a micromanager physician in the wrong specialty, 我吸收了医院医生和传染病专家告诉我的. 我的治疗方案包括羟氯喹、阿奇霉素、锌和水合.

Patients often can't sleep in hospitals. 我被隔离了, and despite the fact that every person entering my room needed PPE, 每三个小时左右，我就会被护士或医生鞭笞，或与他们交谈一次. 我觉得很累，但也很安全. I was grateful to be monitored in a hospital setting.

The first day in the hospital was the worst, because I started to feel short of breath with even simple movement. 躺在床上很好, 但是在我的房间里走来走去, my pulse oximeter revealed saturation levels in the upper 80s. I was approaching the second stage of Kubler-Ross grief progression, 虽然对我来说, it was more annoyance than actual anger.

The medical and nursing staff that helped me was fantastic. 医生们对他们的想法和治疗计划非常开放，护士们也很鼓励.

I started feeling better my second day in the hospital, and my saturation stayed in the lower 90's with activity and effort. 我还能补充食物和水，这样我就不会那么脱水了. 第三天我出院了，医生要求我作为门诊病人继续用药.

复苏

回到家后，我又回到了一种否认的状态，试图回到我的正常生活. 我试着走路来锻炼身体, 这导致我在跑步机上走了45-60分钟后需要小睡一会儿. Nevertheless, I vowed to walk more and slowly rebuild my strength. I still had no smell or taste, so I had to force myself to eat. Drinking water was also a chore. I required a lot of fluid to keep myself hydrated once I was at home.

在家呆了一个星期后, I resumed normal sleep patterns, and two weeks after being discharged, 我终于感觉正常了. The CDC suggests two weeks of quarantine after developing symptoms. 为了安全起见，我决定出院后再隔离两周.

在撰写本文时, it has been nearly four weeks since I left the hospital, and some normalcy is returning. I have about 75 percent of my sense of taste back, 所以我知道我最终会摆脱最后一种让我想起COVID-19的身体疾病.

I am focusing on work projects again, maintaining my professional social media accounts, reconnecting on video with my 朋友 and family, and eliminating negativity in my life.

在家休养期间，我联系了一些人，了解了感染新冠病毒和康复的情况. 有些人马上就问我是怎么染上的，是不是因为我最近参加了一个整形手术会议. Two people accused me of giving COVID-19 to them, 尽管我在感染病毒的早期被完全隔离了. 显然，在这段时间里，有很多关于未知的消极和恐惧.

当我回到家里康复后，我开始告诉我的密友和亲人我的经历, the response was much more positive, 经常检查我的健康状况，并多次提供我可能需要的任何帮助.

我对帮助我康复的医院工作人员感激不尽. I am fortunate – I have 健康 insurance, 我去了一家很棒的新医院，那里有最先进的现代技术和卫生设施, and my nurses were phenomenal.

我不害怕生病或住院，甚至不害怕围绕COVID-19的不确定性. I am a Christian, so I put my life in God's hands many years ago. I try hard to focus on what I can control. 好的经历可能来自于不好的经历，而事情已经看起来更积极了.

长期的思想

不确定性对大多数人(如果有人的话)都不好受，COVID-19不断出现新的症状和表现. For a disease that took root in December 2019, we have made tremendous scientific strides in the few months since, 但与其他疾病相比，十大网赌排行榜对它知之甚少.

When will we be able to gather in large groups again? Will we develop herd immunity? How many people have antibodies to COVID-19? Will my antibodies make me immune? 你免疫多久了? We don't know all of the presenting symptoms, the optimal treatment – or vaccine – and, 在撰写本文时, 加州还在接受SIP的命令，十大网赌排行榜不知道什么时候可以做选择性的美容整形手术.

从COVID-19中恢复后，我把注意力放在了重要的事情上——我的家庭, 朋友, 健康, 当然, 我真正喜欢的整形手术项目和程序. I never took many things in life for granted, 但我有一些盲点, and you probably do as well. 当我失去嗅觉和味觉时，我不应该否认自己得了COVID-19. 幸运的是, I exercise regularly and am in excellent 健康, so the potential complications from taking hydroxychloroquine, 如心律变化和Q-T间隔延长, 从没想到过.

如果你努力在生活中有一个良好的基础——保持良好的健康, 金融安全, 与家人和朋友保持稳定的关系——这能让你更容易应对生活中出现的意外. As aggravating as my bout with the coronavirus was, I did lose 20 pounds in two weeks, so I have a head start on my beach body for the summer.

我很感激我有可能把我的血清给另一个与COVID-19战斗的患者, 出院后我在当地的红十字会登记，这样我就可以进入他们的系统. 我不会纠结于COVID-19的经历，生活还要继续，能活着我感到很幸运. 每一天都是一次新的冒险，我不仅对自己的健康心怀感激, but to be able to practice in the profession that I love. 当十大网赌排行榜无法控制一种情况时，十大网赌排行榜只能控制自己对这种情况的反应. 保持积极的态度.