These wise words were shared with me by Dr. Terry Ribbens, a local physician doing all he can to help people during this pandemic. Let’s be sure to do all we can to reduce the spread of the virus and thank all our health care workers for their hard work and persistence.
Dr. Terry Ribbens
“Despair – This past winter was emotionally taxing as I cared for many patients whose lives were forever changed by COVID-19 that has ravished our city, state, country and world. At its peak late last year, each clinic day would contain at least one impacted patient and family. I think of the healthy vibrant rancher in his early 50’s who developed shortness of breath that was found to be due to a heart attack from COVID-19. There were no plaques in his coronary arteries that would have led to a heart attack apart from his blood clotting and blocking his heart artery from a COVID-19 infection.
Distress – On the Monday of Christmas week, my morning greeting to my first patient of the day was met with her tearing eyes as she shared with me that her mother died from COVID-19 the evening before. The illness had overtaken her in a few days. The following day I saw a patient who was still fighting fatigue and shortness of breath from COVID-19 pneumonia since the week prior to Thanksgiving. He was unable to return fully to his work in construction – he was feeling the financial burden to care for his family. The stress of this pandemic has increased the number and the depth of people suffering from mental health issues, including addiction. We do not have the resources in place for all to receive the treatment and support they need to fight these illnesses worsened by the pandemic. Unfortunately, I fear we have not fully appreciated or understood the toll this has taken on our communities.
Hope – This afternoon I had the opportunity to come together with other healthcare colleagues to vaccinate fellow Idahoans. I shared hope and gratitude with a variety of community members as I administered the nearly painless COVID vaccine to them. Teachers, firefighters, therapists, grandmas, grandpas, dental hygienists were just a few who thanked us over and over for having the privilege of receiving the product of fast modern science ingenuity applied to help us combat this pandemic, one Idahoan at a time, toward adequate community immunity.
Resilience – 2021 has started on a more upbeat note than 2020 ended – we are not losing as badly as we were. We are enjoying an ebb in the COVID-19 illness activity in Idaho allowing us to spend time and energy organizing vaccination clinics in the communities we serve. There are frustrations with trying to find a vaccine due to limited supply, but we seem to be gaining momentum in getting ahead of this pandemic. Earlier this month I listened to a restaurant owner who shared how hard COVID-19 shutdowns impacted his business, but he understood the need for the precautions. He was thankful that the community continued to support his restaurant in the different offerings he was able to provide. He was looking forward to seeing our city sidewalks bustling again with family and friends together enjoying good food in full restaurants. I think we all yearn for some return toward life pre-COVID: children learning in school, members filling houses of worship and neighbors spending time in each other’s homes. We have all been touched and changed by COVID-19, each with a story and perspective to share. I look forward to seeing resilience being applied as we start the hard work of reopening, rebuilding, reconciling and addressing all that COVID-19 caused, amplified and exposed. Our choices in the coming months will determine what our new normal looks like; we need to avoid focusing on near-term gratification and do the hard work of restoration and preparing for future threats. We will have the opportunity to act as “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”