How COVID is impacting my care

COVID has popped in and out of my mind in relation to my care. You know -- masking up, using hand sanitizer, getting curbside pickup for groceries, and just generally taking care of myself to stay healthy. So when the first half of my appointment with my plastic surgeon focused on changing my surgery plans because of COVID I was surprised! 

The hospital I receive my care at is experiencing a high number of COVID patients. Because of that, people on my medical team are being pulled into action to help staff up to deal with the surge. Elective surgeries are being cancelled and recovery rooms are being converted into COVID wards. 

Because of this COVID crush, my surgery is being moved up and shortened - hopefully I will have an operation sometime this week (Jan 11-18). It will be a shorter surgery to avoid potential complications and multiple visits to the hospital for follow up care. By making this change I will be avoiding potential COVID exposures. Even with this shorter surgery my care team will be able to get a pathology report to determine exactly what kind of treatments I need (chemo, radiation, etc.).  Once I am healed I can start receiving any radiation or chemo to move my treatment along. Then later on down the road I will have my other surgeries to complete my treatment. This is such an ever-changing adventure! 

Crazy times we are living in! I hope that my story helps reinforce why we need to wear masks and maintain social distancing protocols. Tim and I have been really good about following protocols - maybe a little overly cautious at times. I didn't think we would be effected by the outbreak beyond the changes to our daily routines that we have all experienced. But now I can honestly say that my health care has been effected and is at risk of being delayed because of the outbreak. My opportunity to have surgery and receive treatment depends on the actions of the entire community around me. 

If anyone asks you if you know someone who was effected, you can tell them my story. If we can humanize this crisis, we can help get beyond the politicization that surrounds masking up. 

Sending you our love!

Nic & Tim




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