Wow…what should I do?
I am a doctor on the Covid-19 Floor at the hospital. A volunteer Facebook group started an organization, RVs 4 MDs. The organization lends RVs, to people, like myself,, in the medical field. We live in the RVs until this crisis is over. The RV is parked either in the front or in the back of the house. We just had a baby. She has asthma. We have a seven-year-old son. I can see them but I can’t come near them because I could infect them. My son doesn’t understand. Some of my colleagues moved into a hotel. Should I move into a hotel or stay in the RV. I’m so tired. What should I do? This is breaking my heart.
Dear “Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?”
First, thank you for your faithful and courageous service to care for those struggling with the “normal” medical needs, and this very dangerous and invasive virus! I also have great respect and appreciation for those providing the RVs for you and others in the medical field. It’s a wonderful way to support those of you at the front lines. And I congratulate you and your wife on the birth of your baby! A wonderful blessing. Obviously, you want to be with your wife and children. You want to connect with them. Love on them. Reassure them in this unsettled and anxious “Coronavirus Culture”. That makes perfect sense. You said, “I see them but I can’t come near them because I could infect them.” I certainly appreciate and applaud your concern for your family. Unfortunately, the hard reality is that that’s true. Your work as a physician, particularly on the Covid-19 Floor is honorable. It’s noble. It’s worthy of great respect. And it’s also very dangerous, for you…and potentially for your family. You cognitively know this to be true, but it’s a fierce, continual struggle for you. Frustrating, even agonizing. Your seven-year-old son would seem to be too young to cognitively understand and appreciate this struggle. “Why can’t Daddy come in the house?” “Why can’t we hug, play, eat, laugh, and do all the other things that families do?” He doesn’t fully understand. “Daddy is so close, but not close enough.” Your proximity is plaguing you. So near, but so far. This close proximity seems potentially more frustrating and upsetting than to be a greater distance apart…at least for now. Is it possible that some greater space between you and your family may be less upsetting, again, at least for now? It may be that the hotel with your colleagues could be a better strategy, at least during this “peak season” of the Coronavirus experience. Could it be that your allowing for some further, spatial distance might be a better plan, while still planning some more strategic connecting with your family between your work hours? You and your wife could potentially plan brief, limited visits from a distance at the window, or in the front yard? And possibly plan specific times for connecting through virtual platforms, like Zoom, or others? You could use these “Family Zoom Visits” as times to share stories about the day, laugh, cry, spend time listening to your son, and each other, talking about your thoughts and feelings regarding what’s happening, and why it seems best for now to practice some further distance. All this can be done while you’re at the hotel, in the same town/city, still reasonably close, but minimizing some of the agony of being “in sight, but out of reach”. It seems potentially advantageous for you and your wife to declare this period of “Coronavirus Season” to be one of “professional distancing”. Although it undoubtedly feels counterintuitive, your “distancing” from your family is certainly the loving thing, not exposing them to yourself, your clothes, and any other aspects of your Coronavirus contact. It’s only for a season. Yes, a very difficult and upsetting one, but for a limited season. God has often given guidance to do the loving thing, even when it doesn’t “feel good” or “feel right”. This is certainly one more honorable step of service and sacrifice on your part, for the good of those around you. And this seems to be in the spirit of the Ultimate Servant (John 13:1-17, 15:13). God is faithful and will carry you through this difficult time. Again, thank you for your noble, courageous, and sacrificial work, caring for your patients, and protecting your family.
Gary Cochran, MA, LPC-S
WOW…Works Of Wonder..The Single Christians Experience. We are a 501(c)3 charitable organization. We exist to glorify God. WOW fellowships with like-minded individuals who are thirty-five years of age and older. WOW performs community service throughout the Dallas Fort Worth TX Metroplex.
Contact us at (469) 844-0452
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
