From the Counselor’s Couch… When Courage Meets Care

The last couple of years have been both a privilege and they have been difficult. Walking alongside many hurting people dealing with the various effects of the pandemic is something I can’t easily put words to. It’s complex because on some level everyone has been affected. Therapists are no different. Taking in the level of grief, fear, confusion, and the many different perspectives on world events has constantly been an eye-opening experience. It’s been heavy. But, like I said, it's been a privilege.

One thing that has spoken loud and clear in the past two years is the true dedication and heroism of our medical professionals. I am so grateful. I have clients, family and friends who have worked on the front lines, caring for people in a field that exposes them to the same disease they have watched many die from. They are heroes of mine. Here are a few:

** A very dear Nurse, who has worked on a hospital floor right next to a bulging ICU. Her own floor over-crowded with patients and for a time, she had to buy her own protective gear, because the hospitals weren’t able to fully supply. She got sick with covid, ending up in ICU at the very same hospital, this time as a patient. She almost died, and yet despite a lengthy and compromised recovery period she still goes to work every week. Her lesson: “I learned how important the little things are in caring for my own patients. After fighting depression for years, when I almost lost my life, I realized how much others cared and that I still want this life.” She’s my hero.

** The young ICU Nurse who was tough as nails and smart beyond her years. Week after week I watched her come in, sit down and put her face in her hands and shake as she sobbed. She told me story after story of patients that she cared for who died from Covid. Many times this hospital had been understaffed and under-equipped because of nobody’s fault.  

This brave young lady, wept because she had to go in to work; but, she also wept because she couldn’t NOT go in. She wouldn’t give up, despite the exhaustion, fears of catching the disease herself at times when her own protective gear failed. Hero. 

** The nurse who saw a dying man who had no family there to be with him. So she entered his room to share his last minutes here on earth because no one should have to die alone. She wouldn’t leave his side, reassuring him with words she didn’t even know she had. She said Jesus has been her companion. Hero

** There is a hospital worker who works in the offices but there is such a shortage because so many were sick, that 40 hours beyond her normal 40. Hero

** The Physician’s Assistant who caught covid, and couldn’t see her 3 year-old for several weeks because she was so sick. Hero

** The semi-retired doctor, who volunteered to go into a city hit particularly hard by covid and care for others, despite the fact that his own age put him in a higher risk category. Hero

** The doctor who balanced career and motherhood to volunteer additional hours to immunize people because she’d seen so many sick with covid. Hero

** The retired doctor who served as a Chief of Medicine for years at a large hospital returned to serve on a committee helping to oversee hospital protocols in dealing with Covid-19, citywide. Hero.

** ICU worker who cried tears of gratitude for someone who wrote a check for her department to recognize their sacrifices. Heroes

** Hospitals who provided meals to go so that the exhausted staff could go home and have a hot meal after their shift. Heroes.

In difficult times, few things are as powerful as compassion for another. Some of these stories have been heartbreaking, but each one illustrated a person sacrificing above and beyond to care for another. “Intense love does not measure. It just gives.” Mother Teresa. Thank you to all serving in the many facets of the healthcare industry. You deserve to know you make a difference, because you do.  

This can also be found on Transforming Life Counseling Center’s blog at www.tlccok.com”