I ’m a Doctor’s Husband, and I’m Begging You to Keep Medical Workers Like Her Safe

I never imagined needing to have end-of-life conversations with my wife while we were in our thirties. But here was my wife, a doctor board-certified in internal medicine, giving me directives a few days ago as she suited up to head to her New York hospital amid the coronavirus pandemic. “If I’m on a ventilator, I don’t want you to come visit me,” she said stoically. “And do everything you can to keep my parents away, too. I don’t want to infect any of you.” That was the moment it hit me. I was getting a glimpse into what it might feel like for a spouse right before a loved one in the military deploys for active combat. My GI Jane is an empathic and wicked smart physician (she’s from Boston), who was voted by her peers as the one they would want to take care of their own families if they were in the hospital. Like other doctors, she took an oath to take care of her patients—including and perhaps especially during crises like COVID-19. While my wife has the skill to save countless lives, I’m newly worried about her own. As the metaphorical equivalent of an army husband, I’m dutifully staying at home, doing my part, anxious about the battlefield she is entering. I have a plea: Just like you wouldn’t send an American solider into battle without the proper armor, please don’t keep sending my wife into battle without proper protective equipment. With over 46,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S., the...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news