Day: March 24, 2020

NOW she doesn’t want to use social media?! ( Or, thank you Corona?)

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You know how we are constantly struggling to get our teens off of social media, ever searching for that blissful few seconds of direct eye contact? You know what I mean right? The nagging to put the phones away at the table, the desperate attempts to have conversation in the car, the fitful calls up the stairs to try and get their attention while they have locked themselves in their rooms doing who knows what on Face Time? We have all been there. I know we have. You can admit it. It’s ok.

Guess what?! The tables have turned! Now, we are relying on social media and computers for everything! We have to with this quarantine business. Now they have to be on the computer for homeschooling. They have to use their phone or Face Time to talk to friends, or anyone for that matter because they aren’t allowed to see anybody in person, except for the beloved family members that they live with. Wouldn’t you think that this would be a dream come true for them? Of course, I am not suggesting that being cut off from all of their activities, school, and boyfriends/girlfriends is fantastic or anything. I know that it’s not. I just thought that the endless opportunities for social media interaction without me nagging might soften the blow somehow. Weirdly, I think it has made it worse. In my mind, the unprecedented amount of free classes and online activities sounds like a goldmine of opportunity and I would be taking full advantage of it, plus the enhanced freedom of the current schedule. Just think of the stuff you could fit in that you normally couldn’t! Yeah. That is not how my kids are taking it. They are depressed. They are nesting in their beds more than ever. They are missing their friends. They are missing going to class. They are missing going to competitions. They are missing interacting with people besides me! It’s weird. It’s as if being able to see their friends and do their activities in an unlimited fashion on a screen only is now finally driving the point home of how much better it is to see people and do things in person! I did not see this coming! I have been trying to drive this point home for years! Who knew that I needed a pandemic with a side of home quarantine to finally get this done for me?! It feels weird to say this out loud, but thank you Coronavirus? For this one thing?

Dr. Katz

How’re we doin?

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Hi everybody! Shelter in place day 1. How’re we doin? I am feelin the panic from everyone. I even felt a little creeped out last night when I went for my walk and suddenly my phone was overtaken by a reminder of the executive order…complete with a notice about unnecessary travel being prohibited. It literally gave me the chills for a second, like I was in one of those weird future dystopia movies or something. Then, I shook it off. You know why? Because it is not really any different than what we were supposed to be doing anyway! I know what you’re going to say. Hey! Before we could still get take out and go to the mall, etc. Hey! This is even a bigger crush on small business. Yes. Yes. All that is true. My business is being severely affected too. I can’t do any surgery, unless it’s an absolute emergency. I can’t see any people that are sick who actually need me. They have to go through the ER or stay at home. I can basically only see well patients or OB patients, if I can even get them to come in. I am not immune to this process. The scary flipside is, that I also have to risk exposure to COVID everyday. If a COVID positive OB patient comes in, we still have to figure out how to deliver them safely with the least exposure to the least amount of people and keep their newborns safe as well.

However, if you think about it, we were already supposed to be restricting unnecessary trips and travel. We really should have been following our social distancing, not going to restaurants, not going to the movies, not going to the mall anyway. There was no dire need to get our nails done or go to the tanning salon. These are not basic life needs. Before you get all ruffly, let me explain what I mean about basic life needs. They are things that are life or death dependent. Your life or death does not depend on how brown you are or how good your nails look or if you got that extra candle or how gray your hair is ( Trust me, I am battling that one as we speak). It just doesn’t, if we are being honest. I am of the opinion that if we were truly following instructions in the first place, there would have been no need to issue an executive order. (Having said that, I also get that a politician’s need to appear like they are actively doing something in a crisis may, in fact, supersede the actual need for action.) If we hadn’t panicked and hoarded all paper products, in reaction to a virus whose main symptoms are NOT GI symptoms, except for a small percentage, those of us that have been working like crazy might have had an option to wipe our asses besides the wipe with the left, eat and shake hands with the right method. C’mon people! I am looking at all the fear-mongering, crazy Facebook posts. They are unnecessary. They are not helpful. They are not helping anyone get through this thing.

I took it upon myself to break down the governor’s executive order announcement into a less than five minute summary. I will do the same right now for you. Here are the main bullet points. Stay at home whenever possible. If you have an essential job (defined on the Michigan.gov website), you can go to and from work. Essential businesses are still open. You can go to get gas for your car. You can go to the pharmacy or grocery store. You can still get money. You can still go to the doctor or to the hospital if you need to. You can still go outside. You can still go for a walk. Maintain your social distance of 6 feet at all times. No crowds. Have meetings remotely. All your basic needs can still be met. Amazon is not shutting down like rumors have said.(JK, she didn’t really address that…lol..but it is true.) Don’t panic. Don’t hoard. That is it in nutshell…in two minutes or less. Let’s just all screw our heads back on properly and dig into our common sense reserves and we will get through this together! Have a fantastic day everyone!

Dr. Katz