Banished to the Basement?

March 25, 2020
I awoke this morning with that little tickle in the back of the throat.  Did I sniffle? Was there drainage? I am paranoid?  The answer was yes, yes and yes.  After still not being quite sure what my status was, I decided to stay at home and work here.  My partner was good enough to see my one patient in the hospital and I let my office and my wife know.

So what does that mean for my family? This does not help the anxiety level in the house.  I am on call for 10 doctors this weekend and was thinking that this would be the time when I needed to just sleep downstairs and stay away as much as I can.  Given this sore throat, I did it today, bringing down my essentials.  I set up a card table in our bedroom, fired up the lap top and started doing all my telemedicine visits.

Half way through the day I called my mother, who is not happy with me and my siblings.  Due to her age and conditions we told her that she can’t be driving to town and doing her errands.  Unfortunately she does not really understand the scope of this virus and the risks to those in her age group.  I think that I finally was able to assure her that we weren’t picking on her, that everyone in her situation is being told the same thing.  Hopefully, she’ll still talk to me tomorrow.

My wife is a saint to put up with all of this.  It is taking a toll on her.  By the end of the day, I still felt pretty good so I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood.  The sun had come out, people were walking the streets, working in the yard-all at a safe distance. The smaller trees and underbrush had all started to sprout their new leaves almost over night.  I don’t know what the pollen count was but I am sure it was high.  By the time I got home I was convinced that I simply had allergies.

My partners reached out to me and asked how I was doing, I responded: “I am fine. Pretty sure I have seasonal allergic rhinitis compounded by paranoia without psychotic features (yet)!” They all got a kick out of that.  I’ll be back at it tomorrow.  Sometimes it is just good to laugh at yourself.

On a lighter, happier note, my wife’s niece was married today in our church’s temple in Payson, Utah.  We certainly would have loved to have been there but due to the virus, only eight people are being allowed to participate and even then, some areas aren’t allowed to hold the ceremony at all.  They decided to move ahead being married for “time and all eternity.”  I am proud of them for not letting fear of an uncertain future derail their commitment to each other and to God.  When all is said and done, Our Heavenly Father’s only wish is to exalt us and bring us back home.  We may go through trials and times of discouragement, but he won’t banish us to the basement, he will bring us up back home to Him.