COVID Fatigue

Along with a lot of other things, this pandemic has added words and phrases to our every day. I doubt many people understood “pandemic” until Covid. Now it’s “Covid Fatigue.”

In case you haven’t noticed, cases and deaths are blowing up right now.  I heard yesterday that there were more new cases this week than we had in the first three months of the pandemic. That would be March, April, and May when we really didn’t know what to think about this thing and it seemed to be everywhere.

I also heard that deaths are approaching a quarter of a million and that over a million children had contracted the disease. That’s unreal. Those that thought this thing was a hoax or a political maneuver have to admit now that they were wrong.

A healthy 54 year old Maryville native and a friend of mine is fighting for his life in the ICU of an Atlanta hospital. Because of Covid. Small towns that might have been somewhat protected by the isolation of their rural status are now being slammed.

From a sports perspective, There were six forfeits the first week of the football playoffs and four in the second round, including the McMinn County-Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett game which was halted as the teams were warming up for the game. That’s 10 teams that made the playoffs, a dream for many teams, yet couldn’t play.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen to basketball and wrestling. As one of those people tasked with taking care of the health of our young athletes, I find the task daunting if not downright scary.

Let me state for the record that I’m tired of wearing this mask. I’m tired of not seeing my family. I’m tired of not being able to go to restaurants. I’m tired of not shaking hands or hugging.

I’m tired of social distancing. I’m tired of washing my hands every few minutes every time I touch anything or anybody. I’ve never carried around hand sanitizer but now I’m never far from it.

I’m tired of worrying about being a carrier and giving it to one of my patients or someone on my football team but most of all to my wife or one of my grandchildren.

I’m tired of people arguing about personal liberties and government mandates. I’m tired of people getting sick. I’m especially tired of people dying.

Covid fatigue? Oh yeah. For sure. It’s real for me.

But you know what? I’m going to wear that dadgum mask. I’m going to bump elbows instead of shake hands. I’m going to step away several feet during every conversation. I’m going to sanitize my hands after every encounter with anything.

I’m going to continue to do takeout from restaurants and tip generously. I’m going to trust that those preparing the food are observing all those same precautions and if I suspect differently, I won’t be back.

I’m going to continue to travel in separate vehicles from my buddy to go mountain biking because he is even older than me and is concerned about exposure.

I will continue to see my patients and take care of my football players like they are my own child but I will keep my distance from them when I can. And I’m going to continue to keep after them to maintain social distancing and wear their masks. Even though they think I’m just a silly old man.

A vaccine just around the corner? Sure. Maybe. But I don’t think we can wait to do the right thing. All the time. Because I don’t want to get it and I don’t want you to either.

My Knee: A year later

It’s been almost a year since my knee replacement. To say that it has been an eventful year is clearly an understatement. Covid, elections, riots…the list is long and profound.

But the year for my knee has been all good. It doesn’t hurt. It works pretty darn well. I take no medicines for it. And I can run for short distances.

I wrote a couple of columns about the surgery and rehab. Dr. Justin Jones of OrthoTennessee-Maryville did the surgery on December 11^th of 2019. He had warned me that it was a painful surgery, given the severity of the degenerative changes. He was right.

I gave him a piece-of-garbage knee to work with but he did a great job. The surgery, which actually takes less than an hour, went about twice that for me.

To put the first few days in a nutshell, when they tell you to “stay ahead of the pain,” they know what they’re talking about. I thought I was pretty tough but that surgery knocked me down a notch or two.

Take your medicine. My surgery was on Wednesday and I took my last pain pill Sunday night. That’s probably about average and you’re not going to get hooked on anything in that short of time.

Rehab was started immediately--I was doing exercises in my hospital bed the night of the surgery. Getting full extension of your knee after surgery is hugely important and I was determined to do that.

Ice, controlling the swelling, and moving are all essential to good outcomes. I must have walked 10 miles around my living room in the first few days.

Under the direction of my colleague Candy Martin, PTA, I began formal rehab on the next Monday. I was scheduled to start on Friday but I wimped out. I know it is the business I’m in but the rehab is absolutely essential. You’ve got to put in the work to get a good knee.

I did lots of extra work. Such is the benefit of having a key to the door and knowing what I was doing. Daily rehab. Several hours on the weekends.

Six weeks later, I was back on the road bike. I did River Road (flat, safe) with my daughter, who insisted on going because, well, she wasn’t real sure I should be out there. She soon found out I was fine.

Nine weeks post-op, I ventured out on my mountain bike with my buddy and bike sensei Steve Bright. I wasn’t really sure of it myself. But when my bike slid down and I came down hard on that knee and nothing happened, I knew it would be fine.

I actually let out a little whoop, which worried Steve but it was a whoop of joy, not from pain. From that point on, I have not let up. A couple of months ago, I started taking Tuesdays off and most of those are spent mountain biking with my buddy Ken Bell.  We’ve been visiting different mountain bike areas and riding hard.

We’re really like a couple of kids out there—biking on sweet single track will do that for you. Just imagine the most fun you’ve had on a bicycle and that’s what a couple of hours at Bakers Preserve will do for you.

So, as I approach my one year anniversary, I have several things to be thankful for. I’m thankful for a good surgeon. I’m thankful for good physical therapy. I’m thankful for the technology that allows me to live life fully. I’m thankful for a new knee.

As I said not too long after that surgery, if you are postponing joint replacement surgery for whatever reason, consider going ahead and getting it done. If your knee or hip are holding you back from doing what you want to do, get them fixed. It’s not exactly easy but you won’t regret it.

 It’s getting colder outside, forcing people inside a bit more. I’ve got several thoughts on this.

First, adapt and head outside anyway. I think you’ll find it to be quite pleasant if you dress properly and move once you get out there.

Some people think (some know) that I’m pretty crazy for riding a bicycle through the winter. I’m here to tell you that it really isn’t that bad at all. This week, it was certainly colder but by dressing properly, bicycling was actually incredible this week.

Mountain biking at Dirty South in Knoxville on Tuesday, gravel bike on Wednesday, road bike on Thursday—all were absolutely wonderful. Sure, it’s a bit cold when you start but after you get warmed up, it was perfect.

I know that people see runners out there in shorts and maybe a long sleeve t-shirt with gloves and a toboggan and think that they must be insane. But by generating some body heat through exercise, I’m sure they are quite comfortable.

Same thing for hikers. Layers are the key. And take items in your backpack that will accommodate changes in weather.

Take the kids to the park. Once there and moving, they will be fine. If you just stand there and watch them, you might get cold but that’s what jackets and scarves are made for. Take the short hike up to the tower at Look Rock.

In colder weather, the air is cleaner and crisper. The trees losing their leaves just means that the views are even more vast and spectacular. There may not be a better time to head for the Smokies than in the middle of winter.

Second, it’s more important to follow Covid precautions as you spend more time indoors.

There is no doubt that more time inside and more people in closer quarters makes social distancing more difficult. We also know that colder weather brings on the cold and flu season.

Hospitals in colder climates are already seeing a huge upsurge in Covid cases. Denver hospitals are full. It just makes sense.

I’m not going to argue the whole mask thing. Science has told us that masks work and Common Sense tells me that the mask doesn’t have to be impervious to help. Any barrier will reduce the distance that the droplets will travel.

I know for sure that wearing a mask keeps my fingers out of my mouth. I had no idea how bad I was until I started wearing a mask.

Right now, it seems that fewer folks are wearing masks than did earlier in the summer. That’s disappointing. Masks are more important now than they were then.

I’ve bene at sporting events where masks were few and far between. I heard one complaint that a person wasn’t going back into such and such store because they enforced the mask rule. Uh folks, it’s the law. Don’t punish a business for trying to follow the law and protect your health.

And one last thing—stay in contact with older folks. The longer nights and colder weather also lead to seasonal stress disorder, depression, and a more sedentary lifestyle. Visits are probably still a bad idea.

Help them by encouraging them and by assisting them in being more active.