Haven’t had a good night’s sleep the entire week. Either my patients would get admitted in the middle of the night, or patients who were already admitted would deteriorate or be in pain. Some of the specialists decided to go on leave for one reason or another, which was particularly impactful in very small hospitals. As a result I had to dredge up whatever knowledge I possess in the management of diseases I’m not particularly an expert in. As always, thankful for friends who are always ready to answer my queries. And of course, UpToDate.

None of these cases are COVID-related, but they inevitably became collateral damage to the surge of patients and the high demand for hospital space. Additional financial burden too, as my patients with lung cancer or breast cancer metastatic to the lungs find themselves in that strange position of having to prove that their cough and dyspnea are from the cancer, and not from COVID.

For about two seconds we would applaud whenever the recorded new cases for the day are a bit lower. Then we would realize that there are disclaimers, like a bunch of laboratories not being able to submit their results leading to false drop in new cases. I don’t usually eat a lot, but the past few days I’ve been gorging on chips and other unhealthy stuff out of stress and a sense of impending mortality. I recently discovered Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream. It was salty. It was calorrific. It was fantastic. I consumed the whole motherfucking bag in four days.

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