A Taste of Normalcy

I've blogged recently about our approach to "common sense" COVID policies and feelings given the state and length of the pandemic in this country as well as the current science (the NYT Daily podcast today with Dr. Fauci was pretty maddening: [Michael Barbaro: "So you're saying that the vaccinated (and boosted, as well as kids) should still have to be extremely cautious, to protect the unvaccinated and uncautious (and likely inconvincible), who resent the caution in the first place?"]. If I were a childless adult with my current age and health, I don't think I'd be modifying  my activities, travel, or my day-to-day behavior much (I'd wear a mask without complaint if that was the law). Nevertheless, here we are with still one unvaccinated kid and CDC guidelines still recommending home isolation for even the mildest (/asymptomatic) COVID, while trying to go on with semi-"normal" lives. 

My friend Kellie asked if we wanted to celebrate Lunar New Year (which starts tomorrow) with her family in a small way this past weekend. I had to run it by Kelvin but he agreed that having them and their (similarly aged) kids over for lunch in our back deck was something we felt comfortable doing now (which is much different than six months or a year ago; we have been sooo socially cautious due to our kids that contemplating something like this felt like a jump for us! Kellie is also one of the safest, most responsible people I know). Despite somehow not taking any photos (Kelvin took the fruit pic above), we had a lovely time. Kellie and Mark brought cucumber salad, tangerines, and almond cookies, and we made noodles, meatballs, Vietnamese banh me chicken bowls with pickled veggies, and we chatted as the kids ran around and played in backyard, and even inside some (in Iver's fort area, and in the living room, where Ada and Niall had a blast with all of the toys in our living room).  It struck me as sad that something so normal, a Saturday afternoon playdate with two families and good friends, felt like such a treat and a gift.  However, I am trying to just appreciate it after its absence for so long.

Shannon, the director of our kids' trusty childcare and a good friend, has also been organizing some informal pick-up soccer games at one the parks in our local town on Sundays, and Iver has loved joining in (despite us not being a soccer family). The littler kids played at the nearby playground while the bigger kids (and adults, including Kelvin), played soccer in the nearby field.   The recent weather has been perfect for these outdoor games.

Niall and his bud Dylan (who attends his same preschool)

Seeing the kids (without masks) run, jump, and shout with joy at being able to be with their friends "like normal," on a weekend is just wonderful (“like there isn’t even a pandemic,” remarked one parent). While I know we are not out of the woods yet and we're still COVID-susceptible, it feels like we are getting closer to "normalcy" (or at least we're so fatigued that we've stopped caring about "testing positive” as it seems to be an uphill losing battle and we’re sort of surrendering). It feels (tastes) so good.

It's not over 'til it's over

Wow, what a week in sports.   

An avid sports fan, I admit that I've been a bit lukewarm about watching televised sports that aren't tennis (or the Olympics) since the pandemic hit. When the NBA shut down early in the pandemic, I never really re-started watching the Golden State Warriors (who, despite their former glory, are now pretty mediocre). While I enjoy watching football, the 49ers haven't come through for us in recent years (despite being close), so I don't really have a great "team" to root for, and the NFL is problematic for more reasons than one. There's also just "getting by day by day" that makes sports seem kind of frivolous and unimportant in our current times. Nevertheless, I must say that this week in sports has been well worth tuning into and very intense (and a welcome distraction from thinking about COVID, or rather thinking about trying to avoid COVID, all the time).

Between Australian Open Tennis and the NFL Playoffs (which Kelvin really enjoys), there has been a lot of screaming, yelling, and cheering at our living room TV in the last week.

I didn't tune into the 49ers-Packers game last weekend until the fourth quarter, which ended dramatically with a blocked punt and come-from behind win in a low-scoring game. The kids found Kelvin's celebratory leg-pumping (which I called leg-thrusting) and "WHOOO!"s hilarious.

And then came the end of the Bills-Chiefs AFC divisional playoff game also on January 23rd, which was perhaps the craziest finish I have ever seen in a football game-- ever. I don't care about either of the teams and didn't have any emotional investment in the outcome (however, I found myself rooting for the underdog Bills). With three lead changes and 25 points scored in the last two minutes of regulation, the score was tied; however, Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes (whose team won the coin toss) led his team to another touchdown quickly on his drive overtime, to end the game at 42-36.  Stunner (and after the finish, I was really glad I am not a Bills fan!").

Today, although I was not watching, the Cincinnati Bengals came from behind to stun the Chiefs in Overtime, and the Niners choked away their lead to lose to the LA rams in the NFC Championship game. The lesson?  Always watch the last two minutes of any football game-- you never know what will happen!

I'm a huge tennis fan and found this year's Australian Open really enjoyable to watch, despite the drama surrounding Novak Djokovic's deportation due to his refusal to be COVID-vaccinated. There was amazing, high-quality tennis on both the men's and women's side (Ash Barty, a native Australian, won the women's trophy for her home country, ending a 44- year drought, and the wildcard Aussie team of Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrios took home an unlikely men's doubles trophy). 

Rafael Nadal, 20-time Grand Slam winner who is vying for the title of the "GOAT" (Greatest of All Time) on the men's side, made it to the Championship match. As there are so many Rafa fans out there (my husband being one of them), it's hard for me to describe why I dislike his game and watching him play but I cannot bring myself to root for him.   I didn't watch his final vs. Daniil Medvedev (the "skinny villain" who spoiled Djokovic's chance at winning #21 at the U.S. Open last year by winning the title handily in three sets) live, as it started at 12:30 a.m. PST.  However, I saw the score in the morning-- Rafa having come back from two sets to love to win it in five-- and found it both incredibly frustrating, and unbelievable, that he was able to come back and with the title (thirteen years after his last title Down Under).  He, at age 35 and a decade older than his opponent, was seeded lower and was not the on-paper favorite; before the match, the win predictor rated his chances of winning at 36%, with this dropping to 4% after he lost the first two sets. However, in tennis, with no time clock, even the most unlikely of comebacks are possible, with a gritty player like Rafa, who plays hard until the last ball, on the court (and the unilateral support of a raucous crowd). It's never over until it's over. (At least it was less painful for me to watch the "instant classic" match on replay as, since I knew the outcome, I wasn't as tension-filled and devastated at Medvedev at having let the title slip away. -Fed Fan Forever).

The Beijing Winter Olympics start on February 4th. While I much prefer the events of the Summer Games, we will surely have a lot more exciting sports watching and dramatic stories in our near future in this sports-loving house. 

Summer-Winter Day

 

On Saturday, it was positively balmy here on the north coast (I think it hit 78 degrees in our town). Our summer weather rarely hits higher than 65 degrees, and winter is a bit cooler. The day was an outlier-- it's back to a high of 50's- 60 today. However, we took advantage of the warmth in the afternoon to go to Luffenholtz Beach, one of our favorites, where we actually saw people sunbathing in bikinis and even ocean swimming! 

While Iver went shirtless…

... Niall and I kept our fleeces on! 

A fluke? Climate change? Nevertheless, after so much time at home as well as indoors during a pandemic, we relished the sun's smile on our faces and our little bit of winter-summer (a very “Junuary” day, as my friend Karen called it).

NoVax DjoCovid

Novak Djokovic, world No. 1 and one of the greatest tennis players of all time and who is vying for the men's record for the most Major tournaments won, won't earn his twenty-first title in Melbourne this year. The controversy last week about Australia allowing Djokovic into the country prior to the tournament start on a "medical exemption" (because he refuses to be COVID-vaccinated) was all over the news and social media. 

I happen to like watching Djokovic play tennis (live and on TV), and have rooted for him in past tournaments (definitely against Rafa Nadal; when he plays Federer, I root for Federer). He has a strong all-court game, incredible fitness, and mental toughness.  I have respected him as an athlete.

However, in recent years, his attitude (striking a ball in anger, which hit a ball person, leading to defaulting in the U.S. Open in 2020), arrogance, and now obstinate anti-vaccination views have forever tainted his legacy, in my opinion (and that of many other avid tennis fans).  My sister has aptly named him "NoVax DjoCovid.”

I am pro-vaccine mandates for participation in public events and in places of employment. Almost no one in my medical opinion should be exempt from COVID vaccination, as the risks of being unvaccinated to an individual, workplace, health care system, and society far outweigh any theoretical risks of a free, safe, and effective vaccine that would make it medically contraindicated (I know of one patient who reported an anaphylactic reaction to her first Moderna, which would qualify), even if one has supposedly "been infected" before (which apparently Djokovic has, twice, although it’s hard to know for sure about the second instance. My patient also currently has COVID). A country and a tournament, like the Olympics, have the total right to set their rules to allow only vaccinated athletes to participate, without special celebrity exceptions, even for the King of the Hard Court. Athletes are free to choose to play by the rules or to not participate (/not travel). While I agree that the Australian state of Victoria and the national government surely could have coordinated and communicated better, making it clear they'd refuse to honor Djokovic's "medical" exemption from being COVID vaccinated before he ever boarded a plane headed Down Under, I fully support their ultimate decision (after his appeal) to cancel his Visa to enter their borders and country (as they do for all other unvaccinated people, consistent with their policy and some of the tightest COVID restrictions in the world during the pandemic as well as a very strict immigration policy in general).

To me, it's mind-blowing that someone could be so obstinately anti-vaccine to potentially give up a Grand Slam trophy and an all-time tennis record (having won the tournament a record nine times and top seeded, he was the heavy favorite). However, "personal liberty" and individual choices have consequences.  I wonder how the rest of his career unfolds from here (or if he just grits his teeth and gets vaxxed).

The controversy has created some great memes, mostly shared by my cousin, Parthan.

I'm excited to see who brings home the men's trophy this year in the void left by Djokovic's absence. He will be a vaccinated, reasonable human being and a deserving champion (The women’s champion will also be deserving, immune, and who will have not caused any hysterics or drama taking away from enjoyment of the sport of tennis).

Dropping like flies: tough times in health care

 

Last week, one of the doctors who has been on maternity leave from our OB practice for four months, who was supposed to come back this week, informed us that, due to Omicron and exposure risks, she did not feel comfortable returning and postponed her return date until a few more weeks from now.  I support maternity leave fully and do think we could do much better for mothers (and fathers) in our country with leave (although California is quite generous with family leave).  However, I don't support people deciding, last minute, that a small group of OB providers who have been working tirelessly up to twice weekly for months on end and hanging on until her return (with one person retiring from birth work last week as planned in anticipation of the return), should have to scramble, rearranging our own lives and clinic schedules to do more work because of her anxiety and irrational low risk tolerance when it comes to occupational COVID exposure in a world with milder disease severity, vaccinations, and adequate PPE. I am actually shocked that, with two unvaccinated kids (until Iver recently got his two shots), we have not had COVID take down our family despite being at this for almost two years (maybe God knew that, due to short OB provider staffing, He better keep our family COVID-free lest there be no one to deliver babies here). I am sick of taking twice-weekly overnight call as my own emotional state and family have suffered, and tired of having my own boundaries infringed upon by others’ when we don’t have other human options. We'll see if she comes back or postpones her return further. As now the lead clinician for our prenatal clinic, it will be my problem to solve. 

Another colleague put in her notice at our FP clinic with her last day three months away with the other doctor retiring in March. That will leave me as the only doctor at my clinic site, among several APCs (NPs and PAs).  I hope we'll see another physician join us soon, but people are burned out, especially in primary care. We’re tired of trying to prevent disease when patients often don’t seem to listen, or care. 

Today. I had a patient (COVID-unvaccinated, by the way) spend a good portion of his office visit (until I tried to tactfully cut him off) complaining to me about how our broken health care system and preoccupation with COVID has prevented him from getting outpatient imaging and call-backs in a timely manner from the hospital. I could only shake my head and try to empathize with how frustrating it is to be a patient in a low-resource area with staffing challenges that are only getting worse, during a pandemic. However, I simultaneously wondered, "Does he have any idea what it's like to be an overworked doctor in primary care trying to care of increasingly sick patients who disregard our advice, with fewer staff members and less support, amidst a COVID surge?” (Note: He still refused the vaccine).

These are certainly tough times to be a health care worker.

I may be the next one to put in my notice, or to not show up to work next week...

Boys on the Town

(Elk en route to Del Norte County)

I had a moderately busy call weekend this past weekend. Kelvin took the kids to a few favorite local spots while I was working. We are of the opinion that it's okay to go out and do outdoorsy (or masked) things, even in light of Omicron. Life must go on and kids need fun kids to do outside of the house. 

Cafe Mokka Finnish Hot Tubs in Arcata

Park time!

(new birthday bike)

Kelvin tried to convince me that this was a "naked mole rat" they saw in a field.

On Tuesday, Kelvin took Iver to a Harlem Globetrotters event at HSU arena, along with friends Shannon/Brian (and buddy Hudson).  Many of our friends from work were also there with their kids!

 

Iver even came away with a prized ball! 

It was a "school night" but this was such a fun event for him (Niall was a bit bummed at not going; maybe next time), especially alongside friends. I'm loving feeling like "regular life" and activities are going on (even with masks). 

Manila Mini Golf

Iver was invited to a classmate/friend's seventh birthday party last week, which was held at the only mini-golf place in Humboldt County, Lighthouse Plaza Miniature Golf in Manila.  He was new to the game but had a blast, and we returned on Sunday afternoon for some family golf (our friend Courtney and her daughter, Evelyn, also joined us for a bit).  It's probably been eleven or more years since I played any mini-golf (I recall going somewhere in Sacramento during residency), and, while we'd seen this place driving to the dunes, we'd never been there as a family! 

Kelvin, Iver and I took it pretty seriously...

... while Niall was a complete imp, stealing balls and blocking the holes while we tried to putt! 

He did enjoy climbing on the various structures, like the bat boat, bear house, and more. 

While the course could use a touch-up (I think the sea air and fog isn't great for the integrity of the structures) and we had to avoid one hole because of dog poop smeared around the middle of it, it was a relatively (had we been able to successfully keep Niall off the greens) fun place to pass an hour and a half.  Kelvin was the winner, with 47 strokes for the course (I came in close at 48), and the ever-competitive Iver is determined to beat his score next time!

Superheroes

The kids in this house are obsessed with superheroes!  Niall has expanded his superhero love beyond Spiderman to include Batman and Superman. His current favorite book, which he's asked to read over and over after we borrowed it from the library, is a DC Superheroes Storybook Collection. While Kelvin sometimes watches the adult superhero movies when they come out, I admit that this is an area in which I have nearly no knowledge or interest. 

Iver has taken to drawing some of the superheroes (and villains), which is impressive, as always!

Joker & Batman

I've been pretty busy on call this weekend but the kids have been enjoying the sunny weather, outdoor time (just avoiding the beach during the Tsunami warning on Saturday), and a three-day weekend thanks to this hero. 

May we all celebrate great heroes in our life daily! 

Annual fill-up

There has never been a better time to have an electric (well, hybrid) car. I drive my Honda Clarity to/from clinic and the hospital using the charge, and only fill gas about once per year (usually in January), just to ensure that the tank is cleared out. It takes me several weeks of around-town driving to burn the existing gas in the car (which I start doing in late December).

With gas costing approximately five dollars a gallon in California, it's lovely to only have to make one trip there per year. My grand total of gas for the year was $29.06.

Happy birthday, Grandma!