Whoosh, whoosh
The sound of the washing machine churns as I attempt to prechart on my 10 patients for the day. This is my second full schedule of telehealth phone calls, a new concept in the COVID era, where clinic visits are conducted entirely over the phone.
Appointments consist of discussing symptoms, medication refills and urgent concerns. Healthcare maintenance and preventative health is largely deferred.
Vroom, Vroom
The sound of my neighbor's vacuum cleaner escapes through the wall; one of many attempts to keep clean in the setting of a virus that spreads better than we anticipated, living on surfaces for who knows how long.
My apartment building recently emailed about a “deep clean,” with the plan to disinfect the space using a "special fogger," which sounds like something out of a futuristic film. They gave directions - only one person in the elevator and mailroom at a time, even if we have to wait 10 minutes to leave the building or retrieve our belongings.
Chirp, chirp
With the window open I hear songs of birds and the chatter of families on socially distanced walks. I long for a time where masks are replaced with facial expressions, and we once again smile at each other in passing instead of crossing the street and diverting our eyes to avoid any human contact.
I miss the hospital alarms, the sounds of pagers going off and my texting app alerting me to a new message from the nurse. I miss the conversation of clinic visits with patients telling me stories of daughters getting married and recent accomplishments at work. I miss the daily "hellos" and "how are yous" from people in my building as we make small talk in the elevator. These have all been replaced by the new sounds in the background.
--