I want to get back to treating patients

CHENNAI: “I was mentally prepared for this from Day 1,” says doctor Sam (name changed), who tested positive for COVID-19 last week. “Yet, when the results came, it shook me.” Sam, in his late 40s, is a frontline doctor working with a government hospital in the city. Sam is experiencing the loneliness of a patient only now, though he has seen and handled them all along.

Sam has not told his family that he has tested positive. “I did not tell them because I did not want them to panic.” Sam’s daughters are in college now, and his family stays in their native town. With the experience of treating over 200 patients since March, Sam says unlike the general public, doctors are more aware of the virus and this, in turn, makes them more conscious.

“A small cough is enough to make me worry about the next stage of complication. It is sometimes hard to stop thinking about how the virus may play out,’’ Sam accepts. The mobile phone serves as stress buster in the isolation ward and chats on WhatsApp groups with colleagues keep Sam engaged.

“I distract myself by discussing about latest findings shared by colleagues on treatment. Chatting with other medicos is also a major relief,’’ he says. It’s not surprising that frontline warriors are getting infected. “The government is providing us adequate number of Personal Protective Equipment and other necessities. However, we are exposed to several patients, and the viral load coming on us is high.”

On doctors facing a stigma in their neighbourhood, Sam rues, “A few doctors whom I know were looked upon as ‘untouchables’. When a colleague got infected and a sticker was pasted outside his house, several of his neighbours picked up an argument with him.’’

It has been seven days into his quarantine, with seven more days to go. But, Sam cannot wait to get back to the other side of this battle.“Once I recover, I will rejoin work. There is no bigger happiness to me than seeing my patients leave the hospital hale and hearty.”

Stigma is sad
Dr Sam says he keeps himself engaged chatting with his colleagues about latest findings on treating the virus over WhtasApp.  However, he says the stigma attached to the virus and doctors who test positive being looked upon as ‘untouchables’ by neighbours are very sad