This past week flew by. I was nervous it might not due to the election but work definitely kept me busy. But first, can I just say how relieved I am that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won? I’m only a permanent resident and thus can’t vote. I don’t want politics to be a big part of this blog (although it is important everyone is informed and engaged in politics), but I do want humanity, respect, love, and trust to be the bedrock of everything I do. To see two people with similar values win this election gives me hope for the next 4 years. It feels good.

Svikki MD

Clinic

My patient numbers continue to increase in the office. Unfortunately, the number of patients with COVID symptoms continues to climb as well. It’s no surprise, one look at the numbers in South Dakota explains the trend. This week felt as though more severely sick people were coming in though. The day I had call, I was presented with two clinic and two ED patients for possible admission. I sent two home, I admitted one, and one needed to be transferred to a facility with ICU capabilities. It feels like March 2020 all over again….but only for me. I seem to be the only person in my hospital who has experience with the virus.

Flash Back to March 2020

For those who don’t know, when COVID started showing up in Youngstown, Ohio, I volunteered to be one of the first providers to work in the designated Flu clinics. Anyone with respiratory complaints was no longer able to see their PCP and needed to be seen in the Flu Clinic. We didn’t have testing supplies for the first several days. Things were changing on an hourly basis. We didn’t have tests, then we did, but only a limited amount. At first, we had enough PPE to change between each patient. Then we needed to start wearing the same PPE for multiple visits. It was hectic but I liked working in that environment.

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Two weeks later, I started taking care of COVID patients in the hospital. The hospitalists were overwhelmed with the number of patients. Two other residents and an attending headed to the floor every day to take care of the patients as best we could. We knew a lot less back then and we were using different medications than are used now. So much was unknown (and still is) but we showed up and did what we could. Who got better and who died hardly seemed to have a rhyme or reason.

By the time May rolled around, we were back to our residency rotations. The only major difference was telemedicine visits in the clinic and having to wear a mask and shield when seeing patients in person.

Back to the future

So here I am now in South Dakota. I can see the number of cases presenting to the clinic and hospital on the rise. The big difference to Ohio however, is that I don’t have the same capabilities here like I did there. I have no ICU located two floors down, no second ICU close by, and no Cleveland or Pittsburgh nearby.

The closest hospital is only a 20-minute drive away and does have an ICU but they are hardly taking patients. Rapid City is on diversion. We are sometimes looking to different states for help. This will be an interesting winter, and not in a good way. But I am not surprised we will go through this. What do you expect if the majority of people walk around without masks, the Sturgis motorcycle rally took place and people were partying at Halloween parties last week? I do not sugar-coat it when patients ask me if this virus really is as dangerous as people say it is.

Hospital

About half of the census in the hospital this past week was mine. Mostly swing beds, since they stay for weeks. I did have the first COVID admission of this hospital. They did really well and were able to go home yesterday. Today was my first day in 20 days that I didn’t have to drive to the hospital to see patients.

Svikki Hobbies

I have so many different hobbies and interests it is sometimes hard to adequately devote time to one of them. As much of a nerd as I am, I like to give my analytical brain a rest from time to time and jump into more creative activities. At times I’ll combine the two. I often drew throughout medical school, especially anatomy class, to solidify the knowledge.

When I was packing my suitcase for South Dakota, I ended up packing a duffel bag full of artsy things; paper, water colors, brushes, pens, charcoal, and pastels.

Childish innocence

I often feel that as people get older, they get more and more hung up about doing something really well or not doing it at all. I’m definitely guilty of this. The innocence of a child not caring about how perfect the end result will be but enjoying the process of creating is something I actively try to return to. When people started telling me I have talent, it became harder to just create for fun because I felt a pressure that the end result needed to be good. It needed to validate their former praise. This feeling often stopped me from starting something because I knew I didn’t have the free time to devote to perfecting it. Once I started realizing that, I actively started just drawing at random times and random things, just for the sake of doing it.

The opposite of praise can be debilitating too. As a child, I was often told, “you can do so many things…but somehow no one in your family can sing, including you.” I didn’t formally try. I didn’t join the choir. But I LOVED to sing. I know a ridiculous amount of lyrics and my favorite part about driving a car is the fact that I can sing as loud as I want and no one hears me. From time to time, in different parts of the world, I would partake in karaoke. It’s almost frowned upon to be too good at karaoke. It “ruins” it for everyone else so it’s a safe environment. But that’s the wrong way of looking at it!! Do you like singing? Then sing! Who cares if it’s not always on key? You aren’t trying to win Idol, you are just enjoying singing.

How things have changed

Last year, while sitting around with some people and a ukulele, I started singing some songs. The guy with the ukulele has a band. His band played at my aunt’s birthday earlier this year and I was invited to be a surprise singer for a couple of songs. This was the first time I was going to be singing in front of a crowd with the expectation that it was going to be good. It was so much fun! I’m still not looking to perfect my singing but I more confidently singing out loud now having overcome the comments of my childhood.

Click here to see a video of me at my aunt’s birthday!

My point here is that I want everyone to find joy again in enjoying things you like without the pressure of it having to be good! So many people are in quarantine or partial lockdowns. If you feel like doing something or trying something new, just do it! Don’t let the need for perfection ruin the process.

Here is a sample of some of the things I’ve made over the years. My dream is to one day have a studio room where I can have all of my supplies and just go and create.

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One thing I love: group chats! Although my family is spread across the globe, my little sister in Austria kept us all on top of the latest updates regarding the election.

One thing I ate: a pecan caramel cinnamon roll from a bakery down the street from the hospital owned by the mother of one of the nurses. The proximity is dangerous.

One thing I’m grateful for: Biden Harris 2020. Thank goodness.

mfg