Pregnant Doctor Contracts COVID and Decides to Run for Office
I’ve been a doctor for almost
20 years. Working as
a pain physician, I’ve heard
thousands of stories of pain
and suffering. I’ve fought bureaucracy,
backward laws, and
tedious protocols on behalf of
veterans, victims of violence
and trauma, rape victims, survivors
of domestic abuse, the
disabled, the medically fragile,
refugees and the homeless,
but my entire life changed in
the past year; I lost everything
that mattered to me – temporarily.
When the lockdown
came in March 2020, my child’s
daycare closed. I had to decide
whether to stay home with my
toddler or to keep my practice
open and help my patients.
If I didn’t treat my patients,
they would have to go to the
ER, which would have been a
death sentence for them. Many
of my patients struggle with
cancer, HIV, and other major
medical problems. So I sent
my child, who I love, upstate to
live with my parents. I thought
she would be away for two long
weeks. I didn’t see her again
for 8 months.
My practice rapidly accumulated
debt while the
City ignored us – providing
relief only to facilities treating
patients with COVID – as
though patients with medical
problems did not exist. We
could not even obtain masks
or gloves from our suppliers.
I used my life savings to fund
my private practice so I could
provide care for the patients. I
lost a fortune but I thought it
was worth it to help our city.
I asked my employees, my
friends, to come back to work
alongside me. We all risked
our safety on the subways with
crime and COVID on the rise.
Meanwhile, the City launched
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For Queens
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a surprise inspection on my
practice. There were no violations.
However, it struck me
that rather than asking us how
they could help, while we were
short-staffed and struggling to
get medical supplies, the City
tried to rack up fines.
When my toddler returned
back to us, I was 8 months
pregnant and getting ready
for a scheduled C-section. I
had preeclampsia with my
first delivery. This time, my
family was infected with the
COVID-19 virus. Because of
this, I had to skip the last few
weeks of obstetrics visits because
we were all in isolation.
Then one day, I called 911
because my husband was hallucinating
from low oxygen.
He was hospitalized and put
on high-flow nasal oxygen. I
thought he would die. Soon after,
when I felt short of breath
and experienced contractions,
I thought my unborn baby and
I would die. I was worried for
my toddler. This was before
the vaccine was available. I
couldn’t give her to anyone
else because she was also infected
with COVID. When I
asked the City for help, I was
told that if I couldn’t maintain
a “safe” environment for my
child, that the City would take
her from me. It made me question
the whole purpose of the
government. Was it to help us
– or to make things more difficult
for us? This was very discouraging.
I realized I would
have to figure out a solution on
my own. Ultimately, I roamed
around the perimeter of a massive
hospital complex in active
labor, short of breath perhaps
from COVID, in the freezing
cold of winter, by myself. Miraculously,
my baby was born
with COVID antibodies and
immunity to the deadly virus.
We were immediately transferred
to an isolation room
that we shared. And inside
that room, I resumed telemedicine
visits within hours after
my C-section because I understood
we were still in the midst
of a crises.
I know that I am not alone
with these experiences. We
need a real change in leadership
in our city. So I decided to
run for NYC Public Advocate.
Flushing | Murray Hill | Queensboro Hill | Auburndale | Fresh Meadows
Paid for by
Sandra 2021
SandraForNY1
SandraForNewYork.com Toby Stavisky
State Senator
John Liu
State Senator
United Federation
of Teachers
Grace Meng
Congresswoman
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