Pregnant Doctor Contracts COVID and Decides
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.
Caribbean L 16 ife, OCT. 29-NOV. 4, 2021
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 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.
to Run for Office