From HSPVA to Homeschool: Living in a New World of Social Distancing

Like many high school kids, COVID-19 put a damper on my spring break plans. Our high school canceled a trip that would have taken us to Germany, Prague, and Austria. With trying to keep morale high and learning to roll with the punches. I, along with my friends, are trying to maintain some normalcy while our world seems unsure and scary. It is hard to turn on the television without seeing the panic that COVID-19 has caused to the world.

With School Buzz, we usually write about school events. With no school or activities for the foreseen future, I will allow you a window into my home on how I am handling all of this. Our principal and teachers have done an excellent job of slowly helping us all transition to online school. I am very grateful for a fridge full of food, a good internet connection, and my emotional support animals to help me through the transition period. 

My mother is considered an essential worker. She's a Cardiopulmonary Perfusionist. She goes to work so you can stay at home.

Seeing her come and go with her crazy call schedule has just always been a part of life. She cares about helping people and gives me exposure to watching cases in the operating room if that is where my interest leads. But with COVID-19, I see fear; these medical people are fighting something unknown. With this being a respiratory virus, the very ill critical patients on ventilators will go on ECMO. ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) is a form of modified cardiopulmonary bypass in which venous blood is removed from the body and pumped through an artificial membrane lung in patients who have refractory respiratory failure.

With my mother working closely to COVID-19 patients, she has discussed her fear of being tested positive and possibly bringing home the virus to me. She takes all the necessary precautions with wearing her PPE equipment, she changes her scrubs in the garage before coming inside, and religiously cleans and disinfects doorknobs daily. I know her priority is to keep her family safe, but like everyone else, the unknown is scary. 

I ask my mother if there is any message I could give my friends. She said to stay home, wash your hands, and this will pass. I hope everyone stays put and stays safe. Please take this seriously; the sooner we get this under control, the sooner we all can get back to our lives.