Friday, October 2, 2020

Friday, October 2, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2002. Mattie was 6 months old. By that point, he was too big to eat in his car seat. So we transferred him to a high chair. It wasn't Mattie's favorite place to be, but we always made eating fun in order to entice Mattie to sit still and actually eat. Mattie needed his brain kept busy in order to focus! I learned the art of entertainment.  

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins. 

• number of people diagnosed with the virus: 7,312,444
• number of people who died from the virus: 208,485

Typically each year around this time, I make a choice not to take a flu shot. Me and half the country actually! Mainly because the shot makes me feel ill and every time I have received the shot, I also landed up contracting the flu. So given those experiences, I swore off the shot long ago. This year, given the Pandemic and all the information floating about regarding peaks of the flu and COVID at the same time, I decided to get the shot. 

Around 40 million to 50 million Americans catch the flu, with some 800,000 requiring hospitalization each year. In addition, the flu kills 30,000 to 60,000 Americans every year. Rather staggering if you think about it. Getting the flu shot gives us something we can actively do during this public health crisis. Today we had an appointment at CVS to get our flu shot. Given that pharmacies are giving out the shot for free, I knew making an appointment would be key. So we went to our store and checked in this afternoon. There were others waiting to receive their shot. In fact, the man in front of us was like me, not happy about getting the shot. He conveyed that the pharmacist, who was doling out the shots. 

Any case, after he got his shot, he came out and was smiling. So I asked him, "how did it go?" He said it was great! Who says that about a shot? But he explained that the pharmacist is lovely and made it painless. I couldn't get over it. My joke to him was.... "did she give you a lollypop?" 

Peter and I both went into the clinic room together and the pharmacist greeted us. She could visually see that I wasn't thrilled about getting the shot and I told her it always hurts and makes me ill. She literally said, "this time would be different." It wasn't like she sat down to have a therapy session with me. In fact, she was only chatting with us for a couple of minutes. But in that time, she created an atmosphere of ease, trust, and calmness. All I know is I never felt her give me the shot. I even asked Peter..... 'did you see the needle go in?' I know, I am comedy show. The pharmacist told us she has been caring for people since she was 19 years old. She made such a difference to me today because it was clear this pharmacist understood that healthcare IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE MEDICINE. She impressed me so much that I came home and wrote a compliment on the CVS website...............

I went to your Minute Clinic today to receive my flu shot. I had such a positive experience that I would like the pharmacist's supervisor to receive my compliment. Your pharmacist, Arsema, deserves recognition for her amazing work. What a compassionate, kind, competent, and gentle soul. She represents CVS beautifully. In fact, I watched her interacting with other customers prior to my turn, and every person who came out of the clinic (after receiving a shot of all things), was smiling. They were smiling because of Arsema. Arsema understands the psychosocial nature of medical care and the importance of connecting with her patients. Within seconds she understood my apprehension about the vaccine, but she quickly made me feel at ease, I felt heard, and also I felt no pain receiving the shot. Knowing that Arsema works at CVS, would make me want to come back to your store for future health care needs.