We recently had to move the website to a different server service. The schedule software we use has a new version and it looks a bit different. The Covid19 pandemic is still going on.
Changes, changes, changes.
Those of you who know me better, know that in addition to being the founder and owner of the Nebraska Flight Center, I also am a physician with a specialty in Pediatrics. In 2007 I was in my second year of a Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship at Children’s and UNMC when, at the end of August, I fell and had a compression fracture of vertebra L1, which incapacitated me for 8 months. In a split second, I went from being totally healthy, to having to live with the consequences of my injury: Inability to lift heavy objects, limited mobility, and mostly pain. I have to live with low-level pain that will be my companion for as long as I live.
In March of 2021, my wife Judy fell off her horse and suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury. After she recovered from the immediate injury, she has had to adapt to living with the long-term effects of TBI, which include short-term memory issues, gets tired easily, mood swings.
A few weeks ago, Judy was complaining about her new circumstances, and expressed out-loud that “she wants her old life back”. I remember several times when I have had the same desire. I want the pain-free life that I had before my injury. Unfortunately, the cruel reality is: We will never have our life back.
Sometime in October of 2018, a virus was transmitted from an unknown vector, most likely a bat, to a human. This virus spread, in a matter of months, to almost all corners of our planet. This virus is highly contagious, moderately lethal, and mutates easily. Unfortunately, this is the era of internet, social media, misinformation, and ineptitude at the highest levels of government. This combination has created the perfect conditions for this virus to affect the world population in a way not seen since the influenza pandemic of 1918. This virus should be relatively easy to manage: mask wearing, social distancing, and especially vaccination. I now know that it is easier said than done. The levels of collective stupidity that our societies have reached are appalling.
Just a few days ago I overheard a conversation between my wife and my (grown) stepson. He’s tired of all these anti-infection precautions. He wants his life back.
The life we had before October 2018 is gone. We will never have it back.