Tammy Berry & Kellie Morton
PCA II’s, Cancer Center, June 2020
Kellie: It’s hard, because this is not the norm, but its going to be the new norm. I have to say at the beginning of this it was definitely scary. Then we all started pulling together and watching out for each other – our manager hasn’t really been able to be fully present here because of everything she’s got going on with this, which we understand, we don’t blame her for that. And then things started to level out a little bit, we felt safer because of all these screeners and things downstairs. We’ve been operating at 80%, our clinics, through this entire thing. From what my manager told me, there’s been no transmissions whatsoever to staff here, or to other patients – so we’ve done an awesome job, working together. There’s a lot that could have gone wrong that didn’t go wrong, and we’re very thankful for that. But with all the increased volume from other clinics coming back, it’s a little scarier.
Tammy: Telehealth has really changed the way we work a lot. For one thing, it takes time, it takes a worker off the floor. There’s a lot that goes into getting the patient ready for that appointment. And some of these people have been locked up for a while, and they want to talk, know what I’m saying? So while that coworker is tied up doing that it can get busy. We work hard to get people out of those waiting rooms too, so they’re not sitting around near each other.
K: I think what I’m going to remember about this time is the way we’ve really pulled together. If we didn’t know for sure what was going on, we’d go to each other to make sure, are we doing the right thing, and we’ve gotten much stronger as a team. Those of us who really wanted to connect with each other here at work, we really have. So coming to work during this three month period, I felt safe being around everybody, being around people who knew exactly what was going on every day, the same way I felt, and then we could kind of work through it together. Even without the managers being around so much. I feel safe at work because I have confidence in my coworkers, in my team. At least until they change things on us, and then there’s a scramble. There’ve been moments that we all just totally broke down. But there are people around you who say ‘Don’t worry. Don’t worry. We’re going to get through this. We’ll get through it together.’ Yeah, we’re kind of all angry about some of the same things, but we’re also looking out for each other.
T: Our patients are hanging in too, you know, they’re scared to come, and I mean they’ll tell you I am really scared to be here – I haven’t been out in months. And we just reassure them, today a lady was like ‘can I touch that?’ In the room. And I said ‘you can touch that, I clean this room like crazy when another person leaves, whatever you touch I’m cleaning right away. It’s ok, you’re going to be ok here.’ I try to tell them that its good, you’re good here, but I don’t think they really want to come.
K: A lot of the ones on my end are coming a couple times a week. Almost every encounter since this began, anytime I left the room, I’ll say ok, be safe, stay safe. And they’ll say right back to me – this has happened so many times – they’re all wishing me that I’ll be safe, and they are thanking us. Constantly. For being here. They are scared for us. I mean, these patients are going through an awful lot, and they are worrying about us. They say thank you so much for being here, for all you do. So many people say when this is all done I’m taking you all out to dinner, the whole staff, I’m taking you all out for dinner! We have good patients! And we get to know them really well.
T: I try not to watch the news, but I know there are those people who think that this is a total conspiracy and that this isn’t real, and I’m like, come visit and see what’s happening around here. I had a patient who said, ‘this mask stuff is crazy, this isn’t going on,’ and I said to him, ‘it is, and it’s very scary.’ I said to him, ‘do you want to come with me across to the hospital and then you can see the people on ventilators?’ He really didn’t believe it. I made him wear his mask while he was here though.
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K: Looking around me, around my neighborhood, all the drive by’s, I think people have gotten closer even though they can’t be together. I’ve watched so many people drive down my street – this is an example, a gentleman worked for an asphalt paving company, and they had I don’t know how many tractor trailers drive to his house, I mean horns blaring, and it was awesome, I stood outside my house and I waved to them. There was this parade of trucks and when they came back around past my house I was still out there waving. That was just awesome that those guys did all that because they cared so much about that person. Tammy’s grandkids did that to her too.
T: They did. And then my daughter turned thirty so I did that to her. And then she told me that that was her best birthday ever, and I believe her – it showed that so many people cared about her and wanted to say happy birthday to her. It’s special, its very special. They’ve done it for me too, Easter, Mother’s Day, leaving presents for me at the end of my driveway.
K: I miss hugging the most, cause I’m a hugger. We’re both huggers! That’s been the hardest thing! It’s been so hard not to hug a patient, or touch them, you even see the doctors, patients will reach out to them and then pull back and say I’m sorry. But that’s what they would normally do. Having no contact has been really, really hard on a lot of people. Even just a pat on the back, let me hold onto you for a second. I mean, people are crying, they’re upset, and you want to touch them and all you can do is just stand in front of them. It’s hard. Then I go home and I’m next to my husband and I’m like, am I too close to you? Ha! Sometimes I find myself backing away and then I’m like wait a minute, we live together!