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COVID-19 in Children: Low Risk but High Stakes

Photo by Atoms on Unsplash Most children with COVID-19 have mild illness, with 0.5 to 6.1% hospitalized in the U.S. The risks may be low, but the stakes are high. And the numbers aren’t important when it’s your child in the hospital bed.   REALITY More than 1 million children have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the United States. And that’s only the ones who have been tested. Many children go undiagnosed because they have no symptoms or mild illness. I get it—why put kids through an uncomfortable nasal swab if they “aren’t that sick?” Anyone with symptoms needs to stay home anyway. Thankfully, severe illness in children with COVID-19 is rare. And yet, [...]

2020-11-21T21:04:28-05:00November 21st, 2020|Categories: Children, COVID-19, Health|
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Is your head listening to your heart? Think from other dimensions

Shutterstock by Peshkova My twin died six years ago this week. His death was sudden, unexpected, a surprise to us all. He thought he had our paternal grandparents’ genes—Grandpa died after a stroke at 97 and Grandma (92) died suddenly four months later, after telling us grandkids that she couldn’t live without Grandpa. No one really thought about our maternal gene pool; both of those grandparents died before we were born. It’s natural to cling to what we know and what we want to believe. We create our own reality in our mind. Our head often ignores or overrides what our heart tries to tell us. Closing our mind closes off our heart. Despite [...]

2020-10-26T23:06:43-04:00October 26th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19, Life and death, Resilience|Tags: , , , , , |
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Keeping Perspective in a Changing World

Sculpture of girl's face evoking past and present, familiar and unfamiliar. Mark Manders, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN This week, the world surpassed 33 million cases of COVID-19 and 1 million deaths, with 7 million cases and 205,000 deaths in the United States. With just over 4 percent of the world’s population, the U.S has almost 21 percent of the global cases of COVID-19. How do we make sense of all these numbers? One million deaths are hard to comprehend and impossible to relate to, unless, I imagine, you’ve been on the frontline caring for thousands who take their last breath on your shift. As a data person and researcher, I’ve been watching the [...]

2020-10-01T18:40:19-04:00September 30th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19, Resilience|Tags: , , , , |
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Getting Through the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from Our Ancestors

Sand sculpture of Bubonic plague. Bouke Atema. istock.com How do we get through the COVID-19 pandemic? Lately, I’ve been compelled to read stories about how others have survived something. The circumstances are less important to me than how they got through—how they responded to and managed unexpected and uncontrollable adversity. Did survivors of other pandemics, wars, or adverse childhood experiences rise to the occasion with strength and resilience to do what needed to be done, or did they retreat to a familiar comfort zone to calm their fears and anxieties or rely on others to help them get through? How did they deal with the chaos and uncertainty? Fear is a human condition, and [...]

2020-08-29T23:02:45-04:00August 29th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19, Resilience, Stress, Survival|Tags: , , , , |
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How Do You Choose What COVID-19 Risks To Take?

Now that it’s summer and many states (and countries) are opening back up after months of lockdown for COVID-19, how do you feel about being out and about? Have you changed your activity since April/May? Whether it’s by choice, a back-to-work mandate, or other circumstances, are you: Happy to be set free and willing to resume somewhat normal activities A little nervous, but relieved to be out more Still cautious—wearing masks around people, indoors or out Quite hesitant—still only going out on necessary outings Restricted by rules and can’t resume activities All of the above, depending on the day At the first onslaught of cases this spring, many of us were told what to do, with [...]

2020-07-12T23:15:35-04:00July 12th, 2020|Categories: COVID-19, Stress|Tags: , , |
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