Better days are coming...

We are all in this together. Thanking the Almighty for his grace and mercy till date.

So I am a Respiratory therapist, We doing a lot of therapeutic procedures. So one of the Diagnostic that we do is Spirometry. It is a test which depends entirely on the patients effort.The Challenge was to make people from different languages ,culture, stratas of the society to perform the test in an acceptable and reproducible manner.As you all know India is a diverse country and working in a hospital that caters to this diversity was a different experience in itself.In a Day nearly 200 patients get this test done. The Lab is always hustling and bustling with activity. We were so absorbed into this tight schedule that we could not adjust to what the lockdown had in store for us. We continued doing Pulmonary function testing even though it was an aerosol generating procedure .

But then came a protocol, which ensured that we were allowed to do the testing only with the required PPE. I was happy that we were being provided by the essential PPE but little did I know that how challenging it would be . Initially I felt a little discomfort in instructing the patient, as I had to take extra efforts so that the patient could hear me well through all these layers. The marks from the N95 mask were real, the rigorous downing and doffing was weary.

That's when I really understood the plight of what my seniors, my colleagues across the globe and every single person who was involved in battling this pandemic situation (Health care workers, Sanitation and Cleaning staff, Police, Army, The Security Guards etc....) were going through. That's when the recent cases of Deliberate self harm among healthcare workers reasoned out for me, I understood why and how this situation was taking a toll on people's mental health. So this week is World Mental health awareness week (May 18-24 2020), and theme for this year is Kindness.

On this note, let's all be kind to our fellow beings be it your family, your roommate, your colleagues at office, your society security guard or any acquaintance. Don't waste any opportunity to show your love and support to anyone, it might just be a smile, your time .