I couldn’t have picked a better time for spinal fusion surgery. Laying around moaning and groaning is never fun, but neither is a Connecticut January during a pandemic. I was tempted to put it off (again) because the hospital is stacked with COVID patients, but who knows what will happen next. And I just couldn’t stand the pain anymore. So I got it over with, and I’m glad I did. I had an incredibly caring and tender team of nurses and Patient Care Technicians while I was at Middlesex. They were ALL lovely, but a special mention goes to J’amy and Thalia. If you find yourself in the Ortho Ward, I hope they are there. During a vitals check at 2am, something one of the nurses said stuck. I was asking about his experience over the last two years. He said, “At the beginning of the pandemic, people were bringing food and making a big fuss over us. Now, it’s worse and more stressful than it’s ever been, and nobody cares anymore.” Chalk that up to our collective short attention span, but let’s remember to give our caregivers and first responders some love. Two whole years later, they are still on the front lines.

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