In March of 2020, Dr. Justin Skrzynski’s life and career changed in ways he never could have imagined. Trained as an internal medicine doctor, respirator masks, extended hours and constant heartbreak weren’t part of his daily routine until
the pandemic forced him into a world of chaos and uncertainty.
“Two years ago, there was no such thing as COVID-19, and now there are dedicated COVID hospital units and physicians,” Dr. Skrzynski said. “Now, it’s hard to step onto a floor without fielding a rapid-fire stream of questions about vaccines, hospital census, or quarantine for a friend or family member with a COVID exposure. I’ve never worked so hard, but I’ve also never felt so useful.”
Dr. Skrzynski spends his day caring for COVID-19 patients, many of which have been in the hospital for days or weeks. He said most people don’t realize how prolonged and debilitating the disease can be. To Dr. Skrzynski, the most challenging thing about COVID care is the uncertainty.
“Even with all the knowledge and advancements of the past year and a half, it’s very difficult to predict how quickly someone will recover, or how severe the disease will become,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking going into the same rooms with the same patients for days or weeks in a row, explaining that no, you’re not getting better, and no, there’s nothing additional we can do about it.”
As the U.S. battles through yet another surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Dr. Skrzynski said it’s incredibly demoralizing to see people struggling from a disease that is largely preventable with vaccination.
“COVID is a terrible disease, and unless you’ve seen someone with scarred lungs struggling to breathe for weeks on end, it’s hard to convey just how terrible it really is,” he explained. “I haven’t seen
a single person hospitalized for complications from a COVID vaccine whereas I’ve seen dozens of patients die from COVID, many needlessly. Every time I console a grieving family member who lost a loved one to COVID, I can’t help but think,
it didn’t have to be this way.”
After 18 months of battling the pandemic, Dr. Skrzynski said although there is an enormous sense of community among his colleagues who have continuously sacrificed their physical and mental wellbeing to care for others, many are finding themselves questioning their limits.
“Sometimes it seems that COVID is just a slideshow of human suffering and, as a doctor, you’re simply the captive audience that is forced to watch, many times powerless to help,” Dr. Skrzynski said. “When a health
care worker says, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ you have to realize that this person dedicated years of their life to caring for others, but they know when enough is enough. We all give as much as we are able, and no one is a hero or
coward for choosing to stay or go.”
Among the constant grief and exhaustion, Dr. Skrzynski said he stays positive by remembering the patients who recovered and went home despite incredible odds against them.
“Medicine has many moments of grief, but also many moments of humor and joy,” he explained. “The smile of someone able to speak in their own voice after having a tracheostomy reversed or high-fiving a patient who managed to stand on their own for the first time in weeks. This is the great challenge of my life so far and I know that I am making a difference.”