When I came back to work in the summer from maternity leave I returned to a different world in so many ways. The biggest difference was the pandemic. COVID-19 has changed the way everything is done, and how we think and evaluate our world.

I have spoken with many doctors and I am amazed at their strength and resilience as this fight continues. I have met so many people who are worried about their health, jobs, businesses, and people they love.

2020 is ending, but for many this month won't be easy. Every morning as numbers are released about case counts etc, I always take a moment and let it sink in that even though we see statistics, we need to keep reminding ourselves these numbers are real people...

Real people with families, with jobs, with lives, and kids, and friends who care about them.

I have been asking about doctors, front line workers, advocates about the COVID-19 patients they will never forget. Many have been kind enough to share those thoughts and memories with me.

As we head into the holiday season, and we start thinking about the New Year, and get excited about potential vaccines, and life returning to something that looks more normal than it has in awhile, let's not forget those patients.

DEC 1: One of the COVID-19 patients family doctor @nilikm will never forget

#COVID19 #COVIDpatients

Dec. 2: For intensive care doctor @drdagly from Edmonton, the COVID-19 patients he will always remember is a couple.

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec. 3: Long Term Care advocate and researcher @DrVivianS says she continues to think of all the families fighting to see their loved ones at residences, and the struggles they have faced during the pandemic.

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec. 4: Infectious disease physician @zchagla talks about the first COVID-19 patient he encountered. "It was the Pandora's box opening up..."

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec. 5: For so many families who have loved ones in long term care residences, the pandemic has created uncertainty and fear.

Here Maureen shares what it has been like for her and her mother. "Every time that phone rang, it was a meltdown..."

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec. 6: @MDTrev is a palliative care physician based in Toronto. He shares the story of a 90 yr old man he helped care for.

“... even through his gasps for air he continued to tell me that he felt fine and that he didn’t want to be a bother...”

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec 7: biostatistician @imgrund shares what it was like when he did some of his first graphs for COVID-19, looking at how the pandemic might unfold in Canada.

“That first projection I made with no definite maximum was frightening...”

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec. 8: Dr. @KateMMulligan says what she will remember is how the pandemic helped people think about neighbourhoods as ‘a patient.’

“Multiple health conditions, social conditions, and political conditions... create inequities in our society...”

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec. 9: Infectious disease physician @TorontoIDDoc shares his thoughts about how this pandemic has unfolded over the last year.

“I have never completely gotten used to COVID but I have gotten used to the idea of seeing it in the hospital...”

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec. 10: Infectious disease physician @TerryWuerz from Winnipeg shares the story of a family he treated for COVID-19. 4 members ended up getting sick.

“I know that we’ll all be together again soon, but for now, I hope that we can learn to stay safe...”

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients

Dec. 11: @CHEO’s CEO & president @alexmunter shares a story about how the lockdowns affected one young person in Ottawa.

“They were just getting by when everything shut down in March... their mental health took a turn for the worse...”

#COVID19
#COVIDpatients