WesElyMD Profile picture
Husband & Dad. ICU Doc. Vanderbilt. @CIBScenter studies Covid & Long Covid, ICU Survivorship, PICS, Dementia, Delirium. Tweets my own. Still learning.

Feb 15, 2022, 5 tweets

1/🧵 Seeing Differently in #COVID ICU Care 👁

The world tells me “stuff” & “freedom ” bring happiness, yet neither suffice or satisfy.

If I reject chances to serve my suffering patients, I am left bereft.

Merciful care brings healing & provides joy all around.

What is #Mercy?

2/ My working definition of mercy is my willingness to dive into the chaos of another person’s life & provide lifting & healing.

Often as an ICU physician I do the former but not the latter.

That is, I dive into their #chaos without admitting I don’t know what’s right for them.

3/…but without performing actions that lead to lifting and healing of my patient’s spirit & mind, what I’m doing is dispensing false mercy.

eg, If in #COVID, I make the lungs 🫁 my whole goal, sedate & depersonalize someone for too long, I beget new diseases.

#PICS #LongCovid

4/ True mercy comes when I take the time to dive into his or her life and find out what matters to this person and treat not just the physical body but also the mind, spirit & soul.

Mercy brings them healing & leaves fading scars in me that provide the enduring joy I seek.❤️‍🩹

5/fin
In the 1st tweet, did you see a young or an old woman?

It’s all about perspective.

In #Covid, “seeing differently” means looking at people in front of me & taking them as they are without judgment. This prevents #burnout in me & provides them w someone who cares.

#EDDB

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