Day 62. The following is an excerpt from a piece written by Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN. I could not agree more!

“That is why I’m worried about my patient right now. In this case, the United States of America. We have been infected, and we are only part way through the miserable therapy. If we stop now, however, it may not just be back to square 1. We may be worse off than we started. The metaphorical resistant bacteria may be unleashed.Getting through this together means listening to the recommendations from health experts, understanding the rationale, being thorough about the treatment, and not giving up part way through. It also means providing constant reminders that this isn’t the patient’s fault, or the country’s for that matter. Just as I don’t know why patients develop a crippling brain tumor, we don’t know for certain why the world became infected at this time in our history. In my experience, placing blame in this context serves no purpose. I cast my eyes to the future and not to the past. It will not change how I treat the patient or how the patient will respond.“

“I often spend a lot of time with patients showing them the studies that provide some proof the treatment I advocate can work. Patients want that, and they deserve that. I even keep lists of patients who have already recovered and thrived, and I introduce my new patients to them. The same is true here. There is proof the treatment being proposed for the country can work, and we should consistently remind each other of that. And we should also learn from other countries that have already started to slowly recover and more safely reopen.People often ask me if it is hard to have those conversations with my patients. That’s not how I would describe it. I describe it as an opportunity to heal someone, body and mind. To get them better. To make them whole in a way that they didn’t think was possible. That can happen here as well, if we stay the course.The country and the world are facing a serious illness. But, it is treatable. It is fixable. Let’s do this together.“

Is anyone listening?