‘One hell of a journey’: Tampa General doctor reflects on past year of pandemic
Dr. Lakshmi looks back at beginning of pandemic
Dr. Seetha Lakshmi, an epidemiologist from Tampa General Hospital and USF, had no idea she would be thrust onto the world stage last year. She recalls feeling grief, overwhelmed, and now, hopeful.
TAMPA, Fla. - Doctors and nurses at Tampa General Hospital were pushed to their limits at the height of COVID-19.
As the number of patients coming into the emergency room doubled, Dr. Seetha Lakshmi remembers watching her team in agony.
"We were not, on a human level, prepared for the amount of grief and death we saw and that's not because we aren't empathic," she said. "The people who come here, they come here because they love what they do."
It became harder because they were all left with no choice but to do the exact opposite of what they're trained to do -- to feel a human connection.
"It was hard to not have families around," she said, "We did our best to Skype. We held patients’ hands, sat with them. When the wife died, I was in the room holding the patient's hand and, at the end of the day, that is a lot."
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For epidemiologists and specialists in infectious diseases like Lakshmi, the scope of what was happening with the novel coronavirus was overwhelming.
Thursday will mark one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a "global pandemic." It was the first time they used that title since H1N1 11 years ago. We all know what happened next.
Dr. Lakshmi was the first to come on Good Day Tampa Bay and explain what this new virus spreading around the world was. She would be the last live guest we would have in the studio.
And she had no idea she was about to be thrust onto the world stage.
Soon, Lakshmi's profile began to rise on the global stage. She was treating patients, teaching new doctors, and writing a prototype of the plan for a way out of the pandemic for Tampa. She talks about the project that came next with pride.
"Now, I'm the Medical Director for the Global Emerging Diseases Institute," she said with a smile before pausing.
"Which we lovingly call GEDI. May the force be with you," she added, now laughing. "They are warriors that have the good force."
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The GEDI -- somehow appropriate for the team now tasked with training doctors around the world to treat COVID, even as they were trying to figure it out themselves.
As fear set in, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor turned to her and tapped her to be on the city's COVID task force.
"The true hallmark of a great leader. She did such a great job at a time of uncertainty," she said.
As the death toll rose, desperation grew and sadness sunk in.
Slightly more serious this time, she said, "You know, I was reading this book and it stuck with me. I want to share it with you. What it basically said was, ‘What is grief if not love persevering,’ right? I remember it every day when we go through tough days."
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So, she's working on a way forward for the future, for all of us, and for the sake of her beautiful son who has no idea what his mom is doing for the world.
"My son is four," Lakshmi said. "He plays with dinosaurs and cars and his world is beautiful. And you know when I go home, when I play with him, I become a child again. I'm truly grateful for him in my life."
Maybe that's where the hope comes from. And the gratitude.
"In the darkest times," Dr. Lakshmi said, "the brightest stars come out. And my team is the brightest stars there are. So, it's been one hell of a journey, but a spectacular one."