Storyteller: Jessica Pratt
Corey is a 26 year old female that has lived in Bay County for her entire life. She lives at home with her husband and three dogs, and works full time as a physician facilitator in the MidMichigan Emergency Department in Midland MI. Corey states that her job is to assist the physicians with patient care and complete the physicians charting.
Corey states that she first heard about COVID-19 through the news and physicians at the hospital. She was in Florida on vacation when cases started to arise in the United States. She recalls worrying about being able to travel back to Michigan in the midst of the outbreak.
Corey states that her work environment has become nothing but a stressful event. She reports that she now has to go through multiple screenings just to enter her department daily, and has constant concern of bringing the virus home to her family. She states that the additional sanitation has just become a normal part of her life, noting that she changes her scrubs while at work and sanitizes her vehicle almost daily.
Corey reports that she has had increased anxiety due to the pandemic. She was supposed to get married in September of 2020, however had to cancel her large wedding due to restrictions. She states that the planning process during the pandemic became so stressful, that her husband and herself decided to elope with close family in February of 2021. Corey was also in the middle of applying to dental school during the start of the pandemic. Due to her job and the shutdown of most dental offices and testing centers, she had to push back her application cycle from 2020 to 2021. She reports that she is still having some difficulties with the application process, even a full year later.
Corey also reports some sensory issues during her time working the pandemic. She reports that due to the increased use of PPE and having to wear an N95 most of her shift, she has started to struggle with acne that she has not dealt with in the past. She reports that she has spent hundreds of dollars in an attempt to find the right skin care regimen for her acne.
Overall, Corey states that the pandemic has made her realize that you should not take a hug or a simple hand shake for granted after what she has seen in the Emergency Department this past year. She states that she can only hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel coming soon.
MIPandemicStory 