WORKING WITH VIRUS PATIENTS
‘The worry’s always there’
Angelo Simonelli said his life as a physiotherapist at the Royal Victoria Hospital was comfortable and routine, dealing with post-operative patients recovering from heart surgery.
That was before the coronavirus pandemic struck in mid-march.
While Simonelli, who has been with the hospital since 2003, continues working the day shift, generally on weekdays, he’s now dealing exclusively with COVID-19 patients — either in intensive care or in a hot zone on a designated floor. As one of the hospital’s more experienced therapists dealing with respiratory patients, his duties have changed.
“It becomes fatiguing and tiring,” said Simonelli, who used to work wearing his street clothes, but now must don personal protective equipment that is changed following each patient. He generally sees seven daily, spending close to 60 minutes with each.
“You’re worried you’re going to contaminate yourself, your colleagues or bring it home and contaminate your family,” said the 45-year-old Mcgill graduate who has been working since 1997. “You always have that stress in the back of your mind. It’s physically tiring, but also emotionally draining to have that worry all the time.”
While Simonelli has no symptoms and hasn’t been tested, he returns home some days with headaches or a sore throat. He’s been advised by colleagues that it’s normal. And of course his hands are chafed from the constant washing that’s required.
Once home, he immediately showers but, otherwise, has lived a normal life and continued interacting with his family. Coincidentally, Simonelli’s wife is an emergency-room doctor at the Lakeshore General Hospital. They have two boys, age 12 and 9.
“You’re always thinking you might have it (COVID-19) for sure,” Simonelli said. “The worry’s always there. You just have to keep going, pushing through. We’re hoping this is going to end soon and we return to a bit of normalcy at the hospital.”
To escape the anxiety, Simonelli takes long walks in the mornings and evenings. He also goes to a park to play soccer with his sons, or shoots baskets in their driveway. And he tries to Facetime with them during his lunch break to ensure they’re doing homework and not playing video games exclusively.
While Simonelli has dealt with patients who died, the stark reality of life during a pandemic is that it occurs more often. Life under the Mcgill University Health Centre’s umbrella is much better than the conditions being imposed on health-care workers in some CHSLDS. Simonelli said the rooms at the Royal Vic are spacious — and air-conditioned. Nonetheless, he’s still lost a handful of patients during the last 10 weeks.
“That’s the other hard part … they don’t have their families around,” he said. “You see they’re suffering. They might die and they’re scared. They have no contact with the family. You’re there to listen to them, offer some kind of support. At the same time, you’re trying to socially distance from them.
“You’re trying to offer comfort and do all those great things. At the same time, you’re trying not to get sick.”