Critical care doctor Daniela Lamas says the coronavirus pandemic has brought a unique level of stress, as otherwise healthy patients are becoming seriously ill.
Lamas, who works in the intensive care unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital, on Monday shared with Boston Public Radio her perspective from the front lines of the battle against the virus. She said because the ICU is affiliated with Dana Farber Cancer Institute, she is used to seeing extremely sick patients and patients who die.
"It's tragic each time, and it's unique, and it's horrible. For many of those patients and their families, they've been sick for a long time," she said. "Now it's different ... A lot of these patients were healthy, these were healthy people living their lives."
Lamas said research indicates about a third of patients who have spent time in the ICU will leave the hospital with physical or cognitive impairments, known as post-ICU syndrome. Patients who have survived intensive care can be left with anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and long-term muscle weakness.
And as hospitals restrict visitor access during the pandemic, Lamas said patients on ventilators are now suffering in complete isolation.
"When I go into the ICU rooms, as I did yesterday, you try to — even if their eyes are closed — you tell them who you are, where they are, that they're sick, they have a breathing tube, they're getting better, and they're safe," she said.
Dr. Lamas is a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician at Brigham & Women's Hospital, an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and author of "You Can Stop Humming Now: A Doctor’s Stories of Life, Death and In Between."
