8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A Y 2 0 2 0
"I
'm done," said my wife, sliding her chair back from the break-
fast table on a recent Saturday morning. Or was it Wednesday?
"Great, I'll start the dishes," I said, getting up.
She cooks, I clean. It works.
"No, done with all this," she responded, waiving an arm at our kitchen-
office-school.
"Ah, OK," I said, sitting back down.
She vents, I listen. It works.
My wife is a teacher who's done helping our son with his third grade
school work while trying to teach her own third grade class through Zoom,
done with social distancing, done with not being able to escape our house
arrest. She craves a leisurely trip to Target with every fiber of her being.
I totally get it. I'm a proud introvert and dedicated homebody, and even I'm
getting rammy. The first few weeks of our state-mandated lockdown were
spent trying to figure out how our family would cope. We eventually settled
into the routines of our new normal. Now we're longing to interact with the
world beyond our closing-in walls, but life and work continue in insolation.
This month, our editorial team decided to recognize the surgical profes-
sionals who voluntarily put themselves in harm's way in unfamiliar clinical
settings because their colleagues needed help caring for COVID-19 patients.
We highlighted a few of these amazing people on the cover. They represent
thousands of healthcare workers who inspire us with their brave sacrifices
of service at the forefront of the nation's coronavirus response efforts.
One of the nurses I spoke with was Heidi Manzanares, BSN, BS, RN,
CNOR, an orthopedic service leader at Denver Children's Hospital.
When one of her colleagues tested positive for COVID-19, she made
the agonizing decision to self-isolate from her husband and three kids,
Home Alone, Together
A nurse's selfless sacrifice taught me to appreciate the isolation.
Editor's Page
Daniel Cook