Delaware County Medical Society Summer/Fall 2020 - 5

FROM THE EDITOR

Letter from the Editor

H

appy Summer, Readers. We hope that you
enjoy our summer edition. This magazine is
coming to you at a very tumultuous time in
the history of this amazing country. Who
knew that COVID-19 was still going to be around this
late into the year? Who could have predicted the amount
of deaths that have occurred - 154,860 and counting?
Who would have thought that medical societies around
the county would have to make statements about the
importance of black lives because isn't a person of color
just another human being with darker pigmented skin?
As a physician, I'm in utter disbelief that there is even
a debate about the necessity of wearing masks while in
public areas. Please wear masks because they protect
you and those around you from COVID-19. And suffice
to say, as a black physician, I stand in solidarity with all
peaceful protestors of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
I struggled to write this letter because I insist that my
letters from the editor must have a positive tone and more
recently, it is getting harder to remain positive as my fatigue
increases and as patients become more anxious and angrier
about everything! As a solo practitioner, I work seven days
per week. Even though I am not seeing patients in the
office every day, I work seven days per week. On Friday,
I was so fatigued and so despondent, I was contemplating
whether I needed to retire early. I decided to take a break
from doing charts to walk through my garden. As I was
looking at my milkweed plant, I witnessed something
wonderful. I saw a monarch caterpillar hatching from its
egg. Instantly I grabbed the leaf off the plant, ran inside
and grabbed my camera. What a magical moment - new
life! My teenage son who hadn't seen me get so excited
recently came to see what I was doing and he looked at
the leaf and said, "It looks like a dot, mom." We put a
ruler in the photo to see how big the caterpillar was and it
was 2 mm in length as it happily ate its egg shell - totally
oblivious to my sadness, my fatigue and to all of the other
stresses currently occurring in the world.
After I excitedly flipped through the photographs, I realized
that this little tiny being had for a brief moment made me
forget all of the sadness and fatigue that I was feeling. This
little caterpillar made me run when I had no energy, and
smile when I thought I had no joy. Saturday and Sunday, I
went outside looking, peering at milkweed leaves, hoping
to find another caterpillar hatching. I got lots of bug bites

in the process, many new eggs, some new caterpillars,
but I didn't see another transition from egg to caterpillar.
That's OK. I will be watching the eggs like a hawk to see if
I can catch that transition again on camera. Sometimes we
find joy in the most unusual places. What brings you joy?
What makes you feel hopeful during these difficult times?
For some people it is their religion. For some people it is
camping. Perhaps you like to paint or draw. Maybe you can
learn to knit or to sew or to develop a new hobby. Please
settle in and instead of hating and lashing out at everyone
around you, offer a helping hand. Sometimes the love that
you give out to people comes back to you one hundredfold.
Thank you for reading our magazine. We hope that you
find helpful information in this edition. Please reach out to
us with any ideas, questions and/or concerns.
Until next time.....Stay Well.
June Elcock-Messam, MD, FAAP
Editor, Delco Medicine & Health

www.delcomedsoc.org

DELAWARE COUNTY MEDICINE & HEALTH

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Delaware County Medical Society Summer/Fall 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Delaware County Medical Society Summer/Fall 2020
