Image credit:ID 173591757 © Alberto Mihai | Dreamstime.com Milan during Coronovirus 2019
We're open during social distancing.
We have decided to remain open to serve you during this time of shut down and social distancing due to the coronavirus concerns. We are taking several precautions, and are asking you to take precautions as well. Our hours may change slightly to allow our staff to have as much social distancing as possible, and reduce the number of people we are in contact with.
Why we're open.
For many of you Dr. McKaye is a specialist, whether you see her for naturopathic care or for chiropractic care. For some of you, she is your primary care physician, and a closure of the office would reduce your ability to seek reasonable medical care. Our other practitioners may also be your primary source of care, or what keeps you able to function at your best. We will still be here to take care of you.
The hospital is not the place to be right now, unless you're severely ill or critically injured. Going to an urgent care or emergency room right now is not a great idea unless absolutely necessary, and may expose you to the flu or COVID-19, when you would be better served going to your regular doctor's office.
The medical system, especially the hospital system, is overburdened, or may be shortly. It is our goal to help our community get their basic medical needs met without utilizing hospital or emergent care resources for conditions that are not a life-threatening emergency. We're equipped to help you with most concerns, and can at least help triage your condition and get you to the right place, should you need more specialty care.
What we're doing to prevent the spread of illness
We take basic hygiene very seriously. Even before this new virus, we were wiping tables down with hospital grade disinfectant between each patient, sanitizing doorknobs and surfaces, and washing linens in the sanitary cycle and drying on high heat. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Stephanie has included wiping down pens, and doing more frequent surface sanitizing.
We will not come to work if experiencing any symptoms that could contribute to the spread of illness. We ask that if you are having a fever or cough, or other signs or symptoms of flu or flu-like illness that you cancel your appointment. You may or may not know that Dr. McKaye has lupus and POTS, which places her in a high risk group for the new coronavirus. Many of our staff and patients are either in a high risk group or have family members or loved ones in a high risk group. Plus, no one wants to be sick. If you aren't sick, but feel that your visit can wait until the dust settles a little, we encourage you to follow the current guidelines and reschedule. Please give us as much notice as possible when canceling your appointment so that we can also manage our time to best take care of other patients, or of ourselves.
Dr. McKaye will be offering telemedicine for naturopathic patients if you are ill, or if you may be in a high risk group or for whatever reason want to avoid contact with the public. Many insurance companies already cover this. Some do not currently cover telemedicine, but may make exceptions during this time. If this is something you're interested in, please call Stephanie to schedule, and to check your coverage for telemedicine.
What you should do
Follow the guidelines for hand washing or sanitizing, social distancing of 6 feet, cough or sneeze into the crease of your elbow or into your shoulder, stay home if you're sick, and clean surfaces regularly. These guidelines have been widely shared, so I'll spare the details. These are good practices that should become habit from now on, if they weren't already.
Take the current shut-down guidelines seriously. The self-quarantine measures and all the hubbub are not meant to create panic, but it is important to spread out medical resources so that they're available when needed, aka 'flatten the curve' so that we don't all become sick at the same time. This virus is akin to the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic from about 100 years ago, and we have made significant medical advances since then, but there isn't enough of this heroic medicine to save everyone should we all get sick at once.
Other than this, the best things you can do to guard your health are basic self care lifestyle choices that help your immunity.
Sleep - getting a good night's sleep every night is important for maintaining a healthy immune system. 7-9 hours is ideal. If you're working from home, this will hopefully be easier to do
Avoid or manage stress - this may seem especially hard with all the COVID-19 talk, but gentle walking in nature, music you enjoy, laughter, qi gong or tai chi, sleep and good nutrition all help
Eat well - Making healthful food choices is important. Making sure you're nourished well helps not only the immune system, but everything else.
Avoid excess sugar - it depresses the immune system, and there's a good chance you're probably moving less.
If you're interested in other things to support your immune system during this time, please contact the office to make an appointment. These are some of the things I am doing, but it is not a one-size-fits-all model:
Increasing vitamin D - this is a fat soluble vitamin and, while most of us are low, it can be toxic if you take too much, but has a lot immune supporting effects
Increasing vitamin A - also a fat soluble vitamin that can become toxic, but can be an important anti viral supplement
Taking n-acetylcysteine - has been shown to be helpful in fighting flu and acts as a mucolytic
Taking elderberry - there's some buzz that this can increase 'cytokine storm,' or make your body's inflammatory response go dangerously crazy, but the research suggests this has a modulatory effect in the immune system and balances the immune response, and has been shown to be helpful against other viral illnesses, including influenza.
Although it's anecdotal at this time, ibuprofen based meds for fever may make things worse, and Tylenol based medicines may be a better option. There are other western and Chinese herbs that may be helpful in fighting viral illness, but if you think you have the COVID-19 virus, you should be tested and self quarantine (even from family members). Testing has been in short supply, but the Clackamas County Department of Health, Housing, and Human Services main number is 503-742-5300 Monday through Thursday 7am to 6pm, and they can direct you. There are few test kits still, though more labs are offering testing. If you are having more severe symptoms of fever, cough, and including difficulty breathing, please contact your local hospital before going in.
We’ve canceled all community events through March. We are also postponing the knitting/crocheting circle for now, but if you sign up for our list, we'll be sending out fun emails and videos with activities to keep you healthy, pain-free and avoid going stir crazy during the shut down.
As always, you can unsubscribe if it gets to be too much, but hopefully you'll find it a fun break from the work-at-home grind. We'll have special launches and first-in-line bargains as things get rolling again.