If you think Covid is a hoax, you might want to skip this post.
If you don’t like when people find silver linings – or entire pieces of silver – in the midst of challenges, you might want to skip it as well.
Almost four years after Covid first made its pesky appearance on the planet, Melissa and I finally got it.
It took us a week before we realized what was going on. We thought we had the flu. We rarely get sick, so it was strange that we’d both gotten so sick, but we still didn’t realize what was going on. We didn’t have any respiratory issues or sore throats, so that didn’t help with the assessment of what was happening.
Then I got an email from someone I’d run into at the grocery store a few days before I first had symptoms.
Given that it was the week before Thanksgiving when I ran into her, and given that Melissa was busy gathering up a whole bunch of obscure specialty items for our meal, I stopped and talked to this person waaaaay longer than I usually would.
Turns out, she got Covid the day after I saw her, and she was checking in, hoping she hadn’t given it to me.
When I got the email from her, Melissa and I both tested.
Sure enough, it was Covid.
It explained why we both felt sooo bad. But at least we knew what was going on.
That was all well and good, but what wasn’t so well or so good was that we just Kept. Feeling. Bad.
Finally, after two and a half weeks of this, I called my doctor.
Or, should I say, I called my new doctor. My regular doctor retired last year, and I hadn’t met with my new doc yet.
But my new doc wasn’t there that day, so I talked to another physician in the practice.
I told her what was going on and she started giving me things to do. Vitamins to take, foods to avoid, breathing exercises to do. She even prescribed outdoor time and gentle exercise.
As she was talking, I was thinking Who IS this person? A doctor is prescribing a food and exercise regime? How frickin’ cool is THIS?
So I told her I had a new doc but I hadn’t seen him yet. I asked if she would be my doctor.
She said she would.
She also said that one of her specialties is gender-affirming care. I got really excited and asked if she had seen the they/them pronoun specification in my chart. She had.
Those of us who live off the binary, and those of us who have traversed the binary from one side to another, know how challenging accessing health care and interacting with health care professionals can be. To have a doctor who specializes in gender-affirming care is not something I’ve ever had before.
And if I hadn’t gotten Covid, I still wouldn’t have a doctor who specializes in gender-affirming care.
After we hung up, I looked up my new doc online. Turns out she’s a DO, as opposed to an MD. (For those of you who don’t know what that means, as I didn’t, DOs have the same training as MDs, but with more emphasis on prevention and holistic care. Applications for DO training programs have exploded in recent years. Yay DOs!)
And there’s one more thing.
At the bottom of her bio, it said that she’s not taking new patients.
Yeah.
So now I have a holistic, gender-affirming doctor. Who wasn’t taking new patients but who took me.
Thank you, Covid!
P.S. Once we both started following the prescriptions of my awesome new doc, we got better quickly. Yay!
P.P.S. Melissa and I had yet another miracle to come out of our time with Covid, which I’ll write about in my next post!
What’s your experience with silver linings – or entire pieces of silver – emerging from challenging events? Share your comments below!
Want Sneak Peeks, Insider Info, and other Fun Stuff?! Become a member of OhMyGod Life!
Wow, I love how the universe presents you an awful thing, COVID and then grants you a great new doctor. Eat an apple and take a walk around the block sounds like my kind of doctor.
Hi Linda,
Right?! It was a true gift. One that keeps on giving.
XOZ
Wow, Z, that is amazing and oh so beautiful. Thank you for sharing. It sheds a whole new Light on health care. I love you.
Hi Kathy,
Thank you so much! I love you too! 🙂
XOZ
I call them collateral beauty. Grateful for the challenging event? No. No. And no. And yet …grateful for the consciousness to recognize the beauty and gifts that come in the wake of those events. Collateral beauty. (Stole the phrase from the movie. )
Hi Marina,
Ooooooooh. That’s a good one. I love that it acknowledges that the challenging event is still challenging. But there can be all kinds of other collateral goodies along with the difficulty. So true!
XOZ
I had been a member of Unity of the Valley Spiritual Center forever when the minister fired the musical directors that I had been closely working with during the Pandemic. This sent me into a tailspin, and I started searching for spiritual nourishment elsewhere. The musical directors got a gig at Napa Valley Center for Spiritual living. I went and was instantly hooked. Lo and behold, I discovered you both, you rocked my world, and my life hasn’t been the same since. This wasn’t a silver lining experience. It was more like a golden, diamond, platinum kind of experience. I am eternally grateful! xoxoxox
Hi Gary!
We are soooooooo glad that the circumstances in your life led you to us! We are sorry for the pain that was involved, of course. That’s never fun. But we’re also grateful for the outcome. We love golden, diamond, platinum experiences! And we’re glad that we get to have them with you!
XOZ
We were booked to fly to Portland, then Washington state to celebrate my sister’s birthday. Sadly, due to heat and smoke, we had to cancel. Here’s the silver lining: instead we’ve been invited to spend Thanksgiving in cooler, smoke-free, yummier celebration. Yay!
Hi Rev Suzanne,
Yay! I love when that happens. I’m sorry to hear that you weren’t able to make it to celebrate your sister’s birthday, but I’m so glad that there was a silver lining. And you could see it even through all the smoke! 🙂
XOZ
I took a nasty fall last December on a wet slippery leaf and ended up tearing my meniscus on my right knee. Strange thing, was I was wearing my slippery slide shoes and had stepped on a leaf before, lost a little of my balance and I got intuitive warning – Be careful. Well, that awareness lasted about 10 minutes. Because obviously, I did not continue my mindful careful walking. I have learned from some of my other injuries, a broken leg and broken wrist every medical situation provides three opportunities. One is the obvious disadvantages, it sucks when you have a physical ailment, pain and disability are conditions we want to eliminate and avoid. And then there are the advantages that comes under tea and sympathy category. All the love and support you receive, expected and unexpected. And the third one is the mysterious, more is to be revealed. This is part of the hero journey, does your script focus on being a victim or is your story one of resilience, adaption, and compassion. I have now recovered with a successful surgery, and knee surgery is the most common orthopedic surgery. And I now belong to the injured knee club. Whenever I see somebody with a cane, a brace I immediately relate and connect. And I’ve made some very interesting friendships courtesy of my right knee. Oh, and when you look at the metaphysical aspect of the location of your injury, it’s all about dealing with rigidity and stubbornness, and looking at how you need to be more flexible and confident about moving into your future.
Hi Ingrid,
So glad to hear that you are on the healing end of your healing journey with your knee! And yes, looking at the metaphysical aspects of location of the injury can be quite revealing!
Thanks you so much for your comment!! 🙂
XOZ
I love this Z!! Intentionally seeking the silver lining when Life is Life-ing is a serious skill! I appreciate regular reminders because sometimes it can be hard to remember.
Glad you all are feeling better. Thanks for sharing
Hi Sonia,
Yeah, Life doing it’s Life-ing thing can definitely be a challenge. 🙂
Thanks for your comment!
XOZ
Hi, Thought I’d let you know we seem to be (again) traveling the same path in an alternate universe. In early December 2023, I had Covid for the first time. Along with the flu and a UTI! It really felt as if my time was up. But I survived. Had “long covid” (medical term for “we don’t know what it is or how to fix it”) that is just now releasing me. AND in the process of healing, I signed up with a fabulous new doctor (who was not taking new patients). She is Board-Certified MD with a specialty in “Lifestyle Medicine.” This means focusing on the 6 pillars of WELLNESS: nutrition, exercise, sleep, social life, emotional, spiritual habits. She led me to a fabulous therapist who specializes in trauma and works with the same fundamentals. I will be 83 years old soon and can’t remember a time when I felt healthier, happier, saner…and totally grateful. Blessings to us all.
Hi Maggie,
Wow! I love this. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with this. And congratulations on being a thriving, healthy 83!!
XOZ
Great tale! One of my spiritual teachers has been against the framework of silver linings, in the sense of believing we must experience a bad thing in order to get a good thing. I see it more as our unseen helpers work to fulfill our desires in whatever way they can. Sometimes, we don’t hear them suggest something directly, so they get creative. In your case, you have a great new doctor because you followed a path to that doc. That doesn’t mean it would have been impossible to get a great doc any other way, but it’s awesome that experiences don’t have to be 100% bad or good. Now, I’m curious about the specific advice your new O.D. gave you. I’ve had Covid twice, and both times it was gone very quickly. I wonder if I am unknowingly doing some of the things your O.D. suggested?
Hi Lark,
The doc had me take Vitamin C and Caradamon. She also had me go out and walk 30 minutes a day – a gentle walk, taking deep breaths. And also stay away from red meat. Those were the main things.
Glad you that made it through Covid quickly both times! 🙂
XOZ
What an awesome way to see the good in everything!
I’m so glad you saw that particular doc and that she accepted you even though she wasn’t accepting new patients. OVER THE TOP “WIN” just like you deserve. I love you both so very much!
Hi Cathy,
Thank you so much. We love you so much tooooooo!!!! 🙂
XOZ