Covid-19

This has absolutely been an unprecedented time in the history of healthcare and in the history of anyone's recent memory who is currently alive. The speed and spread of the coronavirus throughout the world and the United States has been something of an epidemiological, geometric explosion over the last two to three months.

In spite of the seriousness and the rapid spread of the virus, life continues, and healthcare and health issues, also continue. There have been a number of recent studies that have looked at the secondary effects or the secondary deaths that can occur because of deferred healthcare due to the virus. For example, people who may be having chest pain or stroke-like symptoms do not call 911 and do not go to the emergency department because they are afraid of getting coronavirus, but then die from the heart attack or the stroke they may be having.

From a urologic standpoint, we see a number of urgent issues such as kidney stones that are obstructing the kidney with an infection, which can cause patients to become extremely ill, as well as a number of other surgical emergencies.

In addition to those urgent and emergent conditions, at Pikes Peak Urology, we urge you to absolutely contact the office or go to the emergency department if you feel this is a true emergency, regardless of the current state of the coronavirus in our area.

In El Paso county, we actually have a relatively few numbers of cases that are active at this time and relatively few numbers of patients who are hospitalized. As the economy, the state and the country reopen, we may see increasing cases as there becomes more interaction between patients and persons who have not yet been exposed to the virus.

One very small bright side to this entire pandemic situation is that the vast majority of people who appear to be infected, at least 80% are relatively asymptomatic, although that has also compounded and allowed the virus to spread faster as people who have the virus do not know they have it. We absolutely do not want to see any medical conditions that need to be treated go untreated. If you believe they are urgent, or emergent, please contact the office. or go to the emergency department.

We will get through this together. And I believe we will be stronger, better prepared, better educated, and in a better position, if and when there is a “next time”.