It is currently allergy season, and I am one of millions who suffer from spring-time allergies. It is always exciting to open the windows on the first few warm days to let the winter staleness out and the fresh breezes in. Unfortunately, those warm breezes also carry in the pollen and yellow-dusting signs that the trees are awakening and the flowers are blooming.
Fortunately, my allergies are rather mild with watery eyes, an itchy nose and sneezing being my most common symptoms. In the past, during this time of year, whenever I stepped outside, opened a window or inhaled a nice breeze, I would, undoubtedly, sneeze.
People around me thought nothing of it as I, like so many others, would sneeze into my arm or a tissue and carry on with my normal business. Today, however, this is not the case, because sneezing in the middle of a pandemic, whether it’s allergy season or not, gets you noticed.
At first, I tried to hold in my sneezes, but the little voice inside my head that thinks my brain will explode if I hold in my sneezes, usually wins and forces the sneeze out. Plus, I am not always super prepared for the sneeze as one of the major symptoms of allergies is ‘unexpected’ and frequent sneezing, and as much as it startles someone near me, it startles me even more. Then I tried keeping my mask on to contain the sneeze, but sneezing into my mask, is just plain terrible. I am not sure what the proper etiquette is when sneezing due to allergies in the middle of a pandemic which requires the wearing of a face mask, but I am fairly certain that it is the same etiquette when sneezing in general, which would be to do so in the corner of my arm, or a handy tissue. So now, I try to do this as quickly as I possibly can whilst trying to remove my mask simultaneously, all with little to no warning that my sneeze is even coming. And when the sneeze inevitably comes, I notice that people near me, now gawk at me and move even further away. I am certain that under their masks, their upper lip is turned in a grimace with a “Why are you out if you are sick?” judgmental sneer.
I get it. I’m sure I would feel the same way if I were them and found myself trying to socially distance, in a healthy way, and ended up near someone who was sneezing uncontrollably. In addition, it has been a while since I have come into close contact with my dearest friends, so I do not think that it is appropriate to try and chase down strangers who are running away from me to try and explain I am only sneezing because I have allergies!
I am now considering getting a T-shirt made that says “I AM NOT SICK! I HAVE ALLERGIES!”I know that it is not politically correct to categorize people and isolate them, but, perhaps, we should allow for special blocks of shopping times for allergy sufferers so that we can all sneeze without shame!
Achoo! Achoo!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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New medical
director welcomed
DAYVILLE — United Services, Inc., northeastern Connecticut’s non-profit Community Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, announced the appointment of Dr. Sarah deAsis as medical director.
deAsis most recently was chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Day Kimball Hospital, where she had been on staff since 2012.
deAsis completed her medical training in the Philippines, and practiced there before moving to the U.S. and completing her residencies in psychiatry at New Jersey Medical School and a Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship at Yale. She is Board Certified in General Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry, and has additional experience specializing in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment.
deAsis will be seeing clients at the agency’s Mansfield Center and Dayville clinics and will oversee the agency’s medical operations, including psychiatric services and Medication Assisted Treatment programs.
Dr. Venugopal Thangada, who has been serving as United Services Medical Director since 2018, will move to an associate medical director role. Thangada will continue his oversight of United Services’ Child and Family Division and his role as a child psychiatrist, a position he has held at United Services since 1994.
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Caught Up
Spring flowers are caught up in a Main Street tree grate. Linda Lemmon photo.
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PUTNAM — Day Kimball Healthcare (DKH) has received a $40,000 donation from The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts to support its efforts in fighting the coronavirus in northeastern Connecticut.
The contribution benefits the Day Kimball Healthcare COVID-19 Response Fund, established to provide critical supplies, equipment and resources in response to the pandemic.
“Never has there been a more crucial time for our community to come together in support of each other,” said Kristen Willis, director of development, Day Kimball Healthcare. “We are incredibly grateful for The Scripps Family Fund’s willingness to step up in this critical time of need as our front line healthcare workers care for COVID-19 patients from across our region. Their generosity will make a lasting impact and will be forever remembered and appreciated.”
The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts is a private family foundation based in Connecticut. The Fund has recently launched an emergency response to the COVID-19 crisis, supplementing its usual grant making focused on educational initiatives in underserved communities throughout Connecticut and New York City.
In addition to the grant to Day Kimball Healthcare, to date the Fund has made donations to other organizations including Access Agency, Inc., the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, Thompson Ecumenical Empowerment Group, Americares Free Clinics, Building One Community, Children of Promise, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, New Canaan Community Foundation and 4-CT.
“We are deeply touched by this generous contribution from The Scripps Family Fund in recognition of the lifesaving care our healthcare heroes provide during this unprecedented time,” said Joseph Adiletta, interim president, Day Kimball Healthcare. “We truly appreciate their concern for and support of DKH. This donation will enable us to further support our front-line caregivers while they remain focused on supporting the needs of our community.”
The charitable donation is part of more than $90,000 that has been raised through the DKH COVID-19 Response Fund since its recent establishment in April. DKH has also received valuable donations of medical grade protective gear, homemade masks, and other critical medical supplies.
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