As you think about what your
New Year's resolutions,
maybe the traditional healthy lifestyle
resolutions probably still apply.
Eat healthier exercise. Get more sleep.
However, after months of living with a
pandemic and still facing COVID in 2022,
what have we learned that we could
add to that resolutions list?
Well, Doctor Jeffrey Hatcher,
chief medical officer for Wesley
Long Hospital is sharing how to
apply experiences from living with
COVID this past year to year 2022.
Resolutions for a safe and healthy new Year.
Alright, so? Doctor Hatcher.
We're going to go through.
A whole bunch of suggestions
for how to do this,
and let's just start with the first one,
and that is how to battle head
on COVID head on one on one.
Yeah, I think that the most important
thing is to make sure that you're
vaccinated and you've gotten
your booster, and then, for me,
sort of personally and professionally.
It's to make sure everybody who I have
any influence over to try to encourage
them as much as I can to have had
their booster and to try to do much as
they can to stay safe so hand washing,
wearing a mask and social distancing
this we've known for a long time now,
but add that to the this
is what we're going to do.
OK, so this next one is all
about which kind of almost flies
in the face of COVID, right?
'cause COVID kept us quarantined.
And kept us away and sometimes still does
is about connecting with people more.
Yeah, I think that's really.
I think you've said it really well.
Mr Rivera, I think that's really the
tricky part about the pandemic is that
it's made us so apart from our friends,
one of my really good friends
at the start of this set up.
A monthly zoom with all of our friends.
And so when we weren't able to
get together we were always sort
of checking in and touching base
with each other and it really.
It just came to mean so much to me
after a very short period of time.
I was really grateful to him and all my
friends to be able to catch up like that.
The other thing that I.
We have done this a lot of outside
exercise and which can be social
and trying to do the best you can
to stay apart from each other while
you're running or bike riding,
or whitewater kayaking or whatever
it is you like to do,
but it really is a great way to
keep your fitness up and also
to reconnect with folks.
Yeah, it's just good to
be able to see somebody,
even if it is through a screen you know.
It just helps you instead of just
hearing their voice to see them alright,
the next thing you want to talk about is
completing your advanced directive so.
Let's talk about what does that mean.
To many advanced directives means letting
folks know what your preferences are about,
what you would like to happen if
something bad were to happen to you.
That is, if your health care
becomes suddenly burst into weren't
able to make your own decisions.
It's really, really important.
It's really hard to think about
and really hard to talk about
everybody struggles with it.
Physicians struggle and
talking to patients about it.
Patients struggle.
People struggle with talking
to their families about it.
It's just very difficult,
but it really is a tremendous gift
that you can give to your family.
Members to let them know in
advance what you'd like done
and what your preferences are.
I started doing this when I was very young.
Considered very young in
my 30s when I had kids,
but it really is important.
If you can't.
I really can't underestimate how
important this is to your family members.
Yeah, it's kind of like the whole will thing,
but it's also like hey,
if this happens I want you to
do this or if this happens,
this is where the information that
you need about banking information
or whatever it is, wherever it is,
and that helps relieve some stress.
For sure, absolutely, alright.
So let's talk about something that
you think should be on all of
our resolution list and that is.
Donating blood tell me why.
But I love that because I think
it's most of the most noble
things you can do is that.
You know, it's really.
It's really selfless and it
really saved so many lives.
It it really is a tremendous thing
you can do for your community.
The people that we we partner
with that cone, one blood,
all of our blood states their
sort of pitch is that all of
the blood that you've given your
community stays in your community.
But you know,
I think giving it the Red Cross
anywhere that you feel called to give,
it's just a huge huge thing to do.
And it's so important for it for everybody.
And there's a huge shortage
of blood right now,
and this was something that was
brought up not too long ago when
we did our own holiday blood drive.
That there's a lot of
things you can replicate,
but blood is not one of them that
actually has to come from the source.
So far that is that is true.
We have our level of science
has not quite caught up to
making our own blood yet, but.
Yeah, it's so important,
and so that is one of those
things where if you can't give
blood then please do give blood.
And if you've never given blood before,
it's one of those things where you
can make a an appointment and you can
go in on your own time and you can do
it when it fits into your schedule.
You can do it so that you are not like
maybe anxious at like a blood drive
with a whole lot of other people,
so that is a way to be able to do that.
Alright, So what we're going to do right
now is we're going to take a quick break.
We're going to be back with Doctor
Hatcher in just a few minutes.
We're going to finish going
over some of those.
New Year's resolutions and maybe a
few that you should add to your list.