I'm glad you have started sharing your poems, and this one is touching in its connections to nature (and the symbolism of rushing water passing by rushes and over the river rocks) and in your compassion for the elderly patient who knew death was near. I'm sure your presence, however, was not fumbling.
Made me think perhaps of my own future passing. How my responses to those souls who have only recently met me yet guided me down my last pathway with dedicated and compassionate care perceived me as fellow soul ending the journey of life.
Your poem makes me think of my dad, in his last few years, “smooth rocks in the river’s bed.” It’s the first poem I’ve read about death from the perspective. of a doctor, “his last doctor.” Thank you, and please keep sharing these.
This is such a lovely remembrance of a moment in a way that opened my heart to imagine your life and that of your patient. Thank you. And as someone who also writes poetry, and has gotten some of hers published, I would not in any way call this "bad" poetry.
I thought about this lovely poem after having a conversation with our friend M. She is 94, extremely physically disabled and homebound (none of which she would use to describe herself). She called because she'd had an encounter in the building where she lives with a very imperious woman who insisted that the food service in her building use proper continental place settings for its silverware. M. related the tale, with her trademark marvelous wit, and advised that she intended to turn it into a short story. Which is all to say that turning life into stories and poems is a beautiful thing.
Now, I, as another up there in years, though not nearly so far as M, have turned to prose once again in my continuing quest to get New York City to up its game in Covid wastewater reporting. As I wrote this, you were figuratively at my shoulder, as I believed you would not be among those who shrug off such an effort as not worth anyone's time. Here's what I wrote, trying out, though only partially succeeding, using Dr. Jetelina's "Smart Brevity" approach:
I am writing to you at the recommendation of XX, Director of Communications and Public Engagement for Council Member XX, with concerns about the timeliness of New York City’s Covid wastewater reporting.
As I am sure you are aware, for those of us at higher risk due to age and/or immunocompromised status, Covid wastewater data and trendlines are critically important components for assessing our individual risk and adapting our personal protocols accordingly.
New York City, however, appears to be lagging in collecting and/or reporting this data, such that it is not included in the CDC’s Covid wastewater reporting and, in any event, is not timely enough to be useful to assess risk. I am hoping you might be able to help with the following:
>obtaining information from the relevant New York City agencies related to timeliness of New York City’s Covid wastewater collection and reporting generally, and to the CDC, specifically;
>taking such steps as are needed to reduce New York City's lag in collection and reporting so that such data is more timely generally, and is able to be included in the CDC reporting, specifically.
Below is additional information that I hope will aid you in investigating this matter:
CDC Site Reporting
At present, the most end-user friendly place to obtain Covid wastewater data, including the all-important short- and longer-term trend lines, is on the CDC “National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS site),” and specifically the “Wastewater COVID-19 National and Regional Trends” page and “Covid Data Tracker” portion of the “Wastewater COVID-19 State and Territory Trends” page of the CDC site.
Unfortunately, since at least prior to the 2023 Thanksgiving holiday, no New York City data has been included on the CDC site. For example, as of today (February 24, 2024), for the most recent 15-day period posted at the CDC (2/5-19/24), the CDC shows New York City’s “Percent change of SARS-CoV-2 in the last 15 days” as N/A. CDC’s explanation for the trend line calculation is as follows:
Percent change is calculated as the modeled change over 15 days, based on linear regression of log-transformed SARS-CoV-2 levels. A site must report at least 2 samples over the 15-day period to calculate percent change. Sites with ‘No recent data’ (colored gray on the map) reported fewer than 2 samples for the current 15-day period.
Category change in the last 7 days is calculated by subtracting the current number of sites in each percent change category from the number of sites in the same category 7 days earlier and dividing by the number of sites in the same category 7 days earlier. Note: If a category had no sites in it 7 days earlier, the category change in the last 7 days is listed as “N/A*” since you cannot divide by 0.
This strongly suggests that the reason New York City’s data is not included is due to a lag in New York City collecting and/or reporting such data to the CDC.
New York State Reporting
New York State also reports Covid wastewater data, albeit in a less user-friendly manner and more limited in scope (no long-term trendline that I could find, e.g.). As of today, NYS’s “Covid-19 Wastewater Surveillance” site shows that the latest sample taken for all New York, Bronx, Queens, Kings, and Richmond County sites was February 6, 2024. For comparison, the latest samples taken for Ulster County are 2/20 (Kingston) and 2/14 (Saugerties and New Paltz).
Thank you for any assistance you can give, and for all your hard and good work in our behalf.
And to you, Dr. McCormick, thank you for giving us not only facts and insights, but also a bit of beauty to enhance our days. Happy Sunday!
Ryan, this is such a beautiful poem, thank you for sharing it. I’m very happy you decided to dive back into writing. The witty way you share in formation and musings up lifts my day.
Ryan, I truly appreciate your reflections on life and your poem is delightful, though tinged with pathos and sadness. I myself have long had the desire to express my thoughts, experiences and ideas in writing, but failed miserably. That isn't to say that I have never succeeded in the recording, just that the volume of the writings have never done justice to the volume of thoughts. Upon reflection I understand that I have two chief enemies within me: embarrassment and procrastination. They feed upon each other in a horrible way, resulting in emptiness or detritus. I'm battling them right now, but I'm determined to triumph. Thanks for all that you do, you're a good man and I'm glad to have you as my doctor. Keep up the good work.
the kind of person I would like to have known
I'm glad you have started sharing your poems, and this one is touching in its connections to nature (and the symbolism of rushing water passing by rushes and over the river rocks) and in your compassion for the elderly patient who knew death was near. I'm sure your presence, however, was not fumbling.
very cool
This is a lovely poem. Brimming with humanity, and elegantly written too. Thank you.
Oh, my. Just beautiful, Ryan. You are a treasure. Thank you for all that you do as a doctor and thank you for being a wonderful human being.
Made me think perhaps of my own future passing. How my responses to those souls who have only recently met me yet guided me down my last pathway with dedicated and compassionate care perceived me as fellow soul ending the journey of life.
Your poem makes me think of my dad, in his last few years, “smooth rocks in the river’s bed.” It’s the first poem I’ve read about death from the perspective. of a doctor, “his last doctor.” Thank you, and please keep sharing these.
Reminds me of the pause one may take when the death certificate arrives and you take the moment to remember….
More please.....
You show what all doctors should have: empathy, caring and humility.
A poem of grace and beauty that reflects the human plight
On the trials and tribulations that we all must face. The one illness no doctor can cure and no person can avoid. Well done!
This is such a lovely remembrance of a moment in a way that opened my heart to imagine your life and that of your patient. Thank you. And as someone who also writes poetry, and has gotten some of hers published, I would not in any way call this "bad" poetry.
I thought about this lovely poem after having a conversation with our friend M. She is 94, extremely physically disabled and homebound (none of which she would use to describe herself). She called because she'd had an encounter in the building where she lives with a very imperious woman who insisted that the food service in her building use proper continental place settings for its silverware. M. related the tale, with her trademark marvelous wit, and advised that she intended to turn it into a short story. Which is all to say that turning life into stories and poems is a beautiful thing.
Now, I, as another up there in years, though not nearly so far as M, have turned to prose once again in my continuing quest to get New York City to up its game in Covid wastewater reporting. As I wrote this, you were figuratively at my shoulder, as I believed you would not be among those who shrug off such an effort as not worth anyone's time. Here's what I wrote, trying out, though only partially succeeding, using Dr. Jetelina's "Smart Brevity" approach:
I am writing to you at the recommendation of XX, Director of Communications and Public Engagement for Council Member XX, with concerns about the timeliness of New York City’s Covid wastewater reporting.
As I am sure you are aware, for those of us at higher risk due to age and/or immunocompromised status, Covid wastewater data and trendlines are critically important components for assessing our individual risk and adapting our personal protocols accordingly.
New York City, however, appears to be lagging in collecting and/or reporting this data, such that it is not included in the CDC’s Covid wastewater reporting and, in any event, is not timely enough to be useful to assess risk. I am hoping you might be able to help with the following:
>obtaining information from the relevant New York City agencies related to timeliness of New York City’s Covid wastewater collection and reporting generally, and to the CDC, specifically;
>taking such steps as are needed to reduce New York City's lag in collection and reporting so that such data is more timely generally, and is able to be included in the CDC reporting, specifically.
Below is additional information that I hope will aid you in investigating this matter:
CDC Site Reporting
At present, the most end-user friendly place to obtain Covid wastewater data, including the all-important short- and longer-term trend lines, is on the CDC “National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS site),” and specifically the “Wastewater COVID-19 National and Regional Trends” page and “Covid Data Tracker” portion of the “Wastewater COVID-19 State and Territory Trends” page of the CDC site.
Unfortunately, since at least prior to the 2023 Thanksgiving holiday, no New York City data has been included on the CDC site. For example, as of today (February 24, 2024), for the most recent 15-day period posted at the CDC (2/5-19/24), the CDC shows New York City’s “Percent change of SARS-CoV-2 in the last 15 days” as N/A. CDC’s explanation for the trend line calculation is as follows:
Percent change is calculated as the modeled change over 15 days, based on linear regression of log-transformed SARS-CoV-2 levels. A site must report at least 2 samples over the 15-day period to calculate percent change. Sites with ‘No recent data’ (colored gray on the map) reported fewer than 2 samples for the current 15-day period.
Category change in the last 7 days is calculated by subtracting the current number of sites in each percent change category from the number of sites in the same category 7 days earlier and dividing by the number of sites in the same category 7 days earlier. Note: If a category had no sites in it 7 days earlier, the category change in the last 7 days is listed as “N/A*” since you cannot divide by 0.
This strongly suggests that the reason New York City’s data is not included is due to a lag in New York City collecting and/or reporting such data to the CDC.
New York State Reporting
New York State also reports Covid wastewater data, albeit in a less user-friendly manner and more limited in scope (no long-term trendline that I could find, e.g.). As of today, NYS’s “Covid-19 Wastewater Surveillance” site shows that the latest sample taken for all New York, Bronx, Queens, Kings, and Richmond County sites was February 6, 2024. For comparison, the latest samples taken for Ulster County are 2/20 (Kingston) and 2/14 (Saugerties and New Paltz).
Thank you for any assistance you can give, and for all your hard and good work in our behalf.
And to you, Dr. McCormick, thank you for giving us not only facts and insights, but also a bit of beauty to enhance our days. Happy Sunday!
Ryan, this is such a beautiful poem, thank you for sharing it. I’m very happy you decided to dive back into writing. The witty way you share in formation and musings up lifts my day.
Ryan, I truly appreciate your reflections on life and your poem is delightful, though tinged with pathos and sadness. I myself have long had the desire to express my thoughts, experiences and ideas in writing, but failed miserably. That isn't to say that I have never succeeded in the recording, just that the volume of the writings have never done justice to the volume of thoughts. Upon reflection I understand that I have two chief enemies within me: embarrassment and procrastination. They feed upon each other in a horrible way, resulting in emptiness or detritus. I'm battling them right now, but I'm determined to triumph. Thanks for all that you do, you're a good man and I'm glad to have you as my doctor. Keep up the good work.
I picked a lovely day to read your Substack. ❤️