Item
Rebecca Ferber Oral HIstory, 2021/11/27
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Rebecca Ferber Oral HIstory, 2021/11/27
Description (Dublin Core)
Rebecca Lynn Ferber is a resident of Oronoco, MN, and currently works for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist). In this interview, Rebecca talks about how COVID has affected her job as a CRNA and Mayo Clinic as a whole as well as a mom and wife. She also talks about how it has affected her family and friends and how some of her relationships have been strained because of different views on COVID. She touches on how it not only affects people's physical health but mental health as well and gives some advice for future generations.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
Creator (Dublin Core)
Contributor (Dublin Core)
Partner (Dublin Core)
Type (Dublin Core)
oral history
video
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Healthcare
English
Recreation & Leisure
English
Rural
English
Health & Wellness
English
Home & Family Life
English
Social Distance
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
Collection (Dublin Core)
Curatorial Notes (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
05/01/2023
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
05/30/2023
06/29/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
11/27/2021
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Elizabeth Raddatz
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Rebecca Ferber
Location (Omeka Classic)
Oronoco
Minnesota
United States of America
Format (Dublin Core)
video
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:44:41
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
Rebecca Lynn Ferber is a resident of Oronoco, MN, and currently works for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist). In this interview, Rebecca talks about how COVID has affected her job as a CRNA and Mayo Clinic as a whole as well as a mom and wife. She also talks about how it has affected her family and friends and how some of her relationships have been strained because of different views on COVID. She touches on how it not only affects people's physical health but mental health as well and gives some advice for future generations.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Elizabeth Raddatz 0:04
Hi, Aunt Becky.
Rebecca Ferber 0:06
Hello.
Elizabeth Raddatz 0:07
So today's date is Friday, November 26 2021. At 2:51pm. As of right now, there are 470,916,623 cases in the US with 773,779 deaths. In Wisconsin, there have been 863,439 cases, with 8960 deaths. In Minnesota, there have been 895,229 cases and 9338 deaths. Wisconsin has a vaccination rate of 59.3 and Minnesota has a vaccination rate of 62.2. So, as I already kind of stated your name, but if you would say your name and if you wouldn't mind sharing extra demographic information for the study, such as race, race, ethnicity, age and gender, please.
Rebecca Ferber 1:11
Sure. My name is Rebecca Lynn Ferber. I am a 48 year old female living in right outside of Rochester, Minnesota in a town called Oronoco. I am a white female mother of two married I work at Mayo Clinic and I am a certified registered nurse anesthetist otherwise known as a CRNA. So I help do anesthesia for patients for procedures and for surgeries. Is that good?
Elizabeth Raddatz 1:48
Yes. You're answered like the next like five questions I was gonna ask you, but that's awesome. So besides work, um, what are the other types of things that you might do on a day to day basis.
Rebecca Ferber 2:02
Um, I usually exercise every day I go for walks with my dog walking and running, more walking than running. And then I have two boys ages 17 and 15. And they are in sports. So we're kind of in between sports right now football and cross country are done, basketball is just starting. So lots of running around with the kids. And it it's the day after Thanksgiving. So now it gets to be for me Christmas time. So I will be shopping and decorating and making cookies and all that good stuff. So that's a normal day and bills and groceries and cleaning the house and laundry and the list goes on and on.
Elizabeth Raddatz 2:56
Okay, so you said you live in Oronoco, what is it like to live there?
Rebecca Ferber 3:02
So, Oronoco is a very small, little town or village about 10 to 12 miles north of Rochester, Minnesota. It's we live way out in the country. There is less small town and then then we live in the township of Orinoco. So we live I live at least 15 miles from Rochester where I work. And then our children actually go to Pine Island High School, which is another seven miles north of us. We live in a single family home. I don't know what else to tell you Oronoco is there's a lot of small towns that encircle Rochester. Making up the surrounding area. That's probably Oronoco is probably a size of maybe 1200 people. Pine Island where the kids go to school is about 3000 3500 Rochester is really comparable to Green Bay. It's like 110,000 I suppose. I don't know if that's what you're looking for. But
Elizabeth Raddatz 4:25
Pretty much yeah.
Rebecca Ferber 4:28
Yeah, it's a it's we live out in kind of a rural area, but all around us is kind of an urban area. Rochester is more much more urban than where we live.
Elizabeth Raddatz 4:33
Um, so when you first learned about COVID-19, like, what were your like first, like preliminary thoughts about it, like when you learned about it in January or whenever, like, what were your thoughts about it then? And have your thoughts changed a lot since then?
Rebecca Ferber 4:51
Yeah, so I remember hearing things I'm a big public radio, Minnesota Public Radio and National Public Radio person. So I was hearing about a lot of this in January, before it really started coming here. And I was probably one of those very naive people who was like, oh, there's no way it's gonna come here. They will stop it like they did with Ebola and that kind of stuff. And I mean, probably until, even in March of 2019, he was, I mean, Abe played in a basket, a huge basketball tournament in La Crosse. And it didn't even dawn on me that that things were going to be starting to change. And I mean, I took it seriously. But it was not really touching America yet. So I was pretty naive about that. And then, you know, then I just started hearing all this stuff about it happening out in Washington State. And then when it hit New York, and the death toll was just massive. And it was so fast. Then I got scared. And I got really worried. And then I would have to say, I would say, it was what mid mid March when the kids? Well, what must have been a little bit later than that, because they had spring break. And then it was from spring break on that they were they did school completely virtually. So that was, you know, like, nothing any was any one of us have ever seen. Certainly nothing I've ever experienced or even, you know, I would talk to Papa and Kay Kay and I was like, you know, was this what it was like for the polio, you know, when polio was going around, and they hadn't even ever seen anything like this. So it's, you know, looking back at it, everything went very rapidly, like Mayo Clinic decided to, I mean, completely go down to, you know, no surgeries, no elective surgeries, only emergency surgeries. I mean, that's like stopping the Titanic, from moving. Mayo shutting down like that it was really amazing, and, and how quickly the schools had to switch to virtual, I was amazed at how quickly they were able to do that. And, you know, just foolishly naively thinking that, you know, this would, you know, this would pass and by summertime, everything would be better. And, you know, it was just, it was very mind blowing, I was amazed. But I was also very taken aback by the death toll in New York. And so I mean, I got it, I was like, Yeah, we need to shelter in place, we need to take all these precautions, we need to start masking, we cannot be doing, you know, you know, as the summer as the summer went by, I always felt better being outside and getting together with people. But as as summer went, and then the kids went back to school, it was very much like, oh, boy, here we go. We're all going back inside now. And the kids are, you know, they're playing football and sweating all over each other and right next to each other. I don't know. So I mean, I got really worried then that things were going to get worse. And they obviously did, there was another second wave. So I don't know, I always just tried to be educated about it. Like I said, I listened to NPR and Minnesota Public Radio a lot. And try to stay informed. You know, I don't try to pay attention to like nightly news or certain news stations because I feel like a lot of their stuff is tainted one way or the other. So I guess I just tried really hard to be mindful of what we were supposed to be doing, you know, keeping the kids active. So when they went back to school, they started with like an A B, they were A kids and they were B kids. And one week the A kids would go Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then the next week, the B kids would go Monday, Wednesday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and vice versa. So that was good. It was better than the virtual. I don't know. We just we just kind of stuck to ourselves. The kids had basketball. They played with masks on which could not have been easy.
Rebecca Ferber 9:55
It was it was harder once the sports went in. But you just knew that they needed to have that outlet, you could tell that they were, I felt like my kids did really well. I feel like they adjusted very well to it again, they're boys. So maybe that's why. But um, you know, we were just super mindful of it at Christmas, you know, none of us got together for Thanksgiving. And then Christmas, we literally did the testing. We tested what like, one day before we left or two days before we left, just so that we all knew that we were negative going to Papa and Kay Kay’s. So we, you know, we tried to do our best and I don't know, my rambling, you can stop me whenever.
Elizabeth Raddatz 10:45
I mean, your your, your good. Um, I mean, I'll go into kind of another question.
Rebecca Ferber 10: 52
Sure. Absolutely.
Elizabeth Raddatz 10:57
So um, if you wouldn't mind going into a little bit more about how COVID-19 has like, directly affected your job. Like, I know, you kind of talked about it, like stopping like all the like, elective surgeries and everything. But like, if you wouldn't mind going a little bit deeper into that you can.
Rebecca Ferber 11:11
So for me, I worked down obviously in surgery. And they right, you know, when they stopped doing all the elective surgeries, they split there, we have a lot, we have a huge Nurse Anesthesia department or anesthesia department in general, well over 300 CRNAs. So they split us into three groups. And the first group, whatever the A group was basically off. You were supposed to do like, if you were off, you are supposed to work on, you know, CEUs, continuing education, but basically your your off. B group was work, I think they were whatever name they were, but they were physically working. They were at work, doing whatever, because we didn't know what we were going to be needed to do. As CRNAs, we have all been trained in the ICU. And we all know how to run ventilators and run pumps and all that kind of stuff. So we didn't know if we'd be deployed to work in COVID units. And then there was a C group that was basically on call, you were on call, and you could be called in at any point to do whatever. So um, and that went on for a solid, I don't know, maybe not a solid two months, maybe it was just shy of two months. And I work in the neuro anesthesia department. So we, I mean, we were never like slowed down to an absolute stop. Because if you ever brain tumor, you need to get your brain tumor out. So working where we worked, and also I do a lot of interventional radiology areas. So again, those people when they're coming to you and they have a bleeding artery year, you know, whatever they have to be taken care of. So we were doing a lot of we were still working quite a bit like when I went in and worked. I worked a regular full day. Yeah. Um, so we did that. And then once once we once I feel like everybody felt like we were kind of turning a corner, or at least in Minnesota, the numbers weren't as bad. You know, Mayo just really slowly started to allow, you know, it was like it was a emergency and urgent cases and then it became more like, Okay, if this is something that you know, I don't know who decided all this stuff, but you know, something that can't really be put off for more than a month. It's really affecting someone's you know, somebody has a horrible back and they can't move or hip surgeries or whatever. It really turned around quite rapidly. I would say by June we were pretty much just back up and going. And they did it kind of staggered. They you know, they did so it was urgent and emergent. And then they kind of did more and then they opened it up more. And so I mean, I would have saved by July was fullbore going just basically like it had always been and it's been busy. There was a actual, they actually took one of our PACU’s and turned it into a not a COVID unit they moved one of the surgical ICUs down to that area and they expanded the COVID unit to that ICU so that they were all closer together and I I feel like there were two well there with it. So there was one great big wave then. And then now, it's really bad. It's really, really bad. I believe, and I don't even know the numbers. But I heard somebody say that at Mayo, there were only six ICU beds left. And that was on Friday before I went to work. So I know that there's numbers for the state of Minnesota, and I want to say that it's like, in the state of Minnesota, they have 175 ICU beds. And I feel like it has been at max capacity for at least a month. So I know Mayo has stopped receiving patients from other hospitals, they will only take patients that are coming from the Mayo campus, the Mayo wide. So they'll take male patients from Wisconsin like, Eau Claire, and that area.
Rebecca Ferber 15:59
And every day at work, we have this. I don't know if it's like a census thing. But it's green, yellow, red. And I've worked at Mayo for 24 years. It'll be 25 in February, and I have never seen I've seen it get to yellow a couple of times, like during flu season, and it has been solid red for at least a month and a half. So they have not changed. They have changed some things like we're still doing all the surgeries, but they have put in a lot of rules. Like if you think that your patient isn't going to be able to have like same day surgery, if you think your patient has to be admitted, we should be putting that off. Yeah, as best as we can. They just really don't want to fill up the hospital, or have nurses taking care of post op patients, when we have so many other sick patients. And I mean, now you have all these COVID patients, but you still have patients who are coming in with the flu, or a heart attack or their diabetes sugar's are way out of whack or whatever else, you know, there's people get sick other than COVID. So or babies are being born all the time, and all that kind of stuff. There's kids still kids breaking their arms in football. And so yeah, now they have a little bit more rules and regulations. But they certainly didn't do like the hard stop that they did back in 2020 in March. So I think I think a lot I think they've learned, you know, we still have to wear masks all the time. Which of course we are a health care facility. Yeah. Um, and I mean, I've even have to say I after, after the summer, once, once the kids went back to school, I definitely started wearing my mask again, going out, especially if I'm in a small store, like a little boutique, or maybe at Sam's Club. I wasn't, but now I am because it's really bad here. So, but yeah, work work itself has been extremely busy. And you can tell I mean, there's just a lot of a lot of stuff coming out every day. With all the numbers, you can read a whole thing every day, they have left the Mayo Clinic dashboard. So that's all new stuff. But yeah, it was very, I think it was very monumental in the Mayo Clinic realm to have this entire massive facility just come to a screeching halt. So and I think that probably was really hard. You know, not just for Mayo Clinic, but I think patient care in general. Yeah. You know, you're talking about just regular, you know, so they weren't doing anything, they weren't having kids going and getting vaccinate their regular vaccinations. Women weren't going in and having their mammograms, people weren't going in for their blood pressure checks. People weren't going in for all kinds of stuff. So, I mean, obviously, we're trying to do the best that we can because nobody knew what was going to happen. But I you know, I think that they realized a lot of people missed out on care that they should have been getting, because we were closed. I think they've realized like, yeah, we can't do that again. So anyway,
Elizabeth Raddatz 19:25
Cool. Um, so Apollo should have asked us before how your job changed, but like before and COVID What was like your like, briefly describe what being like a CRNA like, what it that was before COVID, like what you did on a day to day kind of?
Rebecca Ferber 19:45
Yep. Yeah. So um, I take care of patients. You know, I do their anesthesia so that they can have surgery or procedures. I work a lot in MRI. There's a lot of patients that can't lay still for an MRI or they're claustrophobic or they might have a tremor. So my day, I mean day to day when we were right down in the like in the very beginning, the biggest thing that changed was obviously the amount of people that were working at once. But I think the biggest thing that changed was wearing the all of our PPE. So we basically, because when you do anesthesia, you're putting a breathing tube in someone's trachea Yeah, and breathing for them when they're asleep. And when you do that, that is an aerosolising producing procedures. So I mean, you're basically sticking your face down into someone's mouth. So anytime that we did that, that was considered a procedure that could generate or produce aerosols that would get in the air, which could be COVID. And so we had to wear the whole, the whole thing, and we did it for every single patient that we put to sleep. And, of course, PPE back then was really hard to get, and people were worried about using too much of it and, and N95’s, gowns and all that kind of stuff. So that was one of the biggest changes was having to get used to doing that for up for me, for every case that I did. Yeah, that was a biggie, you know, and just being mindful of how much use you know. And just doing it correctly. I mean, it was very, like, we would have classes to learn how to don and doff all of our, all of our PPE. And you just, it was hard because the job is stressful anyway, and then now you're doing this thing that's totally new to you. And you don't want to screw it up. Because you don't want to be wasteful. So that was a huge change. That was the biggest thing. That um, and I mean, just making sure that every patient that comes in, has been COVID tested. And you know that at in the beginning was taking a long time to get like they didn't have the rapid COVID screen. So everybody was getting blood draws and that just took a lot of time. Those are the biggies I think, for down for me working down in surgery, I'm sure up in the ICU. It's a totally different story.
Elizabeth Raddatz 22:36
Definitely. Yeah. So kind of switching topics a little bit, but not really. Um, so have you or anyone you've known gotten sick during like COVID-19. Like with COVID.
Rebecca Ferber 22:51
I don't think I got sick with it off. I don't know, there's lots of people who don't even ever really feel sick. I don't think I did. I never had an opportunity where I got really or not an opportunity, but an instance where I was sick, or lost my sense of taste or smell. We were very, very cognizant about not really getting together in small groups in buildings. I had a very good friend who got sick with COVID. And she, she was really sick. She didn't have to go to the hospital. But I would say she was down and out for Well, I mean, not even able to go to work for at least almost a month. I just got really, really, really sick. And there's I mean, there's a ton of people that I work with that got COVID I would have to say, probably at least 30 to 40 CRNAs have gotten COVID I don't know of anyone that I do in town I know of people that have lots of family was all my uncle died of COVID. But there's been a couple really, really sick members in Pine Island, people who have gotten very, very ill. And I mean, they're out of the hospital, but they're still on oxygen. They can't, they can't even really have conversations because they can't talk and breathe. Hard to eat because they can't eat and breathe. Can't walk up their stairs to get to their bedrooms. So they basically sleep downstairs now. A lot of that there's been been I mean, and then there's some people who get it and they're fine. Yeah. So but yeah, I've known lots and lots of people who have gotten it.
Elizabeth Raddatz 24:52
So in what ways do you think that COVID-19 is affecting people's mental and mental health as well as
Rebecca Ferber 25:00
Mm hmm. Um, I think it's, I think the closing of schools, especially when they went 100% virtual, that was probably really, really hard. I think I can't imagine, it was easy, easier for us because our kids were, you know, 14 and 16. So they, they can take care of themselves, I don't need to be home with them. So for the kids, I think that that for some kids that that was probably really hard to be isolated. And it was probably extremely hard for parents who needed to be home with them. I mean, what do you do? So I think that that the stress that that put on families was probably monumental, and also, you know, just not knowing what was going to happen or when it was going to end or, you know, I think that was probably really difficult. I think it was probably really hard for people who have anxiety, depression, or anyone who would go and see someone for help. You know, they're not getting in to go see these people. Hopefully, that's where the rise of doing telehealth and, you know, having I don't even know what, there's a million of them, all these companies now that you can do online, work with a psychologist or a therapist, that's probably been huge for a lot of people. But I'm sure for elderly people who couldn't have family members calm or if they were in a nursing home. And they didn't they weren't allowed to have family members come I think that that would be horrible. For the family who can't get in and for the person who's stuck all by themselves, the isolation must have been huge. Yeah, I think all around. I mean, I know suicides are up, I know that it's the largest amount of deaths from overdoses in this past year, huge amount. I don't know. It's like 300,000, or something like that. Last year in 2020. Yeah, I think it would be huge is that people losing their jobs, not knowing if they're going to be able to pay their bills, pay their rent? Are they going to lose their house? Yeah, I think it's a massive, massive thing that that has been on a lot of people shoulders.
Elizabeth Raddatz 27:30
I'm in like, for Evan and Abe. Have you like noticed? Like, I don't know how I really want to phrase this question. But like, have you seen like, any specific instances of like, them, like reacting to like, having to, like go to school online in terms of like, mental health and whatever, like not being able to hang out with their friends is much like, kind of question.
Rebecca Ferber 27:54
Yeah. Um, no, I think with that, I, like I said, I thought that they did pretty well with it. I kept asking them, you guys have questions, or you guys? Is that like, what do you think about all this? This is a pretty big deal. This has never happened before. You know, nobody really knows what's going to happen or what you know what to expect. I think both of them are so active. And I know, I mean, I think now looking back, they are like, Oh my god. 100% virtual was terrible. You know, they like now looking back on it. But when they were in it, they didn't seem to mind. I mean, Abe had like this, two and a half hour break in his schedule. So he would go watch Netflix shows. And I mean, they were both, you know, they're both into working out. So I mean, they, they would work out. And I think that that was huge for them to be able to have an outlet. I think Evan was even one of his classes was like peak fitness. So he had this whole thing, like part of his day was working out. So that was a big thing. But yeah, I mean, I think it was hard. You know, they would, you know, like him and his friends. They always were doing birthday parties and stuff. And so that all stopped. We were doing drive by birthdays, and which was totally fun and cool. But I think it was, I don't think either one of my kids are super social. Yeah. And we live out in the country. So I think they're used to not really being with people all the time. You know, we don't live in town. So I think for them, they they seem to do okay, but I mean, now when they look back, they're much happier that they're back in school. I think it's just I think it was it's just been good for them socially, to be back together. So yeah, I think I think they did really well, but I could see where some kids, it's just not. They just would really start to struggle.
Elizabeth Raddatz 30:07
Yeah. I'm so have you kind of going to the vaccine? So do you and your whole family like have the vaccine and everything?
Rebecca Ferber 30:20
Yep. We all were vaccinated. I was. I think I got vaccinated in early January of 2020. I mean, I got vaccinated as soon as I possibly could. And the boys didn't get vaccinated. Matt got vaccinated in probably March, I think. Again, as soon as he was allowed to get vaccinated, we got the Pfizer so we both got the two shots. And then Evan an Abe. I think Evan got vaccinated in May, and was done by before June and I think he got his first vaccine in June and then finished it or end of May, and then finished it in June. So we're all vaccinated. I mean, everybody that we are your grandparents, my mom and dad are vaccinated. Everybody that I work with, besides a few people are vaccinated? Yeah, definitely. For sure.
Elizabeth Raddatz 31:29
And did anyone like have like big side effects to the vaccine in the family?
Rebecca Ferber 31:36
Um, I, I didn't get sick at all. With the first one. I got pretty sick, like almost like had the flu, it seemed like or worse. For like, 24 hours after my second one, and then my I have gotten my booster already, and so has Uncle Matt. And I got, I got kind of sick from that. So he didn't have anything he never had. And he may get tired or feel just a little achy. And then I'm hoping that Evan and Abe are going to be able to get a booster here in December. I'm hoping so. Yeah. But no, I mean, I don't know. I know. I know. A lot of people got a great big swollen lump under their armpit. Yeah. But I haven't heard of anyone. I haven't heard of anything else. So yeah, I mean, on the news. I hear stuff but no one that I know of. has had any issues.
Elizabeth Raddatz 32:35
Yeah. And was it like an easy access to get in the vaccine while you guys so did you have to like look for it a little bit?
Rebecca Ferber 32:41
Oh, super easy. I mean, for me, I just went and got it at work. Same with Uncle Matt and then the boys they were actually giving them at school. So all you had to do is sign your kids up for a certain time and they went in and got it. It was super easy. Yeah, we did not I did not have any we didn't have any. But we worked for Mayo Clinic. So yeah,
Elizabeth Raddatz 33:13
So today's date is Friday, November 26 2021, at 3:32pm. So continuing from where we left off, um, so I'm going to talk a little bit like you said earlier, you got your information from like multiple different, like media sources and everything. But do you think that there are any important issues right now that the media like, isn't covering that you feel like they really like should be focusing more on?
Rebecca Ferber 33:46
I don't know. I mean, like I said, I really get my news from National Public Radio. I feel like they have done a great job on, you know, talking about all the things that you know, like mental health, and I think it's, unfortunately, very politicized, which should never be an issue when you're talking about health equals health. So unfortunately, I believe that that is tainting or spinning people one way or the other. That's what I don't like. But I do feel like when I know when I catch a few seconds on the nightly news or something, I do feel like they are trying to show all aspects of of education financially mental health, health wise, physical health, I do think they do a good job about it. I just unfortunately, think there's too much politics in it.
Elizabeth Raddatz 35:00
Yeah. And then kind of going deeper, like into the politics, if you don't mind. Like, do you have like, specific thoughts on how like local state or even federal leaders are responding or have responded to? Um, COVID?
Rebecca Ferber 35:16
Yeah, I mean, I can speak for Minnesota. I, and maybe a little bit of Wisconsin, but not really, because I don't know, I've just heard in the news that lots of people have fought Tony Evers, you know, like mask mandates and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, I know, I feel like in Minnesota, we have our governor. And then we have our I don't know what the title is, but she must be like the health. I don't know, health Czar or whatever she is. Jan Meltem. And then there's another one, I personally think that they did an amazing job. It had to be very difficult. I mean, using states and state of an emergent state of emergency powers, you know, to do everything from stopping people from getting evicted from their, from their rental units, you know, giving money to schools for PPE. And I know that there's been tons of funding that's been given to schools, even this year for mental health. Like I know, Pine Island has a new mental health coordinator, which we've never had before. So that's been really great. I think that they did a great job with all of the mandates, I think that they were used appropriately for the length of time that they needed to be used. I thought they did a great job, I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for all that making all those decisions, because you're never going to make anyone happy. And I do feel like when they said that they base their decisions on the science. I feel like they really did base base what they were deciding to do on the science that was out there at the time. Yeah. So I I thought Minnesota did a great job.
Elizabeth Raddatz 37:05
Ah, and I guess my final question here for you today is, um, has your experience transformed how you feel like, like how you think about your friends, family, friends and community and like, in what ways like, have they made your bonds like stronger? Have they been like, even more struggles?
Rebecca Ferber 37:32
Yeah, definitely more struggles. I definitely face my, my opinions and what I do based on science. And I, I firmly believe that that's where decisions should be made, is through research and science, not politics, and not depending on who you believe should be in the White House or the governor of your state. Politics should be politics, and there's No room for it in healthcare, especially in a worldwide pandemic, that has literally touched every part of this earth. So it's been very difficult. I, you know, I went to college, for nursing school, and then I went to get my master's degree for anesthesia. All of that is that all of my job, everything I do is based in science. So I, I let the science lead the way for me, and definitely have family and friends who our relationships have been massively strained, if not completely stalled, because we do not share the same beliefs. Yeah, so which is really sad. And I try hard to understand that people do have their own opinions, just like I do. But I do struggle sometimes. When I know that a lot of people's not a lot when I know that certain people's beliefs are because of political beliefs or misinformation. So there's a lot of misinformation out there. And I think people just grab the easiest soundbite that they can, and they use it for their own belief, and they twist things. And we live in this post truth era, where you can make, you can find anything that's going to back you up, whether it's real or not, but you're going to use it anyway. So that I don't agree with. And I think unfortunately, with, you know, virtual meetings and virtual classes, it just has also become a lot easier for people to not be very nice. Whereas when you're doing this stuff in person, maybe you are a little bit more on your be on your best behavior. But when you are on a video screen, or on Facebook, or Instagram, and you can just post something up there, that's nasty or not true. misinformation, then I'm not a big fan of that either. So yeah, definitely I have had relationships strained, if not kind of fallen to the wayside, unfortunately.
Elizabeth Raddatz 40:32
And I know, I said that would be the final question. But final final question.
Rebecca Ferber 40:38
Final final.
Elizabeth Raddatz 40:39
Um, so since this is kind of going up on a history archive, and it's going to kind of be used to like help future generations understand, like, what like living in COVID times, kind of was like and what people were thinking? Do you have like, any advice for like future generations? Like, with what you know, today, like, giving them advice about what to know about, like, kind of in the future, I guess?
Rebecca Ferber 41:02
Yeah. Um, I think the biggest thing for a lot of people is they everybody got so anxious, there was so much anxiety because there was so much unknown. And that often makes people anxious. And everybody had a right to be that way. For me, I think it was once I was anxious, I just needed to practice patience. Because I think, you know, the opposite of anxious is patient. So I think that was a biggie for me to just, you can't do anything. I mean, you can take care of you and you can take care of your family. But it's going to all play out the way it plays out. And I think just being patient, and I mean, I had a lot of friends that were like, I'm so sick of this COVID And I can't wait for it to be done. And I was just like, oh, I don't think it's gonna be done. I think it's gonna be with us, like, forever, like the flu. So I think that was one thing, you know, you just have to take it. I mean, I mean, in the beginning, it was like, you just have to take it a couple hours at a time. We don't know what's going to happen. Is this going to blaze across the country and,
Rebecca Ferber 42:20
you know, kill millions of people? Is it going to kill children? Is it going to get into our animal? I mean, it was just crazy. So I think you, you take it slowly, one day at a time. And you just try to get your facts, get your news from reputable people follow science, and don't be kind to each other. I It's you know, everybody, like tries to say all we're all in the same boat, and it's just totally not true. And obviously, I didn't lose my job. Uncle Matt didn't lose his job. We were able to have little rooms in our house set up for our kids, you know, we were able to boost our Wi Fi so that our kids could do that. You know, we were very fortunate. Not everybody did parents lost jobs. We didn't lose any family members to COVID But lots of families did. So I think just being kind to people and trying to understand the situation that they were in. So, yeah, and I also thought that it was super, super helpful to get out in nature to get out walking, get out to parks, just get out and be where you can be outside and moving and fresh air. And I think that that was a huge thing for me to get out and move and, and clear your mind. And that was very helpful for I think, everyone in my family. But yeah, I think it's scary and it makes everybody anxious. But you just have to do your best and you know, just get through it as you can.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:02
Okay, well, thank you so much Aunt Becky.
Rebecca Ferber 44:05
You're welcome.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:07
I mean, that's all I have. So I hope you have a great rest of your day. great rest of your Black Friday, and
Rebecca Ferber 44:14
I haven't even shopped yet. I.ve been making cookies and apple pie.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:23
And, um, I'll probably see you at the Walterkins Family Christmas.
Rebecca Ferber 44:27
Yes, the 11th or whatever it is. And hey, it’s kind of nice, because I'm seeing your kitchen for the last time.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:34
Yes.
Rebecca Ferber 44:36
Okay, all right.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:38
Bye. Love you.
Rebecca Ferber 44:40
Not really good bye bye.
Hi, Aunt Becky.
Rebecca Ferber 0:06
Hello.
Elizabeth Raddatz 0:07
So today's date is Friday, November 26 2021. At 2:51pm. As of right now, there are 470,916,623 cases in the US with 773,779 deaths. In Wisconsin, there have been 863,439 cases, with 8960 deaths. In Minnesota, there have been 895,229 cases and 9338 deaths. Wisconsin has a vaccination rate of 59.3 and Minnesota has a vaccination rate of 62.2. So, as I already kind of stated your name, but if you would say your name and if you wouldn't mind sharing extra demographic information for the study, such as race, race, ethnicity, age and gender, please.
Rebecca Ferber 1:11
Sure. My name is Rebecca Lynn Ferber. I am a 48 year old female living in right outside of Rochester, Minnesota in a town called Oronoco. I am a white female mother of two married I work at Mayo Clinic and I am a certified registered nurse anesthetist otherwise known as a CRNA. So I help do anesthesia for patients for procedures and for surgeries. Is that good?
Elizabeth Raddatz 1:48
Yes. You're answered like the next like five questions I was gonna ask you, but that's awesome. So besides work, um, what are the other types of things that you might do on a day to day basis.
Rebecca Ferber 2:02
Um, I usually exercise every day I go for walks with my dog walking and running, more walking than running. And then I have two boys ages 17 and 15. And they are in sports. So we're kind of in between sports right now football and cross country are done, basketball is just starting. So lots of running around with the kids. And it it's the day after Thanksgiving. So now it gets to be for me Christmas time. So I will be shopping and decorating and making cookies and all that good stuff. So that's a normal day and bills and groceries and cleaning the house and laundry and the list goes on and on.
Elizabeth Raddatz 2:56
Okay, so you said you live in Oronoco, what is it like to live there?
Rebecca Ferber 3:02
So, Oronoco is a very small, little town or village about 10 to 12 miles north of Rochester, Minnesota. It's we live way out in the country. There is less small town and then then we live in the township of Orinoco. So we live I live at least 15 miles from Rochester where I work. And then our children actually go to Pine Island High School, which is another seven miles north of us. We live in a single family home. I don't know what else to tell you Oronoco is there's a lot of small towns that encircle Rochester. Making up the surrounding area. That's probably Oronoco is probably a size of maybe 1200 people. Pine Island where the kids go to school is about 3000 3500 Rochester is really comparable to Green Bay. It's like 110,000 I suppose. I don't know if that's what you're looking for. But
Elizabeth Raddatz 4:25
Pretty much yeah.
Rebecca Ferber 4:28
Yeah, it's a it's we live out in kind of a rural area, but all around us is kind of an urban area. Rochester is more much more urban than where we live.
Elizabeth Raddatz 4:33
Um, so when you first learned about COVID-19, like, what were your like first, like preliminary thoughts about it, like when you learned about it in January or whenever, like, what were your thoughts about it then? And have your thoughts changed a lot since then?
Rebecca Ferber 4:51
Yeah, so I remember hearing things I'm a big public radio, Minnesota Public Radio and National Public Radio person. So I was hearing about a lot of this in January, before it really started coming here. And I was probably one of those very naive people who was like, oh, there's no way it's gonna come here. They will stop it like they did with Ebola and that kind of stuff. And I mean, probably until, even in March of 2019, he was, I mean, Abe played in a basket, a huge basketball tournament in La Crosse. And it didn't even dawn on me that that things were going to be starting to change. And I mean, I took it seriously. But it was not really touching America yet. So I was pretty naive about that. And then, you know, then I just started hearing all this stuff about it happening out in Washington State. And then when it hit New York, and the death toll was just massive. And it was so fast. Then I got scared. And I got really worried. And then I would have to say, I would say, it was what mid mid March when the kids? Well, what must have been a little bit later than that, because they had spring break. And then it was from spring break on that they were they did school completely virtually. So that was, you know, like, nothing any was any one of us have ever seen. Certainly nothing I've ever experienced or even, you know, I would talk to Papa and Kay Kay and I was like, you know, was this what it was like for the polio, you know, when polio was going around, and they hadn't even ever seen anything like this. So it's, you know, looking back at it, everything went very rapidly, like Mayo Clinic decided to, I mean, completely go down to, you know, no surgeries, no elective surgeries, only emergency surgeries. I mean, that's like stopping the Titanic, from moving. Mayo shutting down like that it was really amazing, and, and how quickly the schools had to switch to virtual, I was amazed at how quickly they were able to do that. And, you know, just foolishly naively thinking that, you know, this would, you know, this would pass and by summertime, everything would be better. And, you know, it was just, it was very mind blowing, I was amazed. But I was also very taken aback by the death toll in New York. And so I mean, I got it, I was like, Yeah, we need to shelter in place, we need to take all these precautions, we need to start masking, we cannot be doing, you know, you know, as the summer as the summer went by, I always felt better being outside and getting together with people. But as as summer went, and then the kids went back to school, it was very much like, oh, boy, here we go. We're all going back inside now. And the kids are, you know, they're playing football and sweating all over each other and right next to each other. I don't know. So I mean, I got really worried then that things were going to get worse. And they obviously did, there was another second wave. So I don't know, I always just tried to be educated about it. Like I said, I listened to NPR and Minnesota Public Radio a lot. And try to stay informed. You know, I don't try to pay attention to like nightly news or certain news stations because I feel like a lot of their stuff is tainted one way or the other. So I guess I just tried really hard to be mindful of what we were supposed to be doing, you know, keeping the kids active. So when they went back to school, they started with like an A B, they were A kids and they were B kids. And one week the A kids would go Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then the next week, the B kids would go Monday, Wednesday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and vice versa. So that was good. It was better than the virtual. I don't know. We just we just kind of stuck to ourselves. The kids had basketball. They played with masks on which could not have been easy.
Rebecca Ferber 9:55
It was it was harder once the sports went in. But you just knew that they needed to have that outlet, you could tell that they were, I felt like my kids did really well. I feel like they adjusted very well to it again, they're boys. So maybe that's why. But um, you know, we were just super mindful of it at Christmas, you know, none of us got together for Thanksgiving. And then Christmas, we literally did the testing. We tested what like, one day before we left or two days before we left, just so that we all knew that we were negative going to Papa and Kay Kay’s. So we, you know, we tried to do our best and I don't know, my rambling, you can stop me whenever.
Elizabeth Raddatz 10:45
I mean, your your, your good. Um, I mean, I'll go into kind of another question.
Rebecca Ferber 10: 52
Sure. Absolutely.
Elizabeth Raddatz 10:57
So um, if you wouldn't mind going into a little bit more about how COVID-19 has like, directly affected your job. Like, I know, you kind of talked about it, like stopping like all the like, elective surgeries and everything. But like, if you wouldn't mind going a little bit deeper into that you can.
Rebecca Ferber 11:11
So for me, I worked down obviously in surgery. And they right, you know, when they stopped doing all the elective surgeries, they split there, we have a lot, we have a huge Nurse Anesthesia department or anesthesia department in general, well over 300 CRNAs. So they split us into three groups. And the first group, whatever the A group was basically off. You were supposed to do like, if you were off, you are supposed to work on, you know, CEUs, continuing education, but basically your your off. B group was work, I think they were whatever name they were, but they were physically working. They were at work, doing whatever, because we didn't know what we were going to be needed to do. As CRNAs, we have all been trained in the ICU. And we all know how to run ventilators and run pumps and all that kind of stuff. So we didn't know if we'd be deployed to work in COVID units. And then there was a C group that was basically on call, you were on call, and you could be called in at any point to do whatever. So um, and that went on for a solid, I don't know, maybe not a solid two months, maybe it was just shy of two months. And I work in the neuro anesthesia department. So we, I mean, we were never like slowed down to an absolute stop. Because if you ever brain tumor, you need to get your brain tumor out. So working where we worked, and also I do a lot of interventional radiology areas. So again, those people when they're coming to you and they have a bleeding artery year, you know, whatever they have to be taken care of. So we were doing a lot of we were still working quite a bit like when I went in and worked. I worked a regular full day. Yeah. Um, so we did that. And then once once we once I feel like everybody felt like we were kind of turning a corner, or at least in Minnesota, the numbers weren't as bad. You know, Mayo just really slowly started to allow, you know, it was like it was a emergency and urgent cases and then it became more like, Okay, if this is something that you know, I don't know who decided all this stuff, but you know, something that can't really be put off for more than a month. It's really affecting someone's you know, somebody has a horrible back and they can't move or hip surgeries or whatever. It really turned around quite rapidly. I would say by June we were pretty much just back up and going. And they did it kind of staggered. They you know, they did so it was urgent and emergent. And then they kind of did more and then they opened it up more. And so I mean, I would have saved by July was fullbore going just basically like it had always been and it's been busy. There was a actual, they actually took one of our PACU’s and turned it into a not a COVID unit they moved one of the surgical ICUs down to that area and they expanded the COVID unit to that ICU so that they were all closer together and I I feel like there were two well there with it. So there was one great big wave then. And then now, it's really bad. It's really, really bad. I believe, and I don't even know the numbers. But I heard somebody say that at Mayo, there were only six ICU beds left. And that was on Friday before I went to work. So I know that there's numbers for the state of Minnesota, and I want to say that it's like, in the state of Minnesota, they have 175 ICU beds. And I feel like it has been at max capacity for at least a month. So I know Mayo has stopped receiving patients from other hospitals, they will only take patients that are coming from the Mayo campus, the Mayo wide. So they'll take male patients from Wisconsin like, Eau Claire, and that area.
Rebecca Ferber 15:59
And every day at work, we have this. I don't know if it's like a census thing. But it's green, yellow, red. And I've worked at Mayo for 24 years. It'll be 25 in February, and I have never seen I've seen it get to yellow a couple of times, like during flu season, and it has been solid red for at least a month and a half. So they have not changed. They have changed some things like we're still doing all the surgeries, but they have put in a lot of rules. Like if you think that your patient isn't going to be able to have like same day surgery, if you think your patient has to be admitted, we should be putting that off. Yeah, as best as we can. They just really don't want to fill up the hospital, or have nurses taking care of post op patients, when we have so many other sick patients. And I mean, now you have all these COVID patients, but you still have patients who are coming in with the flu, or a heart attack or their diabetes sugar's are way out of whack or whatever else, you know, there's people get sick other than COVID. So or babies are being born all the time, and all that kind of stuff. There's kids still kids breaking their arms in football. And so yeah, now they have a little bit more rules and regulations. But they certainly didn't do like the hard stop that they did back in 2020 in March. So I think I think a lot I think they've learned, you know, we still have to wear masks all the time. Which of course we are a health care facility. Yeah. Um, and I mean, I've even have to say I after, after the summer, once, once the kids went back to school, I definitely started wearing my mask again, going out, especially if I'm in a small store, like a little boutique, or maybe at Sam's Club. I wasn't, but now I am because it's really bad here. So, but yeah, work work itself has been extremely busy. And you can tell I mean, there's just a lot of a lot of stuff coming out every day. With all the numbers, you can read a whole thing every day, they have left the Mayo Clinic dashboard. So that's all new stuff. But yeah, it was very, I think it was very monumental in the Mayo Clinic realm to have this entire massive facility just come to a screeching halt. So and I think that probably was really hard. You know, not just for Mayo Clinic, but I think patient care in general. Yeah. You know, you're talking about just regular, you know, so they weren't doing anything, they weren't having kids going and getting vaccinate their regular vaccinations. Women weren't going in and having their mammograms, people weren't going in for their blood pressure checks. People weren't going in for all kinds of stuff. So, I mean, obviously, we're trying to do the best that we can because nobody knew what was going to happen. But I you know, I think that they realized a lot of people missed out on care that they should have been getting, because we were closed. I think they've realized like, yeah, we can't do that again. So anyway,
Elizabeth Raddatz 19:25
Cool. Um, so Apollo should have asked us before how your job changed, but like before and COVID What was like your like, briefly describe what being like a CRNA like, what it that was before COVID, like what you did on a day to day kind of?
Rebecca Ferber 19:45
Yep. Yeah. So um, I take care of patients. You know, I do their anesthesia so that they can have surgery or procedures. I work a lot in MRI. There's a lot of patients that can't lay still for an MRI or they're claustrophobic or they might have a tremor. So my day, I mean day to day when we were right down in the like in the very beginning, the biggest thing that changed was obviously the amount of people that were working at once. But I think the biggest thing that changed was wearing the all of our PPE. So we basically, because when you do anesthesia, you're putting a breathing tube in someone's trachea Yeah, and breathing for them when they're asleep. And when you do that, that is an aerosolising producing procedures. So I mean, you're basically sticking your face down into someone's mouth. So anytime that we did that, that was considered a procedure that could generate or produce aerosols that would get in the air, which could be COVID. And so we had to wear the whole, the whole thing, and we did it for every single patient that we put to sleep. And, of course, PPE back then was really hard to get, and people were worried about using too much of it and, and N95’s, gowns and all that kind of stuff. So that was one of the biggest changes was having to get used to doing that for up for me, for every case that I did. Yeah, that was a biggie, you know, and just being mindful of how much use you know. And just doing it correctly. I mean, it was very, like, we would have classes to learn how to don and doff all of our, all of our PPE. And you just, it was hard because the job is stressful anyway, and then now you're doing this thing that's totally new to you. And you don't want to screw it up. Because you don't want to be wasteful. So that was a huge change. That was the biggest thing. That um, and I mean, just making sure that every patient that comes in, has been COVID tested. And you know that at in the beginning was taking a long time to get like they didn't have the rapid COVID screen. So everybody was getting blood draws and that just took a lot of time. Those are the biggies I think, for down for me working down in surgery, I'm sure up in the ICU. It's a totally different story.
Elizabeth Raddatz 22:36
Definitely. Yeah. So kind of switching topics a little bit, but not really. Um, so have you or anyone you've known gotten sick during like COVID-19. Like with COVID.
Rebecca Ferber 22:51
I don't think I got sick with it off. I don't know, there's lots of people who don't even ever really feel sick. I don't think I did. I never had an opportunity where I got really or not an opportunity, but an instance where I was sick, or lost my sense of taste or smell. We were very, very cognizant about not really getting together in small groups in buildings. I had a very good friend who got sick with COVID. And she, she was really sick. She didn't have to go to the hospital. But I would say she was down and out for Well, I mean, not even able to go to work for at least almost a month. I just got really, really, really sick. And there's I mean, there's a ton of people that I work with that got COVID I would have to say, probably at least 30 to 40 CRNAs have gotten COVID I don't know of anyone that I do in town I know of people that have lots of family was all my uncle died of COVID. But there's been a couple really, really sick members in Pine Island, people who have gotten very, very ill. And I mean, they're out of the hospital, but they're still on oxygen. They can't, they can't even really have conversations because they can't talk and breathe. Hard to eat because they can't eat and breathe. Can't walk up their stairs to get to their bedrooms. So they basically sleep downstairs now. A lot of that there's been been I mean, and then there's some people who get it and they're fine. Yeah. So but yeah, I've known lots and lots of people who have gotten it.
Elizabeth Raddatz 24:52
So in what ways do you think that COVID-19 is affecting people's mental and mental health as well as
Rebecca Ferber 25:00
Mm hmm. Um, I think it's, I think the closing of schools, especially when they went 100% virtual, that was probably really, really hard. I think I can't imagine, it was easy, easier for us because our kids were, you know, 14 and 16. So they, they can take care of themselves, I don't need to be home with them. So for the kids, I think that that for some kids that that was probably really hard to be isolated. And it was probably extremely hard for parents who needed to be home with them. I mean, what do you do? So I think that that the stress that that put on families was probably monumental, and also, you know, just not knowing what was going to happen or when it was going to end or, you know, I think that was probably really difficult. I think it was probably really hard for people who have anxiety, depression, or anyone who would go and see someone for help. You know, they're not getting in to go see these people. Hopefully, that's where the rise of doing telehealth and, you know, having I don't even know what, there's a million of them, all these companies now that you can do online, work with a psychologist or a therapist, that's probably been huge for a lot of people. But I'm sure for elderly people who couldn't have family members calm or if they were in a nursing home. And they didn't they weren't allowed to have family members come I think that that would be horrible. For the family who can't get in and for the person who's stuck all by themselves, the isolation must have been huge. Yeah, I think all around. I mean, I know suicides are up, I know that it's the largest amount of deaths from overdoses in this past year, huge amount. I don't know. It's like 300,000, or something like that. Last year in 2020. Yeah, I think it would be huge is that people losing their jobs, not knowing if they're going to be able to pay their bills, pay their rent? Are they going to lose their house? Yeah, I think it's a massive, massive thing that that has been on a lot of people shoulders.
Elizabeth Raddatz 27:30
I'm in like, for Evan and Abe. Have you like noticed? Like, I don't know how I really want to phrase this question. But like, have you seen like, any specific instances of like, them, like reacting to like, having to, like go to school online in terms of like, mental health and whatever, like not being able to hang out with their friends is much like, kind of question.
Rebecca Ferber 27:54
Yeah. Um, no, I think with that, I, like I said, I thought that they did pretty well with it. I kept asking them, you guys have questions, or you guys? Is that like, what do you think about all this? This is a pretty big deal. This has never happened before. You know, nobody really knows what's going to happen or what you know what to expect. I think both of them are so active. And I know, I mean, I think now looking back, they are like, Oh my god. 100% virtual was terrible. You know, they like now looking back on it. But when they were in it, they didn't seem to mind. I mean, Abe had like this, two and a half hour break in his schedule. So he would go watch Netflix shows. And I mean, they were both, you know, they're both into working out. So I mean, they, they would work out. And I think that that was huge for them to be able to have an outlet. I think Evan was even one of his classes was like peak fitness. So he had this whole thing, like part of his day was working out. So that was a big thing. But yeah, I mean, I think it was hard. You know, they would, you know, like him and his friends. They always were doing birthday parties and stuff. And so that all stopped. We were doing drive by birthdays, and which was totally fun and cool. But I think it was, I don't think either one of my kids are super social. Yeah. And we live out in the country. So I think they're used to not really being with people all the time. You know, we don't live in town. So I think for them, they they seem to do okay, but I mean, now when they look back, they're much happier that they're back in school. I think it's just I think it was it's just been good for them socially, to be back together. So yeah, I think I think they did really well, but I could see where some kids, it's just not. They just would really start to struggle.
Elizabeth Raddatz 30:07
Yeah. I'm so have you kind of going to the vaccine? So do you and your whole family like have the vaccine and everything?
Rebecca Ferber 30:20
Yep. We all were vaccinated. I was. I think I got vaccinated in early January of 2020. I mean, I got vaccinated as soon as I possibly could. And the boys didn't get vaccinated. Matt got vaccinated in probably March, I think. Again, as soon as he was allowed to get vaccinated, we got the Pfizer so we both got the two shots. And then Evan an Abe. I think Evan got vaccinated in May, and was done by before June and I think he got his first vaccine in June and then finished it or end of May, and then finished it in June. So we're all vaccinated. I mean, everybody that we are your grandparents, my mom and dad are vaccinated. Everybody that I work with, besides a few people are vaccinated? Yeah, definitely. For sure.
Elizabeth Raddatz 31:29
And did anyone like have like big side effects to the vaccine in the family?
Rebecca Ferber 31:36
Um, I, I didn't get sick at all. With the first one. I got pretty sick, like almost like had the flu, it seemed like or worse. For like, 24 hours after my second one, and then my I have gotten my booster already, and so has Uncle Matt. And I got, I got kind of sick from that. So he didn't have anything he never had. And he may get tired or feel just a little achy. And then I'm hoping that Evan and Abe are going to be able to get a booster here in December. I'm hoping so. Yeah. But no, I mean, I don't know. I know. I know. A lot of people got a great big swollen lump under their armpit. Yeah. But I haven't heard of anyone. I haven't heard of anything else. So yeah, I mean, on the news. I hear stuff but no one that I know of. has had any issues.
Elizabeth Raddatz 32:35
Yeah. And was it like an easy access to get in the vaccine while you guys so did you have to like look for it a little bit?
Rebecca Ferber 32:41
Oh, super easy. I mean, for me, I just went and got it at work. Same with Uncle Matt and then the boys they were actually giving them at school. So all you had to do is sign your kids up for a certain time and they went in and got it. It was super easy. Yeah, we did not I did not have any we didn't have any. But we worked for Mayo Clinic. So yeah,
Elizabeth Raddatz 33:13
So today's date is Friday, November 26 2021, at 3:32pm. So continuing from where we left off, um, so I'm going to talk a little bit like you said earlier, you got your information from like multiple different, like media sources and everything. But do you think that there are any important issues right now that the media like, isn't covering that you feel like they really like should be focusing more on?
Rebecca Ferber 33:46
I don't know. I mean, like I said, I really get my news from National Public Radio. I feel like they have done a great job on, you know, talking about all the things that you know, like mental health, and I think it's, unfortunately, very politicized, which should never be an issue when you're talking about health equals health. So unfortunately, I believe that that is tainting or spinning people one way or the other. That's what I don't like. But I do feel like when I know when I catch a few seconds on the nightly news or something, I do feel like they are trying to show all aspects of of education financially mental health, health wise, physical health, I do think they do a good job about it. I just unfortunately, think there's too much politics in it.
Elizabeth Raddatz 35:00
Yeah. And then kind of going deeper, like into the politics, if you don't mind. Like, do you have like, specific thoughts on how like local state or even federal leaders are responding or have responded to? Um, COVID?
Rebecca Ferber 35:16
Yeah, I mean, I can speak for Minnesota. I, and maybe a little bit of Wisconsin, but not really, because I don't know, I've just heard in the news that lots of people have fought Tony Evers, you know, like mask mandates and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, I know, I feel like in Minnesota, we have our governor. And then we have our I don't know what the title is, but she must be like the health. I don't know, health Czar or whatever she is. Jan Meltem. And then there's another one, I personally think that they did an amazing job. It had to be very difficult. I mean, using states and state of an emergent state of emergency powers, you know, to do everything from stopping people from getting evicted from their, from their rental units, you know, giving money to schools for PPE. And I know that there's been tons of funding that's been given to schools, even this year for mental health. Like I know, Pine Island has a new mental health coordinator, which we've never had before. So that's been really great. I think that they did a great job with all of the mandates, I think that they were used appropriately for the length of time that they needed to be used. I thought they did a great job, I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for all that making all those decisions, because you're never going to make anyone happy. And I do feel like when they said that they base their decisions on the science. I feel like they really did base base what they were deciding to do on the science that was out there at the time. Yeah. So I I thought Minnesota did a great job.
Elizabeth Raddatz 37:05
Ah, and I guess my final question here for you today is, um, has your experience transformed how you feel like, like how you think about your friends, family, friends and community and like, in what ways like, have they made your bonds like stronger? Have they been like, even more struggles?
Rebecca Ferber 37:32
Yeah, definitely more struggles. I definitely face my, my opinions and what I do based on science. And I, I firmly believe that that's where decisions should be made, is through research and science, not politics, and not depending on who you believe should be in the White House or the governor of your state. Politics should be politics, and there's No room for it in healthcare, especially in a worldwide pandemic, that has literally touched every part of this earth. So it's been very difficult. I, you know, I went to college, for nursing school, and then I went to get my master's degree for anesthesia. All of that is that all of my job, everything I do is based in science. So I, I let the science lead the way for me, and definitely have family and friends who our relationships have been massively strained, if not completely stalled, because we do not share the same beliefs. Yeah, so which is really sad. And I try hard to understand that people do have their own opinions, just like I do. But I do struggle sometimes. When I know that a lot of people's not a lot when I know that certain people's beliefs are because of political beliefs or misinformation. So there's a lot of misinformation out there. And I think people just grab the easiest soundbite that they can, and they use it for their own belief, and they twist things. And we live in this post truth era, where you can make, you can find anything that's going to back you up, whether it's real or not, but you're going to use it anyway. So that I don't agree with. And I think unfortunately, with, you know, virtual meetings and virtual classes, it just has also become a lot easier for people to not be very nice. Whereas when you're doing this stuff in person, maybe you are a little bit more on your be on your best behavior. But when you are on a video screen, or on Facebook, or Instagram, and you can just post something up there, that's nasty or not true. misinformation, then I'm not a big fan of that either. So yeah, definitely I have had relationships strained, if not kind of fallen to the wayside, unfortunately.
Elizabeth Raddatz 40:32
And I know, I said that would be the final question. But final final question.
Rebecca Ferber 40:38
Final final.
Elizabeth Raddatz 40:39
Um, so since this is kind of going up on a history archive, and it's going to kind of be used to like help future generations understand, like, what like living in COVID times, kind of was like and what people were thinking? Do you have like, any advice for like future generations? Like, with what you know, today, like, giving them advice about what to know about, like, kind of in the future, I guess?
Rebecca Ferber 41:02
Yeah. Um, I think the biggest thing for a lot of people is they everybody got so anxious, there was so much anxiety because there was so much unknown. And that often makes people anxious. And everybody had a right to be that way. For me, I think it was once I was anxious, I just needed to practice patience. Because I think, you know, the opposite of anxious is patient. So I think that was a biggie for me to just, you can't do anything. I mean, you can take care of you and you can take care of your family. But it's going to all play out the way it plays out. And I think just being patient, and I mean, I had a lot of friends that were like, I'm so sick of this COVID And I can't wait for it to be done. And I was just like, oh, I don't think it's gonna be done. I think it's gonna be with us, like, forever, like the flu. So I think that was one thing, you know, you just have to take it. I mean, I mean, in the beginning, it was like, you just have to take it a couple hours at a time. We don't know what's going to happen. Is this going to blaze across the country and,
Rebecca Ferber 42:20
you know, kill millions of people? Is it going to kill children? Is it going to get into our animal? I mean, it was just crazy. So I think you, you take it slowly, one day at a time. And you just try to get your facts, get your news from reputable people follow science, and don't be kind to each other. I It's you know, everybody, like tries to say all we're all in the same boat, and it's just totally not true. And obviously, I didn't lose my job. Uncle Matt didn't lose his job. We were able to have little rooms in our house set up for our kids, you know, we were able to boost our Wi Fi so that our kids could do that. You know, we were very fortunate. Not everybody did parents lost jobs. We didn't lose any family members to COVID But lots of families did. So I think just being kind to people and trying to understand the situation that they were in. So, yeah, and I also thought that it was super, super helpful to get out in nature to get out walking, get out to parks, just get out and be where you can be outside and moving and fresh air. And I think that that was a huge thing for me to get out and move and, and clear your mind. And that was very helpful for I think, everyone in my family. But yeah, I think it's scary and it makes everybody anxious. But you just have to do your best and you know, just get through it as you can.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:02
Okay, well, thank you so much Aunt Becky.
Rebecca Ferber 44:05
You're welcome.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:07
I mean, that's all I have. So I hope you have a great rest of your day. great rest of your Black Friday, and
Rebecca Ferber 44:14
I haven't even shopped yet. I.ve been making cookies and apple pie.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:23
And, um, I'll probably see you at the Walterkins Family Christmas.
Rebecca Ferber 44:27
Yes, the 11th or whatever it is. And hey, it’s kind of nice, because I'm seeing your kitchen for the last time.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:34
Yes.
Rebecca Ferber 44:36
Okay, all right.
Elizabeth Raddatz 44:38
Bye. Love you.
Rebecca Ferber 44:40
Not really good bye bye.