'I’ve never been away from them this long': Moms on the front lines of COVID-19
One physician and mom has her 9-month-old living with family out-of-state. Another doctor hadn't seen her son in 6 weeks, as she was gowning up to save lives during the pandemic.
Here are the stories of four mothers working on the front lines of COVID-19.
"Before, I would come home after a long shift and want to hold him."
Dr. Audrey Cruz of Loma Linda, California, has been separated from her 9-month-old baby while working on the same floor as patients with COVID-19 -- the virus that's killed more than 70,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands worldwide.
"Being a COVID hospitalist means I'm putting myself at risk," Cruz, an internal medicine attending physician, told "Good Morning America." "Even though I'm not working directly with COVID patients, I'm working on the same floor, with nurses who care for them, doctors who care for them..I wanted to make sure my son was as safe as possible."
Cruz's son is currently living with her parents, three hours away from her, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The last time she saw him in person was one week ago.
"Before, I would come home after a long shift and want to hold him," Cruz said. "He's the best part of my day. Being able to play with him, feed him put him to sleep is what I looked forward to."
"It's been really, really tough," she added.
For Mother's Day, Portal from Facebook has been honoring mothers working on the front lines. Through its campaign, the company put out a call to action for moms to continue to share their stories on Facebook and Instagram, which Cruz does on her own Instagram page, @dr.audreyxsue.
Facebook then sent Cruz a hands-free portal device, as it's been doing with other parents who work in health care, to help them stay connected to loved ones as they help stop the spread of COVID-19. Cruz uses the portal to see her baby each day.
"I did several post about having to be away from my son and how hard it is coming home," Cruz said, adding that the sacrifices come with the territory.
"It's hard to say that I'm used to it, but I am. It's part of the life," she said. "I'm a physician, a mother a daughter a sister so I appreciate the recognition, but it's truly our job and the reason we do what we do is we love it."
"It's fulfilling to be able to help people during a health crisis, and I'm blessed to have family who are so supportive," Cruz added.
For her first Mother's Day, Cruz will be working a 12-hour shift. Afterwards, she'll be spending time with her son.
"It's definitely not what I imagined my first Mother's Day to be," she said. "I imagined a brunch with my mom, mother-in-law, my grandma and my husband's grandma, but it's wonderful to be able to spend time with them."
"I've never been away from them this long, ever."
Dr. Dianah Lake, emergency medicine doctor, has been separated from her two sons as she has been treating COVID-19 patient in two separate facilities.
"In the beginning I was nervous [that] the next day going in would be the day that I get COVID," Lake of Laurel, Maryland, told "GMA." "That was something i really struggled with."
Lake, a 17-year physician, said she tested negative for COVID-19 two weeks ago.
Since she's still seeing patients with the virus, her kids are staying with her former husband 35 minutes away in Baltimore.
"I was becoming really concerned about being around them," Lake said. "I've been doing video chats with them. I saw my youngest son for the first time in 6 weeks on Sunday. We went to the park with our masks on."
"I've never been away from them this long, ever," she added. "Thank God for the technology we have to stay connected. My oldest, he called me last night when I was at work and that was the highlight of my night."
Lake said she's grateful her hospitals have adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), as the severe shortage of N95 respirator masks have been a widespread concern in the nation.
"Some colleagues in other states ... they didn't have any at all," Lake said, adding she mailed PPE to her fellow health care professionals. "You have to be properly protected, because you're going home to your family."
Lake, who's also a fitness coach, said her self-care regimen has helped her be her best parent and doctor during this stressful time.
"It's what we're called to do, It's what we chose to do," she said. "The hero piece, I understand it because it's a time when people may shy away from doing their job and not wanting to be exposed because it's a risk -- every time someone coughs in your face, not wearing mask when they should, you are exposing your family."
Lake said her friend Rabiah Duncan, who launched the Facebook group The Mommy Grind, nominated her to share her story for Facebook's Mother's Day campaign.
To celebrate the holiday, Lake and her sons are ordering takeout from her favorite restaurant, Seasons 52.
"I love my job and love what I do."
When nursing assistant Amy Crooks of Berne, Indiana, learned she may have been exposed to COVID-19, she didn't hold her baby for four days.
The facility where she's been working 12-hour shifts is connected to a hospital housing patients who have the virus.
As she does her job, Crooks fears for the safety of her infant as well as her fiancé, who she said has a compromised immune system with "really bad" asthma.
"If he got sick, he possibly wouldn't make it," Crooks, a mom of a 5-month-old and "bonus mom" to a 9-year-old, told "GMA."
When Crooks comes home from work, she removes her clothing inside the garage and heads straight for the shower.
In mid-April, she got a call from colleagues informing her she may have come into contact with a COVID-19 patient. Luckily, she has been in good health since.
"It was scary and by the end of it, I was crying because I didn't get to hold her," Crooks said of her daughter.
Crooks cares for elderly patients or whomever is in need of long-term care assistance or rehab.
One of the heart-wrenching challenges, she said, is seeing patients who either don't have family, or having to view loved ones through a glass window.
"I am grateful that I can go home and see my family," Crooks added. "It's weird to me because I don't feel like a hero. I've been doing this for six years, almost seven. I've worked in a hospital, assisted living, I've worked in nursing homes. I love taking care of people."
Since the global health crisis, there has been a spotlight and heightened appreciation for front-line workers, and Crooks said fighter jets have been flying above her facility as a thank you.
"We have a big sign that says, 'heroes work here,'" she said. "I love my job and love what I do."
Like Lake, Crooks said Facebook learned of her story through the public group The Mommy Grind, where Crooks shared a photo of herself holding her daughter for the first time after her COVID-19 exposure scare.
For Mother's Day, Crooks is having an outdoor picnic where family will gather at a safe distance.
"I didn't want to leave my baby, but I love my job."
Emergency room nurse Abby Blahnik recently returned to work after maternity leave. Her baby was just 9 weeks old.
Blahnik, a mom to three boys, ages 4, 2 and 2 months, said she and her family have been in quarantine since the first week of March.
Her days now in the hospital are quite different since the pandemic hit, she told "GMA."
"It's just higher stakes because the patients, as soon as they come in, it's mask [on], gown on," said Blahnik of Nashville, Tennessee. "You do want to move as quickly as possible and not miss something. The people coming in need help, some have lung trouble [and] you could hear it when they're getting out of the car."
"Just the risk I'm putting them under, I'm taking every precaution that I can, but it horrifies me," she added of her children. "We are doing everything we possibly can to keep from bringing it home."
While treating all patients, Blahnik and her colleagues have to have their entire face covered. If a patient falls under a certain criteria, then a second mask and or face shield is added, she said.
"Once it's all on, you have to go in and do your job ... it's just a lot of prep to get in, and the same level of prep to get out [of the room] safely," she explained.
Blahnik said she's been getting by with support from her husband, Andrew, and her colleagues.
"As a small child, the only two things I wanted to be were a cheerleader -- and a nurse," she said. "The fact that I'm doing that as an adult, I'm really proud. I couldn't be doing anything else."
For Mother's Day, Blahnik is looking forward to picking up vegan donuts with her family.
She said she's happy to be back in the hospital since giving birth to her third son.
"I didn't want to leave my baby, but I love my job," she said. "It's the only reason I could possibly leave him."
