‘You have to count your blessings’

Abby Payne has worked as a sonographer at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center for almost two years, but COVID-19 changed everything.

“It’s emotionally so hard. I remember the first room I walked into,” Payne said. “I was honestly not so scared to get the virus myself but to get it and pass it to others. I’ve seen what happens to people, they get really sick. Especially those first three months were the scariest.”

As medical professionals learned more about COVID, they discovered that the heart and lungs are both affected in many patients. Doctors needs to see what was happening with patient’s hearts in order to treat them, but a normal echocardiogram can take an hour or more and expose medical professionals for longer than is recommended. A team of sonographers and doctors at Aurora St. Luke’s found a way to cut that in half with a more targeted approach, reducing the amount of time the team was in the room with COVID patients.

“We told doctors that we wanted to scan these patients,” Payne said. “We’ll limit our exposure, but we needed to be looking at people’s hearts and getting the information that doctors need.”

Payne now scans COVID patients every day using this new technique, and the number has gone up with the recent surge in hospitalizations. It’s encouraging to see some of them getting better and getting discharged, but not everyone’s heart and lungs are strong enough to fight off the virus. Still, Payne says it’s an honor to care for patients.

“My mom and grandma are both nurses. I have that blood in me to work in health care,” Payne said. “I knew since I was 14 that this was something I wanted to do. We’re doing what we can in the hospitals for these patients. It truly is an honor that we have our health and the ability to make a difference caring for these patients.”

To keep them safe, Payne hasn’t seen most of her family in months and tries to isolate from them. It can be hard, but she’s found ways to stay connected and take care of herself.

“I live with someone and have family members who couldn’t fight COVID as well,” said Payne. “Phone calls with my family help keep me sane. I’m a big animal lover, too. Coming home to all my pets and going on walks with my dogs help a lot.”

“You have to count your blessings at a time like this,” she said.