LUCY: You’re listening to a special edition of The Daily Sun-Up, a podcast from The Colorado Sun. This week we’re featuring special coverage to mark the one-year anniversary of the first known coronavirus case in Colorado. This is Fear, Loss, Change: A Pandemic Year. I’m Lucy Haggard. 

THY: And I’m Thy Vo. Today is Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021.

LUCY: Chaplains and clinicians are trained to help patients and their families navigate illness and death. 

THY: Yet the coronavirus pandemic has left many so-called “last responders” exhausted. The face masks and physical distance that protect them from coronavirus have also made it harder for caregivers to connect with patients, and family members have fewer opportunities to find closure in final goodbyes.

THY: Some last responders are finding that the only way for some people to understand the gravity of the virus is when they have a direct connection to it. Chaplain Ryan Wooley recalls an encounter last October after he was paged to the Poudre Valley Hospital ICU.

LUCY: Mackenzie Gromala, a registered nurse with Halcyon Hospice, says her job includes supporting families as well as helping them process the loss. 

LUCY: Many last responders are finding the pandemic forces families to have difficult conversations, more now than ever before. But that may not be a bad thing.

THY: UCHealth Chaplain Dottie Mann isn’t just trained as a spiritual counselor. She also works in palliative care, which focuses on improving the quality of life for those with serious illness. That includes talking patients and their families through their options and bringing them choices and dignity toward the end of life. 

THY: Many of us might find these conversations scary or intimidating. But Mann says it can decrease the distress and suffering of a sick person, and for their family as well. 

THY: And while they are exhausted by a year of loss after loss, Mann and many caregivers are grateful to give patients and their families that space and emotional support. 

THY: You’ve been listening to Fear, Loss, Change: A Pandemic Year. To read the stories that go with today’s podcast, go to coloradosun.com forward slash coronavirus dash one dash year.

LUCY: This episode of the Daily Sun-Up was made by Thy Vo, and me, Lucy Haggard, with help from Pirate Audio. Our editor is Larry Ryckman. Special thanks to Ryan Wooley, Mackenzie Gromala and Dottie Mann. 

THY: If you like what we do at The Colorado Sun, consider contributing. Go to coloradosun.com forward slash membership. 

LUCY: As always, thank you for listening.

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