Falcons fighting the coronavirus

MEQUON, Wis. – Across the globe, people are coming together to fight the coronavirus. People are staying home, stocking shelves, maintaining law and order, delivering goods, cleaning, taking care of others and many other things to combat the coronavirus. We were able to spotlight four different alumni and a 2020 graduate to see how they are combating the coronavirus.

Our first spotlight is on Carly Sobrilsky, who was once a standout on the softball diamond, and is now a nurse at Froedtert Hospital in the Medical ICU where she has worked since 2017. Her current day-to-day involves caring for critically ill patients. Her unit typically sees patients with respiratory diseases, HF, diabetes, and many other medical issues. With the COVID-19 pandemic, her unit has been turned into the hospital's COVID-19 ICU. Where they only take patients who are positive for the coronavirus and whose oxygen and medical needs require higher care than the COVID floors provide.

Sobrilsky and nurses across the world have adapted to the changes and have kept the patients feel cared for.

"Our responsibilities as nurses have adapted and our guidelines of care have also changed," said Sobrilsky. "I think the biggest stressor on nursing has been being the sole support system for the patient. No visitors are allowed in the hospital during this time. We are the ones at the bedside supporting patients during this very difficult time in their lives and in some cases at end of life. We are also giving family updates over the phone and trying to keep them as up to date on their loved ones as we can."

Like many on the frontline, keeping loved ones safe has been very important during these difficult times.

"Personally, I go to work and go home," said Sobrilsky. "Just given the nature of my job, I try to limit the number of people I see and the places I go as best I can as I do not want to increase anyone's chance of exposure. I have been keeping my distance from my family and friends and doing my best to keep in touch with them via text and FaceTime and Zoom game nights."

In times of uncertainty, faith plays a key role. Sobrilsky credited CUW for helping her get through these challenging times.

"Being a student at CUW helped to grow my faith," stated Sobrilsky. "Something that is so important to have in a nursing career and especially during our fight with coronavirus. We have few answers about this virus, but having faith that we will prevail and get through this together helps to get through each shift."

She is also thankful for her time on the CUW softball team.

"Being a part of the softball team and competing at CUW has helped to instill teamwork in me and shown me the importance of this in everyday life," said Sobrilsky. "Especially for a career in healthcare and as a nurse, it is a team environment and I couldn't get through my shifts without my amazing coworkers. I think especially in terms of coronavirus, coach Crook instills in his teams to be comfortable being uncomfortable. This is a very uncomfortable situation. However, we just have to take it one day at a time and control what we can. I can do that by going into each shift with a positive attitude and working my hardest for my patients and my coworkers."

Sobrilsky like many others stresses the importance of listening to guidelines.

"It may not seem like staying home is worth it, but it is," said Sobrilsky. "We have been able to avoid a major surge due to the safer at home order and the guidelines put in place. While they are not fun for anyone, they are helping to keep people safe and out of the hospitals. So just continue to stay safe and take precautions."

Our second alumni spotlight is Tom Anderson, a member of the CUW men's soccer program from 2006 to 2009. Anderson is a physician assistant at the Orthopedics Associates of Wisconsin, where he has worked for the past four years.

His daily responsibilities include seeing patients by himself and with supervisors, diagnosing illnesses, creating treatment plans, assisting with surgeries and performing injections.

Anderson has noted that the virus has changed his profession.

"Once the pandemic started, things slowed down," said Anderson. "We limited our options to only major and necessary procedures and had no elective surgeries. We have moved to more virtual visits with video and telephone. We are slowing getting more in the clinic, while adhering to guidelines with the number of people in at one time. Work has been slower, which has been frustrating not being able to help patients with their pain or quality of life."

Like many on the frontline, the coronavirus has affected the social life.

"My personal life has slowed down," Anderson stated, "We are not able to go out as a family, but we are spending more time together and are finding different things to do. I haven't been able to see family and friends."

The CUW alumni feels his time at CUW has helped him with the pandemic.

"Concordia gave me a solid baseline," said Anderson. "Carroll, where I went after CUW helped me with my medical skills. CUW soccer helped me become a leader medically and on the field. It helped me to be a guide and a leader with my family and friends on how to go about our lives and to be someone to talk to on a daily basis."

He also has advice for others on the situation.

"To the public, as hard as it is, we have to take this seriously," Anderson said. "There are people who are seriously affected. If you are sick, stay home, we can see you by video and remember to wash your hands."

Our next spotlight is on Katie Wenzel, a former member of the field hockey program. Wenzel is a school counselor at St. James Lutheran School in Chicago. Wenzel was a senior on the first-ever field hockey team at CUW in 2016.

She services students from kindergarten through eighth grade on individual, group and classroom basis. She has a caseload of students that she sees in one of those setting and she also works with the parents and outside therapists on her caseload.

Counseling has been affected by the pandemic with students staying home.

"Counseling as a whole has drastically changed because of the pandemic and has been a huge adjustment," said Wenzel. "We now offer services over Zoom or other virtual apps. This has allowed us to continue our work, helping children and families through this trying time."

Wenzel opened up that like many others, she too has struggled with the pandemic.

"The pandemic has affected my own mental health struggles," stated Wenzel. "I have always dealt with severe anxiety and the transition to working at home was a very stressful time. However, I have learned a lot about myself and my own mental health and what I need to take care of myself."

With everything going on, she reminds us that help is there if you need it.

"I think I would want the public to know that as helping professionals, we are here for you and we want you to reach out if you are struggling," said Wenzel. "I think sometimes we want to be strong and try to deal with things on our own, but that's not realistic. We are here for you!"

Wenzel credited Concordia Wisconsin for being a strong foundation for her current profession.

"During my time at CUW, I learned so much about myself personally and professionally," said Wenzel. "There were so many support systems at Concordia that helped me to lean on others rather than carrying everything myself. Professionally, I learned so much through my academic program and I would not be where I am today if not for my experience at CUW."

She also added that competing on the CUW field hockey team helped her with real-world challenges.

"Competing at a collegiate level really prepared me for commitment, responsibility and leadership that the real-world challenges you with every day," she said. "Working with a team in the social work field is a huge component of the profession, and playing field hockey at Concordia prepared me for that challenge. I have been faced with working with various personalities and you have to be able to adapt and continue to work with those individuals. CUW prepared me for that."

Christopher Grenz was a standout on the men's lacrosse field and collected three All-Midwest Lacrosse Conference First Team selections from 2012 to 2015. He now works for AiTMed based out of Anaheim California, where he does online face-to-face consultations with patients who believe they may have COVID-19 symptoms as a screening requirement to determine the severity of the symptoms if testing is truly necessary, and for referrals to be admitted to the southern California hospitals. He is also working in for A&C Urgent Care and California Orthopedics and Micro-Surgery Institute in Anaheim as well.

The Coronavirus has changed how things are done.

"A large majority of elective surgeries have been delayed due to resources being allocated elsewhere in hospitals," said Grenz. "But we are still seeing orthopedic patients that need minor in-office procedures done like casting and removal, splinting, injections, x-rays. I have been with these companies since the beginning of March. We had to adapt to the increased demand for telemedicine and all of the other outpatient clinics wanting to become telemedicine capable and/or cover their patient load during this crazy time."

Graduates around the world have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. With classes and traditional ceremonies moving to a virtual setting. Grenz is one of many who will be celebrating electronically.

"I was in my final electives of medical school at Ross University School of Medicine when COVID-19 hit," said Grenz. "I will be graduating with High Honors in May with my Doctorate of Medicine degree. Graduation will now be held virtually, which will be a different experience from the traditional walking across the stage and without any of my peers and friends."

Grenz feels that his time as a captain of the CUW men's lacrosse program gave him a competitive advantage and fighting for league titles taught him many life lessons.

"Being a captain of the lacrosse team and being in a work-intensive major like Exercise Physiology, has developed leadership skills, time management, and most importantly the work ethic to make me successful with any type of adversity," said Gretz. "I can quickly adapt to whatever situation is presented and be a leader for my peers and companies. Competing at CUW for a conference championship taught me to never give up when faced with adversity and to work hard for what you desire. When the lacrosse team would compete against Division-I teams in the preseason or top-tier Division-III teams, I learned to never doubt an underdog since we were that underdog. I took that same philosophy into the hospital wards and clinics when working alongside other students from large prominent medical schools such as the University of Miami (Fla.), USC, and UCLA. That determination is what helped me secure jobs with the companies I currently work for today, and to graduate with High Honors from medical school."

The lacrosse alumni adds a bit of advice from his experience in the field.

"I strongly encourage people to stay home as much as possible," says Grenz. "Wear masks whenever out in public, to avoid any type of social gatherings, and stop watching mainstream news. This has shown to drastically change the trajectory of this crisis, but we are still not in the clear. As a nation and worldwide, we can defeat this virus and be successful in returning to "normalcy". But we must do so as one instead of as individual states or opinions."

Even during these challenging times, Falcons continue to fly into action in the war against the coronavirus. 2020 graduates are ready to take what they have learned at CUW and use it in the community. Issy Bilton a senior captain on the women's hockey team from Burlington, Ontario is ready.

"As a future nurse, the coronavirus has re-enforced to me the importance of being able to adapt to my environment," said Bilton. "I am still on track to graduate in May, write the board exam for nursing called the NCLEX sometime in June, and start working in July. The coronavirus has reminded me of my responsibility as a health care worker to keep up with the evolving healthcare world so that I know what I'm walking into when I start working in the summer. Additionally, all interviews that I have had have been over the phone or FaceTime, where usually you'd have an in-person interview and get a tour of the unit. This only allowed for more questions and good discussion on the phone and FaceTime! The beginning of the interview process was put on hold due to the increase in coronavirus cases in Wisconsin and the limited time to hold interviews, but the process was quickly resumed within two weeks or so! Finally, all prep courses for the NCLEX are now offered all online versus having the in-class option."

Bilton is excited to use the lessons she has learned at CUW.

"CUW has taught me that literally anything is possible, and no challenge is ever too big," said Bilton. "My nursing professors have somehow found a way to make the transition from regular classes and clinicals to an online learning experience pretty much seamless, and I never doubted in my mind that they'd be able to figure it out. They are always so positive and are such a high functioning group of people, they have taught me so much about what can be overcome when you work together. My experience on the hockey team has taught me how important it is for everyone to be on the same page with a common goal, and even one outlier can hold the entire team back. With the coronavirus, everybody needs to be doing their part in practicing social distancing and hand hygiene or else we won't get to where we need to be. Obviously, it is a hard time for everybody and we need to support one another, but we also need to hold each other accountable in order to overcome this virus."

Being a Falcon has given Bilton the tools to battle in these uncertain times.

"My four years competing at CUW has allowed me to realize that everybody has a role, and sometimes your role is to lead, while sometimes your role is to be led," she said. "In times such as these, we need to be able to recognize where we fall. This could be by taking a stand and sharing our knowledge of the virus, or humbly recognizing we truly don't know what's best, therefore, respecting and following the instructions given by our hard-working doctors and nurses"

She also added upon how being a student-athlete helped to take on this challenge.

"I have learned the importance of consistency," Bilton said. "During my four years competing at CUW, you were expected to show up to practice and class every single day ready to give it your all. If you took a day off, you were a day behind the rest of the season. Each day you took off, just became this larger hill you had to climb in order to get back on track. To stay on track, every little thing you did mattered. What you ate, how much water you drank, how much time you spent studying, and even how much time you spent on your phone contributed to whether you were keeping up both on the ice and in the classroom. With the coronavirus, it's the same thing.

"We all need to be consistent in order to flatten the curve. We can't take a day off from washing our hands or wearing our masks, it's an everyday thing. Hugging that friend just once may not directly affect you or your friend, but a nearby observer may now think that this is okay. Hand hygiene is vital, and if we take a day off from proper hand hygiene we increase the risk of contracting and spreading any infection, which in turn can make anybody immunocompromised therefore more susceptible to contract the coronavirus. If everyone consistently does what we know we have to do, the unthinkable can be achieved, whether that be winning a conference title or conquering a virus, it is possible."