 Welcome to a special edition of Yes, We're Here, enjoy here once again and today I'm delighted to be joined by Robbie Russell, Dr. Robbie Russell, first-year ER resident in the University of Virginia Medical System. For those who don't know, Robbie Russell is a former Champions League and Major League Soccer player He's now fighting this deadly virus. Now Robbie, thank you so much for joining us first and foremost Thank you for everything you are doing during this very difficult time I've got to be honest with you Robbie. I don't know where to even begin with this discussion with you I mean, what are you seeing day in and day out at this moment in time in the ER room? Well first, thanks for having me Ian It's great to be reconnected again in different forms and professional atmosphere Right now, I mean, you know Virginia itself is We're a little bit more rural in the area that we serve and so We are kind of anticipating what's coming And I think right now we're doing the best we can to kind of prepare And and that's what you know all our administration and the hospital has kind of been informing us Day in and day out that they're trying to prepare they're looking at the latest evidence and trying to get us ready as well as they can But you know as of this moment, I think we aren't necessarily in the middle of our surge yet In terms of like number infections that sort of thing. And so we're just doing the best we can As doctors and you know as a hospital And you know personally each one of us is trying to kind of just mentally prepare for what's to come How bad is this Robbie? I mean when someone walks in through your doors. They think they have COVID-19 I mean, what are you looking at when they walk in through the door? I mean personally for me, it's it's one of those things where you don't know what's coming through the door One of the things that drew me to emergency medicine was the fact that you know, you didn't know what you were going to face every day This is a unique situation. I think it's something that you know, our generation is the first to see something like this There's some older people in our generations that have experienced kind of viruses pandemic to polio outbreak that sort of thing But in terms of our generation, this is it And so for us, this is all new this is all extremely scary I was talking to another physician earlier today who said he likened it to like the HIV scare When HIV was first coming out and it was HTL of lb3 They had that same sense of you don't know how you pass it. You know how you get it We're much more informed now, but this is a much more infectious virus And so it's scary but I think that's what is so admirable about people in health care and Physicians and nurses and all the people that kind of go to work every day in these type of environments because their main goal was to help people And to help people at their worst You know Situations the worst, you know sicknesses they can face and it's really amazing to kind of be standing next to people that are doing that You've been away from your family now for six weeks and how difficult has that been for you? Of course professionally, it's the right decision to be made It's one of those where I feel fine. I'm healthy right now, you know knock on wood And it's it's tough every day. You're looking at your kids You want to be playing with when you want to be kind of hanging out with them reading them books tucking them in the bed and you know you You think in the long run like this is gonna be a small short Term thing, you know, we're gonna get past this and I'll see my kids again, and it'll be great But in the back of your head, you're also thinking like what if I went and I got them sick And you know, I'm one of those people. That's a high risk Not because of my age not because of like my other health Concerns but because of the fact that I am seeing infectious people in the ED I mean, I don't know what I would bring home. So I I feel like it's the right decision I hope it's the right decision. I think medically and the science backs up that it is the right decision But emotionally it's tough I know it's very difficult, of course not having your kids there But for you, I mean now you just basically just completely tuned in like you would be when you're playing a professional soccer game Nothing else really matters. You're focused on the issue at hand. No, I mean, you can't be that focused that That that consistently that long, you know when when you go to work That's when you try and turn it on but you're working long hours And so you have to have balance you have to have like I can handle this But at the same time be kind of doing other things I have to be able to balance things and so, you know, it's just like you going to work Like if your kid runs into the room right now, you know, and is like distracting behind camera Like you can focus but it's also kind of funny and you enjoy having your kids in the background You know, and so you try and kind of remember that all the time is that, you know Whenever the wife calls and you're in the middle of something you got to be able to switch gears and say listen I'd rather talk to my wife right now Then kind of completely focus on this thing, but it's a balancing act and you do the best you can And I think everyone in every kind of professional field kind of deals with that Yeah, it's admirable what you're doing Robin Of course, we know each other on personal terms having played together in the same soccer team And now what I'm watching you from the outside I mean, it's amazing what you've gone through to get to the stage to where you're at right now I'm incredibly proud of you now, New York is is an area that's been hit drastically with this issue I mean, what sort of advice can you give, you know, our viewers out there who we watching this, you know Is there any advice you could even give except for staying in isolation listen to the rules and regulations and wash properly? I mean, honestly, those those are our best evidence-based guidelines The idea this is like an ever-evolving kind of understanding of a new illness And those guidelines are changing every day. So it's not just follow the rules It's keep up with how the rules are changing and yes one day the rules might say do this and the next day They're saying do something different But the idea being is that we're adjusting the rules as new evidence and new research comes out because we've just started kind of You know the tip of the iceberg in terms of understanding this disease and so, you know as we get game more understanding Things are going to change. So my biggest advice isn't just to follow the rules It's keep up with the changes that are coming Yeah, great advice. Okay. Let's turn it on to a bit of a more positive note We went from professional soccer player into medic how difficult a transition was that for you because I saw you on the team Boss on the plane reading books studying up and that must have been a difficult transition for you because you were Living a very comfortable life as a professional soccer player and all of a sudden you're back to the classroom Is there a day that goes by that? I don't wish that maybe I was back in the locker room or back probably not no, but It was I'm not gonna say it was an easy transition because it wasn't You know after being out of school for 14 years Going back hitting the books again kind of relearning a new career, you know new skills. It's it's it's not easy Especially when everyone around you is 10 to 15 years younger than you are It it you feel like the old guy that's like showing up at the you know, the frat party doing like hey You know and real awkward, but You occasionally get it, you know mistaken for the the old attending in the room when you're actually just another intern but you know it it's one of those things where I Definitely rediscovered a passion for something after I left football and I think that was the biggest thing I was grateful for because I just like any one of us that makes a transition from that lifestyle like you don't know That same level of passion unless you find it, you know, and it kind of got thrown at us and we were lucky to have it so early But as you get older refind rediscovering a passion for something new is like the biggest gift you can have and so I'm just really lucky. I got you know, something else that I really wanted to do. It just took me a really long time to get there But it's nice to be finally doing it now Do you miss the locker room that feeling of having a quiet teammate like myself sitting next to you in that locker room not making But one of the reasons it was so difficult for me to make the transitions every time I was reading a book in the locker and you come grab it throw it in the hot tub So thank you for that Well, I said I can't tell you how proud I am and I know we've lived through some great experiences on the field And now watching you go through this off the field and all the hard work is really paying off for you And so many people are proud of you. Thank you for everything you're doing Thank you for everything you're continuing to do and again Thank you so much for the time today to be able to have a minute to chat with you I appreciate it joy and I really want to say thank you too, man. Just watching your career develop You are you're a fantastic announcer, man. You make the game fun And I love watching you even when I confuse you with other people. It's great But no, honestly, dude, you really brought this game forward in terms of viewership in terms of enjoying how to watch football And I appreciate it, man. Thank you so much Robbie. Thanks for saying so and I've got to admit before I leave You still have a face for radio Amazing you do too, but you made it work. So it's cool. I love you buddy Take care look after yourself and God bless to the family as well. Thanks your boy