I have vivid memories of patients dying. Some I did not know as they came through emergency room trauma. Others were within the hospital, or at home. It has never been easy.

Talking and connecting with colleagues over the past month, many are greatly impacted by decisions forcing heartbreaking choices.

Medicine is typically straightforward: Know your field, utilize the tools you have, communicate with fellow doctors and nurses, and recommend options to patients and family members.

My colleagues on the front line face an opponent in this war that is unknown. There are no curative tools to fight against it, communications are limited because the virus is poorly understood, and options are variable because of unpredictability.

We do not have the answers we need. Typically, we expect to save many lives, but now there is much uncertainty. Mentally, it is taking a toll. Many of my healthcare friends are suffering.

You know they are trying their best, and you have honored them for their courage.

Sadly, for my colleagues, there will be long-lasting effects that will forever remain vivid in their memories.

Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D., is a geriatric house-call physician who serves as president of the Los Angeles County Commission for Older Adults and Assemblyman to the California Senior Legislature. He has practiced in the Santa Clarita Valley for 32 years.