A lot has changed in the last 4 weeks since my last post. I continue to catch colds on a regular basis. Over the winter, I have restricted some of my activity. This is just the same thing that I have been doing for the last 3 years since the stem cell transplant. However, I am a social being and I enjoy seeing just a couple of friends at a time. The is called limiting my exposure to large crowds. I go to independent coffee shops that are not large chains. I'm exposed to less people and less germs. I'm supporting local businesses. I'm able to see my friends on a regular basis. When I go to church, I sing in the choir. I have not stayed for coffee hour after the service due to limiting my exposure to large groups of people. There are only 8 people in the choir. So I'm exposed to 8 people in close proximity rather than a crowd of 30 or more in close proximity. This has been my norm for the last 3 years. Hubby and I will go to dinner but it is at small local restaurants with less people than the large chains. This has been the first winter where I've been ill more often than not. Nothing more serious than the common cold or influenza but it hangs on for weeks at a time with me whereas with "normal" people it lasts 10 days and it is done. So I have limited the hockey games I go to.
Then The Brier (national men's curling championship) was held in my town. Hubby and I bought seats for the whole week event about a year and a half ago. I really wanted to attend. So I managed to get some masks and I wore a mask every single time I was in the building. Usually I was there early enough to put the mask on in my seat before people had arrived around me. The few times that I was later getting to the venue, I immediately went to the women's restroom and put my mask on. The mask was worn to protect me from regular colds and flus. At that time, my town did not have any cases of COVID-19. I wore the masks because it made sense for me to do so. When I was in hospital having my stem cell transplant done, I had to wear a mask when I left my room. The mask kept "germs" from entering my system. It protected me from others. It makes sense to me that I should do the same thing in large crowds. So I wore the mask at The Brier. I received stares and looks that varied. Most had the look that I was over reacting to the Coronavirus. My wearing a mask had nothing to do with the Coronavirus. I received sneering looks that said "If you're sick, stay home!". I was not sick. I was protecting myself. By the end of the week, I was no longer looking at people as I walked. I was looking down at the ground because I didn't want to see them judging me....actually misjudging me. My self-esteem took a big hit. Hubby was very supportive and we had a good time together attending The Brier. We met 2 men who were visiting the city for The Brier for the week. Early in the week, I let them know that I was not sick...that my immune system is permanently suppressed due to my cancer history and I was wearing the mask for self-protection. It was all good. We laughed with them. We joked with them. They told me they could tell when I was joking not because they could see me smile (it was hidden by the mask) but because my eyes sparkled in mischief. Also my eyes would crinkle. I was glad I wore the mask because we had a group sitting behind us who were very sick all week. One of the ladies didn't ever cover her mouth when she coughed or sneezed. I would feel my hair move. So...despite the late hour of returning home, I always had a hot shower and washed my hair to kill the germs that were spread. And they were spread. The gentleman sitting in the row in front of us started with the same cough late in the week. At best, these ladies had the flu. At worst....COVID-19?...who knows. I had my mask. I had to use hand sanitizer on my coat as they coughed on it and their water bottles touched my coat as, without my knowing, it had fallen over the back of my seat and was close to the sick ladies' drink holders on the back of the seats. After The Brier was finished, I washed my coat to kill the germs.
In the midst of all of this, Daughter was in Thailand since mid-January.....before the outbreak of the Coronavirus had made the news headlines. She left Thailand at the end of The Brier and went to Laos. Her pictures she sent and messages she sent were amazing! Then she travelled by bus to Vietnam. Hanoi, where she disembarked from the bus and went to a hostel, was a ghost town according to Daughter. Everything was closed. Bars, restaurants, tourist attractions were all closed. Hostels were closing. Daughter is now home and living in our basement as she is in self-isolation. She has no symptoms. Because of my immune system, she and I can not see each other. We correspond by intercom (our phone system) and by messages. I leave food for her on a table outside her door. Hubby brings up the dirty dishes and they are washed with the sanitizing cycle in the dishwasher. COVID-19 has arrived in our city. The hand washing, hand sanitizing, cleaning and sanitizing surfaces is not new to my household. We have had to do this for the last 3 years and will always have to do this. Really, nothing has changed in our household. The only thing is that Hubby will now do all the grocery shopping. I'm in self-isolation for my own protection. I have been doing this all winter anyway.
I hear reports on the news and from people on Facebook, that everyone thinks it is a real challenge to self-isolate for 14 days. Really?!! 14 days is nothing. I've been having to do this all winter for the most part. People are struggling with anxiety and what to do to fill their time. Well, here's my suggestions. When the anxiety becomes overwhelming, turn off the news, Facebook and unplug! Don't let anxiety overtake you and rob you of your current day. If you spend your time worrying, you won't enjoy your day and you've lost it without even having caught the pandemic. Fear is just as real a threat. Read a book. Learn a new skill. If you don't know much about cooking, learn to cook. Try out new recipes. Bake. Knit. Watch something on television that is not "heavy". Pray. Breathe. Talk to friends on the phone. Plant some seeds and watch them grow. Seeing the new growth helps lift the spirits and gives hope. Speaking of which....I did an experiment a couple of weeks ago. I took the heels (the ends) of finished romaine lettuce heads and put them in bowls in water just to see if they would sprout roots so I could plant them. Well, they haven't sprouted roots yet, but they have all sprouted new healthy green leaves in the centres. I used some today to make a caesar salad! I'm still hoping they will sprout roots and I can plant them in pots or outside when the weather is warmer. Hope....positivity. Small things like this can make us feel better.
In closing, I could give in to some nasty fear. I could worry about what Daughter has been exposed to in her travels home through Hanoi, Tokyo, Vancouver and Montreal airports as well as on the planes. I could worry. I could let it steal my day. Instead, I try to communicate with my daughter through other means than face to face. Do I want to hug and hold her and reassure her? Absolutely!! I can't wait until I can do this. In the meantime, I'm cooking healthy meals for her and making some of her favourite foods to show my love. I'm still volunteering reading to my friend in the retirement home but now I read to him over the phone as the facility is closed to the public. When the weather is warm enough (and if the facility is still closed), I will sit outside his window in my lawn chair and read to him over the phone. He won't see me clearly but he will know that I'm there. There are ways to survive self-isolation for 14 days. Don't complain! You don't have to self-isolate for the rest of your life like those people who have compromised immune systems.
