It started with a friend who was a parent at the school where I got sick. She checked in with me from the very beginning of my disease to now and has helped me through the entire process. Recently, through the horrible times during the Christmas holiday while mom and I were both in separate hospitals, she was there. She was where I went when I needed a moment to step back from all the hourly needs, stresses and uncertainty with mom through hospitalizations, rehab centers and assisted living environments for a quiet lunch and always interesting conversation. My oasis.
She is worried about me and has offered to do everything from helping my mom to delivering anything I need. I am feeling so blessed to have her in my life. Always positive comments. Always totally understands.
During the past two weeks, I have been reduced to tears several times because of either a phone call or email or text. People have been contacting me to offer everything from delivering take-out dinner to just connecting to see if I am still well. Each knocked my feet out from under me. Each was so unexpected and so endearing.
All the wonderful neighbors at our end of the cul-de-sac has offered everything I could ever need. If I need help, I will turn to them. Also, Rick or Natalie either calls or emails every couple of day.
A dear friend since our boys were in kindergarten together phoned to tell me that her son wanted me to know if I needed anything over the hill, he would pick it up and deliver it on his way home from his teaching job.
Barbara checks in often. She and John are well and being careful.
The women who work in my glaucoma doctor's office said they had been thinking about me for a couple of weeks and finally decided to phone to see if I was okay. They really got to me.
A very wonderful woman from a local business phoned as she had been worried about me.
Janet from rehab class text to check in. Her family is well and safe but was worried about me.
The latest one was from my friend in North Carolina. Her daughter, one of my former students who now lives in Dublin, Ireland, phoned her mom and told her to let me know that she was thinking about me and hoped that I was well.
All this outpouring of love and attention is so lovely but I feel a bit unworthy of all the attention. We are following the rules. We are staying home, except for a weekly visit with my mom. Masked, in her room only, I feel fairly safe. Lots of gel in the car and washing hands after I get home makes me feel better. I brought lots of goodies to her today from chocolate to magazines to keep her busy and happy for another week. I know she is lonely.
Thank you if you are someone who is checking in with a friend or relative who is at risk. Thank you for taking care of yourself and them by staying home. We'll get through this but I think we will appreciate the little in life again. Toilet paper, gel, paper towels...
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Shelter-In-Place
We are ground zero for fighting this Coronavirus. The five Bay Area counties are under a "shelter-in-place" order. Everyone, not just the elderly, is expected to stay inside their homes except for food shopping or other true necessities. I was told to expect to be pulled over by the police and asked why I was driving. People will be charged with misdemeanors if they are found to be disobeying this order.
This morning, the plan was to pick mom and her aide up at the assisted living place and drive them for a day of cleaning and organizing in her apartment. There were no cars on the road. Oddly, there were many people taking walks but they all were the required six-feet apart from each other.
Mom knew nothing of these new orders. It was my job to break it to her that her hair appointment tomorrow was probably cancelled for a couple of weeks. Mom is all about her hair and she thought it WAS an essential service! She then laughed!
Thankfully, I did not get stopped but I did take a road less traveled between the two houses. Michael will drive them back this afternoon before coming home to me.
After I dropped them off, I went by her beauty salon and, yes, they were closed and will continue to be closed for the next two weeks.
Michael and I will be together in this house until next Monday when I visit mom. It will be nice to spend so much time together. I may even give him a cooking lesson or two!
We are living in such unusual times.
Stay well.
This morning, the plan was to pick mom and her aide up at the assisted living place and drive them for a day of cleaning and organizing in her apartment. There were no cars on the road. Oddly, there were many people taking walks but they all were the required six-feet apart from each other.
Mom knew nothing of these new orders. It was my job to break it to her that her hair appointment tomorrow was probably cancelled for a couple of weeks. Mom is all about her hair and she thought it WAS an essential service! She then laughed!
After I dropped them off, I went by her beauty salon and, yes, they were closed and will continue to be closed for the next two weeks.
Michael and I will be together in this house until next Monday when I visit mom. It will be nice to spend so much time together. I may even give him a cooking lesson or two!
We are living in such unusual times.
Stay well.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Bulls-eye!
The Coronavirus. It's been an education and I have made some decisions.
As a person who is immunosuppressed, has a serious lung disease and waiting for transplants, I feel the bulls-eye is on my back. The odds are great that if I get this virus, I will not survive it.
It just doesn't seem wise to go to pulmonary rehab with the machines being used by patients everyday of the week. A lot of people. Not a lot of cleaning. Even being in the hospital setting twice a week feels like a dangerous situation at the moment.
My last several bouts of pneumonia were caused by sharing a cold with my mom, which developed into a hospital stay. She is in a small assisted living environment but there are nurses and physical therapists and occupational therapists coming and going for all the residents. These are people who spend they day seeing older people in their homes or facilities.
With no appointments available, Mom wants me to sit with her for hours at the DMV for her driver's license renewal now instead of waiting until August. I don't think she will pass due to her eyesight but she would then need an ID. A room of chairs in close quarters with lots of people is not where I should be. Not now. Michael made it clear that I shouldn't do it but neither should he. He reminded me that he also has to follow all the rules as he doesn't want to bring the virus home to me. We will probably phone my sister to ask her to drive in to handle it.
Michael reminded me that I shouldn't even be in a restaurant or store with mom. How to break this to her? I am driving to her hair appointment tomorrow, he is going to pick her up afterward and take her to lunch. They will have the conversation. He is good at this stuff, clear but not negative. Always with a smile.
Below is my current list of precautions plus I will be wearing a mask every time I leave the house.
Be careful, my friends. This virus is looking for us.
As a person who is immunosuppressed, has a serious lung disease and waiting for transplants, I feel the bulls-eye is on my back. The odds are great that if I get this virus, I will not survive it.
It just doesn't seem wise to go to pulmonary rehab with the machines being used by patients everyday of the week. A lot of people. Not a lot of cleaning. Even being in the hospital setting twice a week feels like a dangerous situation at the moment.
My last several bouts of pneumonia were caused by sharing a cold with my mom, which developed into a hospital stay. She is in a small assisted living environment but there are nurses and physical therapists and occupational therapists coming and going for all the residents. These are people who spend they day seeing older people in their homes or facilities.
With no appointments available, Mom wants me to sit with her for hours at the DMV for her driver's license renewal now instead of waiting until August. I don't think she will pass due to her eyesight but she would then need an ID. A room of chairs in close quarters with lots of people is not where I should be. Not now. Michael made it clear that I shouldn't do it but neither should he. He reminded me that he also has to follow all the rules as he doesn't want to bring the virus home to me. We will probably phone my sister to ask her to drive in to handle it.
Michael reminded me that I shouldn't even be in a restaurant or store with mom. How to break this to her? I am driving to her hair appointment tomorrow, he is going to pick her up afterward and take her to lunch. They will have the conversation. He is good at this stuff, clear but not negative. Always with a smile.
Below is my current list of precautions plus I will be wearing a mask every time I leave the house.
Be careful, my friends. This virus is looking for us.
- Postponing Pulmonary Rehab
- Wearing a mask around my mom
- Staying home as often as possible
- Staying away from children
- No restaurants
- Washing my hands often especially after I arrive home
- Carrying hand sanitizer in the cup holder in my car and using it EVERY TIME I get into the car
- Masking at doctor appointments
- Staying away from ALL groups of people or anywhere people gather
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