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.

  • 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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