Well I had another post ready to go but decided to switch gears for the hour and speak to this a lil bit. In no way am I an expert but as someone living with ms and my experiences over the years, I think that I can speak candidly and share my views from that perspective.
Coronavirus doesn’t appear to be a death sentence; people have been recovering but as someone living with a chronic disease and an already compromised immune system, I DO NOT WANT to contract it at all. I have been trying to avoid the common cold (listen. Not even the flu, just the common cold) like it’s the plague for at least the past 10 years. The last time I got the cold (don’t remember exactly when it was, but I know that it was before 2012), I actually remember thinking that “this is what it must be like to be at death’s door”. It knocked me flat; I could barely function. Fast forward to 2017 after I came back from Carnival in Trinidad and truth be told, I’m not sure what I contracted – it wasn’t a cold – but I got sick and had to hire round the clock nurses to be with me and when that broke the bank, Learls came to Atlanta for a week as I slowly recovered. A nurse practitioner at the MSCA once explained to me in the most basic terms. When we get sick, our immune systems kick in to start fighting that sickness but as a result, whatever ms symptoms/problems we might be dealing with at the time also tend to flare up/act the fool. So when I get sick, I get extremely weak, my limbs get heavy and everything that I normally do takes so much more effort to accomplish that it really does not make sense for me to be alone because, among other things, that could end in disaster.
back in 2015 and 2016, after my 2 rounds of Lemtrada infusions, I had to avoid sickness and sick people like nobody’s business because for at least 3 months immediately following the infusions, my immune system was pretty much non-existent. Here we are in 2020 and once again, avoiding sick people is a must. The biggest problem in my opinion, with Coronavirus is how contagious it appears to be when patients are not even symptomatic – geez, so basically, I don’t even know who to avoid! It helps that I work from home but I’m at the point now where cabin fever is kicking in…the temperatures aren’t bad right now, I may just scoot around the neighbourhood to get out – I should be able to avoid close contact with people by doing so too. I’m not a major worrier/panic-er generally, especially when it involves things over which I have no control, but Coronavirus is concerning and not contracting it is a top priority, although I not trying to go stark staring mad while doing so – I have to find that balance between living and doing things that I enjoy while still protecting myself at the same time. I eh trying to be morbid, but I just don’t know that my recovery from Corona will be like everybody else’s. As it stands, because of the ms, I am already in tune with my body and I can tell very quickly when something is off or just doesn’t seem right so that, I feel, will be critical for me in these uncertain times.
anyway, allyuh stay safe and protect urselves as well as u can. Keep ur fingers on the pulse of things, stay informed and we will get thru this. Check out coronavirus.gov and who.int for up to the minute information, sneeze/cough into ur elbows, avoid touching ur faces and wash those hands!!! this too shall pass…right?
I gone so, Stax